150 THE IMPORTANCE OF BIED LIFE 



the tame birds. It is quite possible that geese 

 flying of the future may develop into a non-shoot- 

 ing sport. 



Gulls and terns, as well as some other birds, are 

 extraordinarily inquisitive by nature, a failing 

 which in past years has proved a serious adjunct 

 to their downfall. In the dark days when the 

 millinery trade in native bird-skins flourished, 

 market gunners took advantage of this idiosyn- 

 crasy to fill their bags. A wounded tern or gull 

 was necessary for the game. It was pegged^ out 

 on the sand by a string, where its wild flutterings 

 could be seen by passing birds. Before many 

 miuutes passed dozens would be hovering curi- 

 ously over their disabled companion, filling the air 

 with discordant, questioning cries. 



This was the psychological moment for the gun- 

 ner, and he lost no time in acting. The more 

 birds he brought down, the more it seemed would 

 congregate in the vicinity. They paid little or no 

 attention to the sound of gun-fire. Their atten- 

 tion was concentrated only upon the strange sight 

 of their brothers scattered in such disorderly 

 array on the beach. The gunner if he desired 

 could kill a thousand without driving the others 

 away. Generally he was content with a hundred, 

 for those were all he could skin in a day. 



Decoy-birds are also utilized in trapping song- 

 birds and hawks. In the case of the latter a 

 shrike, the deadly enemy of all hawks, is some- 



