66 



THE CANADIAN SPORTSMAN AND NATURALIST. 



thus allowing a vast amount of good nourishing 

 human food to be swallowed up by marine 

 animals. We are of opinion from what we have 

 seen of the lobster of Anticosti, that canning 

 houses on the island would be a success. The 

 crustacean in its season enters all the bays 

 around the coasts, and by means of traps, 

 immense numbers could be canned every year 

 and a business of this nature can be established 

 on the island without a large expenditure of 

 money. We must however repeat, what we 

 said before, do not destroy the lobster while 

 carrying spawn. If you do, the business will 

 fail. Greed and bad management may be said 

 to have been the cause of destroying the produc- 

 tiveness of our salmon rivers. Let this not 

 be the case with the lobster, which, although 

 hardy and quite able when adult, to fight its 

 aquatic battles with equals, has not the in- 

 stinct to evade the traps laid for its capture. 

 We are therefore anxious while they are at the 

 mercy of man for food, that he will give them 

 fair play in order that they propagate their 

 species. We would be pleased to hear from 

 any one interested in this subject, and commu- 

 nications giving additional information regard- 

 ing the natural history of the lobster, or statis- 

 tics of the trade will be of value. — C. 



THE SHOOTING SEASON. 



The time has again arrived when the Sports- 

 man may lay aside his rod and reel, and with 

 gun in hand betake himself to the forest or 

 marsh, in search of game on which to exercise 

 his skill. The young of the Black Duck, Teal, 

 Woodcock, Ruffed Grouse, &c, are now pretty 

 well matured, and strong enough on wing to 

 afford excellent sport. During the early part 

 of this month great numbers of Black Duck 

 and Teal are shot in our various marshes, the 

 hunter at this time, being usually able to secure 

 a fair number of birds by paddling through the 

 reedy streams, which are their favourite resorts, 

 and picking them off as they rise at the ap- 

 proach of his boat ; later in the season, how- 



ever, as they become more hunted, these birds 

 acquire a wariness which makes it necessary 

 to adopt a different mode of procedure ; decoys 

 and covert flight shooting are then resorted 

 to. 



The Black Duck is at all times exceedingly 

 wary, and will seldom notice artificial decoys. 

 Sportsmen should therefore provide themselves 

 with a few live ones, as though inconvenient to 

 carry, they cannot always be procured in the 

 vicinity of the shooting grounds. Woodcock 

 and Snipe are not yet numerous; the greater 

 number of these birds breed in the far north 

 and migrate at the approach of cold weather, 

 stopping for a short time at their favourite 

 grounds as they pass, affording the sportsman 

 an opportunity to vary his sport. During 

 October the various species of Fall Ducks 

 arrive in great numbers, and as they decoy 

 readily, their flocks are considerably thinned 

 before they have visited us many days. 

 Although decoy shooting is tolerated in the 

 greater part of the Dominion, it is not con- 

 sidered sufficiently destructive by some "pot 

 hunters, 5 ' and the use of swivel and punt guns 

 is sometimes resorted to ; this is, however, 

 illegal, and should not be permitted. 



Golden, Black Bellied and other species of 

 Plover usually appear in great numbers during 

 the latter part of September, and remain for 

 some time before proceeding to their winter 

 feeding grounds. Last, but not least of our 

 game lards, is the Ruffed Grouse ; as this bird 

 does not migrate in Winter, it is generally 

 sought by the sportsmen later in the season 

 when most of our other species of game birds 

 have departed. It is difficult to imagine a more 

 exhilarating sport than a tramp after Grouse 

 on a frosty morning in November. With a 

 staunch, well trained dog, a fair bag may some- 

 times be secured, but as a rule the misses are 

 frequent, and the sportsman must not be 

 ! disappointed at an average of which he would 

 ' feel ashamed if in the pursuit of other 

 | game. — Wallace. 



