10 BULLETiisr 793, u. s. depaetme:k^t of ageicultuee. 



a point 30 j^ards from the blind and was continued at 20-yard inter- 

 vals in a straight line out from the shore to a distance of 210 yards 

 from the island. About 10 quarts of silt were examined from each 

 spot. Shot first appeared at a point 70 yards out and were found at 

 each station to the place where sifting was stopped. The pellets were 

 most abundant at a distance of 130 yards, where from 1 to 12 were 

 recovered in each sieve filled with mud. 



On another day sifting was tried near Bigelow's Point, a locality 

 about 2 miles west of Bayless Island. Here a blind had been located 

 on a small island for at least 20 years, and another island 200 yards 

 south had been used as a shooting stand for the same period. In 

 addition to these, many temporar}^ boat blinds have been built in the 

 open bay offshore. Sifting was carried on here in the same manner 

 as at Bayless Island in a line that included ground within shotgun 

 range of both blinds. The first mud was examined at a distance of 

 30 yards from Bigelow's Point, and sifting was continued at 20-yard 

 intervals for a distance of 230 j^ards. Shot were secured from each 

 sifting for the entire distance and from 1 to 13 pellets were found at 

 each station. At stations more than 150 j^arcls from the blind, from 

 20 to 22 shot were recovered from each of three lots of mud taken at 

 one point. The surface mud here was very soft for a depth of 12 

 inches, below which was a hardened clay. The great mass of shot 

 had penetrated through the soft surface layer of mud and lay at a 

 depth of 10 to 12 inches. 



On this entire marsh there can be no question that 75,000 or more 

 shotgun shells are used each season. As each shell contains ap- 

 j)roximately an ounce of shot, the great accumulation of the lead 

 pellets about blinds that are favorably located may be imagined 

 ]'eadily. The majority of the shot that were recovered by sifting 

 were soft: only a small part were chilled. This may serve to indi- 

 cate that a large part are comparatively old. as at present chilled- 

 shot loads are used. The soft shot in question were all more or less 

 battered and scarred from muzzle compression as they left the gun 

 or from other causes. All were dulled in color, indicating slight 

 surface oxidation, but none showed any distinct corrosion, though the 

 clay below the softer mud was often strongly saline. 



These facts point to a steadily increasing body of shot pellets in 

 the mud of these marshes, as there are undoubtedly in other marshes 

 on which shooting is extensive. 



CONCLUSIONS. 



From his own observations and from ^ others the writer has learned 

 that lead poisoning due to eating shot is of common occurrence 

 among waterfowl, and from the manner in which the shot are se- 



