MAP SHOWING the; ALMOST UNDISTURBI;d BREIEDING GROUNDS OF THE DUCKS AND 



GEESE IN NORTHERN CANADA 



Which will prevent the extermination of these waterfowl if they receive adequate protection 

 in the United States (see text, page 363) 



Eastward a third area fringes Hudson 

 and James bays on the west and extends 

 from the south end of James Bay to 100 

 miles beyond Cape Churchill. 



Many ducks have nested from time 

 immemorial throughout this region and 

 have been practically undisturbed by man, 

 and it seems probable that this condition 

 will continue for years to come. 



These three districts are the best, but 

 throughout the whole immense inter- 

 vening area — lightly shaded on the map 

 shown above - — are innumerable small 

 lakes and marshes, each well adapted to 

 support a few pairs of ducks and geese. 

 Moreover, by suitable legislation, south- 

 ern Saskatchewan, nearly the whole of 

 Manitoba, and the contiguous parts of 

 the United States can be made to produce 

 perennially their present large crop of 

 aquatic game birds. 



WHY PROTECTION PAYS 



Some birds are protected because of 

 their diet, as the wood-peckers and fly- 



catchers ; others for their song — thrushes 

 and mocking-birds : others for esthetic 

 reasons — gulls and terns ; while the pro- 

 tection of ducks and geese is purely utili- 

 tarian ; they furnish a highly prized food, 

 and the sport of hunting them involves 

 an outdoor life and exercise which is 

 worth far more to the individual and the 

 community than the dietary value of the 

 game secured. 



Twelve years ago the national govern- 

 ment recognized the need of preserving 

 the ducks and geese as part of the na- 

 tional resources and they were included 

 in the "Lacey Act" — the national law for 

 the preservation of game. The enforce- 

 ment of this law was put in the imme- 

 diate charge of the Bureau of Biological 

 Survey, and the facts contained in this 

 article were gathered mainly in the course 

 of investigations connected with the carry- 

 ing out of the provisions of that act. 



Under that law wild ducks and geese 

 are the property not of the individual on 

 whose land they happen to nest or alight, 



364 



