Wild Fowl and Men 265 



could properly attempt such a task and I must stick to the 

 written word. 



But the great number of methods of taking wild fowl did 

 indicate then importance in the economy of all nations. Wild 

 fowl must have been a considerable part of every larder 

 when weapons were poor and large animals difficult to ob- 

 tain. I imagined ancient man, after a vain attempt to kill a 

 wild ox, slipping down to the marsh in order to get ducks 

 or geese for his meal. Hunting was a means of filling one's 

 belly and not a sport, and wild fowl were numerous and un- 

 afraid. In many places they remained the year around. Eggs 

 could be hunted by women and children. The plumage fur- 

 nished material for ceremonial purposes, for decorations, and 

 for warmth. There were many reasons why the hunting of 

 wild fowl through the centuries had been continuous and 

 heavy. Were the birds successfully meeting the pressure? 



Survival to the middle of the nineteenth century was not 

 difficult and could be easily understood. The great nesting 

 places of the ducks were undisturbed, the migration routes 

 full of undrained marshes and good feeding grounds. Hunt- 

 ing pressure was that of a comparatively small population, 

 weapons lacked modern killing power, and transportation 

 was limited and difficult. Many ducks were killed yearly, but 

 it is quite certain that the annual crop of birds successfully 

 offset the loss. 



The view of the marsh in front of me did not indicate that 

 there was any great present shortage of wild fowl. I saw a 

 flock of several hundred baldpates in the center of the bay. 

 They had come in during the past ten days and would re- 

 main in about the same numbers (although individuals 

 would come and go) until the last of November. Scattered 

 over the bay were other common duck visitors. 



The birds about me fed contentedly. Superficially, there 

 were no signs that the hunting season had begun and that 

 in other marshes death had come to many waterfowl. I was 



