Conservation Commission 187 



sportsmen are highly pleased with the successful experiment in 

 introducing these splendid game birds, and the farmers also seem 

 to be generally well satisfied, because, in addition to furnishing 

 them with a good day's hunting, the pheasant is a great destroyer 

 of insect pests. 



Deer 



Reports which cannot be disputed show that there are more deer 

 in the State of New York at the present time than at any time 

 during the past twenty-five years. Every hunter who goes into 

 the woods reports seeing a large number of deer throughout the 

 Adirondack forests. There are also reports of numerous deer in 

 the Catskills, and even in the southern tier of counties. In Rens- 

 selaer county, in woods which command a view of the capitol at 

 Albany, a party of grouse hunters a short time ago saw five deer 

 together in a buckwheat field. This speaks well for the rigid pro- 

 tection given the deer by the protective force, and the policy of 

 cutting marsh hay and stacking it for feeding the deer during the 

 more severe weather ; also these good effects are due to the opera- 

 tions of the buck law, which, had the indorsement of the sportsmen 

 of the State and the backing of this Commission. 



Ducks 

 Since the law was enacted which prohibits spring shooting, the 

 number of ducks has largely increased. This is partly owing to 

 the fact that in covers suitable to the duck, there have been large 

 broods raised. In the past where spring shooting was allowed, the 

 ducks in their migration never stopped and raised their young in 

 the State of New York, but migrated as far north as the Hudson 

 Bay country to hatch their broods. In several instances during 

 the past winter, wild ducks have lingered in our open waters, par- 

 ticularly Seneca, Cayuga and Keuka Lakes, and Sodus bay, so 

 that it was found necessary to feed them to keep them from starv- 

 ing. This has reference particularly to the more severe part of 

 the winter, when their feeding grounds became covered with ice. 



Quail 

 Quail are also becoming somewhat plentiful throughout the 

 State. There is no doubt that as a result of the fLye years 5 close 



