BIRDS AS FOOD 227 



lected, but twice that number would be left to 

 drift away unseen in the darkness. 



Batteries, consisting of a number of gun-barrels 

 secured to a framework and so arranged that they 

 could be fired simultaneously, were also used 

 against ducks and geese. The victims were de- 

 coyed to the spot covered by the battery and there 

 annihilated at a single discharge. 



Even to-day there is a similar apparatus, termed 

 an armada, in use in Mexico. Three hundred gun- 

 barrels are employed, all aimed to sweep the sur- 

 face of a small pool. They are arranged in two 

 tiers, the lower one being directed at the water, 

 and the upper to clear the surface by a few feet. 

 The ducks are attracted within range by scatter- 

 ing feed on the pond, in the same manner that they 

 are baited on Long Island. The birds remain 

 unmolested until thousands acquire the habit of 

 occupying the pool. Then, when a sufficient num- 

 ber have collected, the armada is discharged. It 

 is on record that one discharge has accounted for 

 4696 birds. 



Netting and trapping were at last made unlaw- 

 ful in the United States, but only when it was al- 

 most too late to save the birds. The use of cannon 

 and night shooting were also prohibited. There- 

 after the market hunter was forced to rely upon 

 the shot-gun only, and upon the straightness of 

 his aim. 



Notwithstanding the passage of new protective 



