S.WIXG THE DLCKS AND GERSE 



371 



the following fall, they will rear the The map ( see page 368) shows the 



largest proportion of the largest-sized general area of the principal winter homes 



families and furnish the greatest amount of the ducks and also the special feeding 



of food and sport. I)laces where they congregate. 



WIXTliK SllOOTIXG IS DISASTROUS 



To understand the importance of pro- 

 hihiting the winter hunting of waterfowl 

 in the L'nited States it is necessary to 

 know something about the districts in 

 which the birds are found at this season 

 and the conditions surrounding them 

 there. Ducks must have open water, and 

 hence winter in the Stnithern States. They 

 retire southward slowly in the fall, as 

 they are driven away from their feeding 

 l)laces by the advancing ice. Many do 

 not reach their real winter haunts before 

 December and some not imtil the end of 

 that month. Though the outside boun- 

 daries of this winter home include a large 

 area, the birds concentrate themselves on 

 that very small fraction of the area which 

 offers good physical conditions and plenty 

 to eat. 



For instance, Arkansas contains 53.000 

 square miles, but Mississippi County, 

 with less than 900 square miles, is more 

 important as a duck winter resort than 

 all the rest of the State. In other words, 

 during the winter the majority of the 

 •ducks of Arkansas are collected on less 

 than I ^6oth of the State's area. Ob- 

 viously, under such conditions, the bag- 

 ging of a great many at one time and 

 place is a comparatively easy matter ; 

 hence the market hunter seeks out these 

 favorite feeding spots and shoots there 

 all winter. 



.Vccomac. .\'()rtham])ton. and Princess 

 .\nne coimties. in \ irginia. with an area 

 ■of less than 1 .000 sc|uare miles, send to 

 market more ducks than a;ll the other 

 32.000 square miles of the State put to- 

 gether. In fact, if the shi])ment or sale 

 of ducks was prohibited in these three 

 counties, it would have more effect in 

 checking the present dejjlorable decrease 

 of ducks there than would absolute pro- 

 hibition of Inniting in all the rest of the 

 State. 



Evitlentl} . then, if the ducks can be 

 protected during the winter in such fa- 

 vored localities, the progressive reduction 

 of the duck population would change 

 speedilv to a progressive increase. 



WHY TllK C.\.\V.\S1!.\CK I.EI-'T CHKS.M'K A KT. 

 V.W 



.Among the latter. Chesajjcake IJay is 

 not marked, although f)0 years ago it was 

 one of the most important wintering 

 ])laces for ducks in the United States, 

 usually spoken of as a winter resort, 

 though really there was a time during 

 most winters when the ducks were forced 

 by the ice farther south for a few days 

 or weeks. 



Persistent per.secution by gunners from 

 early fall to late spring has almost an- 

 nihilated the myriads of fowls of the 

 finest varieties that used to blacken the 

 surface of the bay. Here was the i)re- 

 ferred winter home of the celebrated 

 canvasback. whence many hundred thou- 

 sand dollars' worth of the birds have been 

 shipped to the northern markets. Today 

 a canvasback is almost a rarity in Chesa- 

 peake liay. and the few survivors spend 

 the winter farther south, on the .\orth 

 Carolina coast. 



Chesapeake l'>ay was formerly the nat- 

 ural goal of a large proportion of the 

 canvasbacks and redheads which nested 

 in central Canada. They had a peculiar 

 migration route. Nesting in the lake re- 

 gion of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. the\ 

 found stretching thence southeastward 

 an almost continuous chain of lakes suj)- 

 l)lying an abimdance of food and esi)e- 

 cially favorable conditions to tempt a 

 journey in that direction. This flight 

 led. naturally, to Chesapeake Bay. which 

 used to provide an almost unlimited 

 c|uantity of their greatest delicacy — wild 

 celery — and otherwise was admiralily 

 adapted for a fall, winter, and spring 

 sojourn, except during an occasional 

 week or two of unusually cold weather. 



This southeast and northwest route is 

 still used by most of the thousands of 

 ducks that winter on the entire .\tlantic 

 coast from \"irginia southward, and the 

 now almost deserted waters of the ujjper 

 Chesapeake would be repojudated to a 

 large extent if wise restrictive legislation 

 were in force. 



The south shore of Tong Island. \. >'., 



