270 Union Bay 



stop, or the next, or the one after that. They would follow 

 the historic route of their ancestors and at the end of a long 

 flight would sight a lush spot. They would turn toward it 

 and, with food and shelter just ahead, would set their wings 

 in that magnificent approach so typical of the pintail-wind 

 whistling through the motionless feathers. The water would 

 be a few feet below them, the flight almost ended. Move- 

 ment would begin in the tules, gun barrels would lift and 

 blast. The bewildered flock would change direction and veer 

 away. Two or three of the nine birds would be left behind, 

 and while a dog leaped overboard to retrieve them, the men 

 would congratulate each other on the excellence of their 

 shooting. And it was splendid shooting, good retrieving, and 

 fine sport for all the participants except the ducks. Where 

 can they go next? 



As the pintails move along they may find small havens 

 where they can stop> but the best marshes— the ones which, 

 in the undisturbed periods of the fly ways, welcomed and 

 cared for tremendous concentrations of wild fowl— are now 

 lined with shooting clubs. The less productive spots are occu- 

 pied by private shacks, and all the other areas which promise 

 even fair sport will be filled with guns and hunters tucked 

 away in blinds. How will our ducks react to such conditions? 

 Will they have learned anything of wariness, or will they 

 simply be dazed by the bombardment? When I think that I 

 am overemphasizing the situation I recall the many millions 

 of ducks which are taken during the hunting season. 



There was no sentimentality in my speculation over the 

 possible fate of the pintails. I have no objection to hunting if 

 it is properly limited. Practicality has forced me, as it has 

 forced most others, to accept in a more or less modified form 

 the theory that man, self -assumed dictator, is entitled to dis- 

 pose of all the lower forms of life as he pleases. I have heard 

 all the arguments about harvesting the wild fowl crop and 

 of the inalienable right of the sportsman to hunt and to make 



