PTARMIGAN SHOOTING. 
Ptarmigan are never shot for sport, but only for 
food. Occasionally a few birds may be secured on the 
wing, but usually the ptarmigan is not found in situa- 
tions where the gunner is able to pursue it in a sports- 
manlike manner. Commonly he is traveling, is with- 
out a shotgun, and is thinking more of filling his pot 
for the night’s meal than of giving the bird a chance 
to escape. Practically the only exception to this rule 
is Newfoundland, where, under the name of partridge, 
the ptarmigan is commonly shot over dogs, and gives 
excellent sport. 
Mr. Comeau, in his “Life and Sport on the North 
Shore,” speaks most interestingly of the migrations of 
the willow ptarmigan, and tells of the extraordinary 
numbers of them that are killed. He says: 
“During the last two migrations, taking the best 
‘years, 1895 and 1904, I took some trouble to try and 
find out, approximately, how many birds were killed 
between certain points. During the first year men- 
tioned, between Mingan and Godbout, 175 miles of 
coast, 30,000 were killed; in the second (1904), 
14,000; and I am sure that during 1885 nearly 60,000 
must have been shot or snared. When a flight begins, 
every man, woman and boy able to handle a gun is 
out. To avoid accidents, which are very rare, indeed, 
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