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  NORTH 
  AMERICAN 
  DUCKS, 
  GEESE, 
  AND 
  SWANS. 
  

  

  So 
  rapidly 
  are 
  some 
  species 
  diminishing 
  in 
  numbers 
  in 
  certain 
  States 
  

   that 
  the 
  market 
  supply 
  is 
  alread} 
  T 
  threatened, 
  and 
  Minnesota 
  has 
  found 
  

   it 
  necessary 
  to 
  pass 
  laws 
  prohibiting 
  not 
  only 
  the 
  export 
  of 
  ducks, 
  

   but 
  eyen 
  their 
  sale 
  within 
  the 
  State 
  limits. 
  Such 
  radical 
  legislation 
  

   in 
  a 
  State 
  where 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  years 
  since 
  waterfowl 
  abounded 
  on 
  eyery 
  

   lake 
  and 
  waterway, 
  reveals 
  how 
  imminent 
  is 
  the 
  danger 
  and 
  how 
  press- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  value 
  and 
  importance 
  of 
  prohibitive 
  laws, 
  and 
  it 
  becomes 
  evi- 
  

   dent 
  that 
  if 
  am 
  T 
  considerable 
  number 
  of 
  waterfowl 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  preserved, 
  

   spring 
  shooting 
  must 
  be 
  abolished 
  and 
  the 
  sale 
  of 
  wild 
  fowl 
  limited 
  to 
  

   the 
  States 
  where 
  killed. 
  

  

  The 
  enforcement 
  of 
  moderately 
  stringent 
  protective 
  laws, 
  however, 
  

   and 
  the 
  establishment 
  of 
  preserves 
  in 
  the 
  States 
  where 
  waterfowl 
  can 
  

   be 
  sure 
  of 
  shelter 
  and 
  safety, 
  are 
  likely 
  to 
  result 
  not 
  onty 
  in 
  averting 
  

   the 
  threatened 
  extinction 
  of 
  certain 
  species, 
  but 
  in 
  the 
  increase 
  of 
  all 
  

   waterfowl 
  to 
  a 
  point 
  somewhere 
  near 
  their 
  recent 
  abundance. 
  Should 
  

   the 
  lessons 
  of 
  the 
  past 
  be 
  unheeded 
  and 
  protection 
  be 
  withheld 
  for 
  a 
  

   few 
  years, 
  then 
  measures 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  radical 
  kind 
  will 
  be 
  necessary. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  64 
  species 
  and 
  subspecies 
  of 
  ducks, 
  geese, 
  and 
  swans 
  which 
  

   occur 
  in 
  North 
  America 
  north 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  24 
  breed 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States. 
  

   The 
  species 
  most 
  important 
  to 
  us 
  are 
  the 
  wood 
  duck, 
  mallard, 
  black 
  

   duck, 
  teal, 
  canvasback, 
  redhead, 
  and 
  Canada 
  goose. 
  Several 
  of 
  these 
  

   species 
  breed 
  only 
  in 
  the 
  Northern 
  States; 
  buit 
  the 
  cinnamon 
  teal 
  and 
  

   ruddy 
  duck 
  nest 
  as 
  far 
  south 
  a.s 
  southern 
  California, 
  and 
  the 
  wood 
  duck 
  

   breeds 
  almost 
  everywhere 
  throughout 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  and, 
  more- 
  

   over, 
  the 
  great 
  bulk 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  winters 
  within 
  our 
  boundaries. 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  a 
  sad 
  commentary 
  on 
  our 
  present 
  system 
  of 
  game 
  protection 
  that 
  

   the 
  wood 
  duck, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  handsomest 
  of 
  our 
  native 
  birds 
  and 
  one 
  

   whose 
  breeding 
  range 
  is 
  almost 
  entirely 
  within 
  our 
  boundaries, 
  is 
  the 
  

   species 
  which 
  _has 
  suffered 
  most. 
  So 
  persistently 
  has 
  this 
  duck 
  been 
  

   pursued 
  that 
  in 
  some 
  sections 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  practically 
  exterminated. 
  

   Even 
  in 
  States 
  in 
  which 
  it 
  still 
  breeds 
  commonly, 
  as 
  in 
  Delaware 
  and 
  

   Maryland 
  on 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  and 
  in 
  Illinois 
  in 
  the 
  Mississippi 
  Valley, 
  

   public 
  sentiment 
  fails 
  to 
  recognize 
  the 
  importance 
  of 
  adequately 
  pro- 
  

   tecting 
  the 
  bird, 
  and 
  the 
  laws 
  still 
  permit 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  destroyed 
  late 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring. 
  As 
  a 
  result 
  the 
  wood 
  duck 
  is 
  constantly 
  diminishing 
  in 
  

   numbers, 
  and 
  soon 
  is 
  likely 
  to 
  be 
  known 
  only 
  from 
  books 
  or 
  by 
  

   tradition. 
  

  

  PROTECTION. 
  

  

  Wherever 
  waterfowl 
  already 
  breed, 
  or 
  where 
  the 
  conditions 
  are 
  

   such 
  as 
  to 
  favor 
  their 
  remaining 
  during 
  the 
  summer, 
  every 
  effort 
  

   should 
  be 
  made 
  to 
  increase 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  breeding 
  birds 
  by 
  adequate 
  

   protection 
  both 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  and 
  during 
  the 
  nesting 
  season, 
  and, 
  

   wherever 
  possible, 
  game 
  refuges 
  or 
  preserves 
  suitable 
  for 
  breeding 
  

   purposes 
  should 
  be 
  established. 
  

  

  