14 



THE GAME BREEDER 



ful observer of animals, remembered distinctly 

 when the large Patagonian rabbit was first 

 imported to Siberia. He often explained to 

 me the effect the cold climate had on the 

 drooping ears, and the many other changes 

 that took place from generation to generation 

 as years went on, and now we find Mr. Shack- 

 noe writing it up as a native of Siberia, and 

 giving it the character of a wild hare, when 

 it is really a tame .rabbit, a few of which 

 have been turned out to care for themselves 

 and have become semi-wild. 



Mr. Shacknoe gives a very interesting story 

 of the way in which this rabbit prepares for 

 her young — their customs and habits in a wild 

 state. Why, this is not peculiar to the Siberian 

 rabbit. Turn the Belgian Hare, or common 

 rabbit, out wild and they would act identically 

 as Mr. Shacknoe describes this rabbit does. 



In conversation with a gentleman who 

 turned out a flock of common rabbits on an 

 island in Canada, this gentleman has read Mr. 

 Shacknoe's account of the Siberian in its nat- 

 ural state, and says it is identical as his rab- 

 bits acted when turned wild on the island, 

 therefore, there is nothing new — but the nature 

 of any rabbit to act so when turned out wild. 



Now, in conclusion, may I say that I have 

 no wish to injure the reputation of my coun- 

 tryman or the business of those who have im- 

 ported these rabbits to this country, but I 

 wrote to correct the errors in Mr. Shacknoe's 

 article. I have seen some of these rabbits in 



this country that were imported from Siberia, 

 and I consider them fairly good specimens, 

 and equal to those I have seen in my native 

 country. I believe they are now superior to 

 all other utility rabbits, as the fur is valuable 

 as well as the flesh, biit it must be remembered 

 that their excellent qualities were obtained by 

 breeding in Siberia's cold climate. In this 

 climate the fur will deteriorate equally as fast 

 as it improved in Siberia. 



A. Goldberg. 



In conclusion let me say I will send 

 to the editor of The Game Breeder a skin 

 for examination, that your society may 

 compare it with a rabbit skin of this 

 country. This will remove all doubts 

 from your mind that it is merely a com- 

 mon rabbit. It was the examination of 

 the pelt that caused me to discard all 

 other rabbits and breed Siberians. 



I would like to explain the motive of 

 this venomous attack on this rabbit — ^Si- 

 berian — ^but it .would take pages, and I 

 am a very busy man, and have many 

 things far more important than answer- 

 ing men, who evidently have very little 

 else to do but read and write detective 

 stories. 



THE TRAPPING OF WILD DUCKS. 



Capt. Aymer Maxwell, in his chapter 

 on The Duck, gives the following ac- 

 count of trapping wild ducks at Nether- 

 by, England: 



"After all the ingenuity that has been 

 expended on the making of duck decoys* 

 intricate in design, costly to construct 

 and maintain, it is interesting to find 

 that wild duck may be caught by far 

 easier means. Hard by the fine duck de- 

 coy at Netherby, carefully planned with 

 its seven pipes of approved pattern, there 

 stands an unpretentious wire cage, which 

 anyone could knock together in an hour, 

 using no more costly material than a 

 few bits of wood, a strip of wire net- 

 ting, hammer and nails. One side of 

 this simple pen lifts up, and a cylinder 



*Duck Traps : See description of decoy 

 from "Our Wild Fowl and Waders." 



of wire netting, open at both ends, and 

 wide enough to allow free passage to a 

 duck, lies on the ground, leading from 

 the open side to the centre of the pen. 

 For ten days or so the ducks feed glor- 

 iously in the open pen, working all 

 around and through the cylinder; then 

 the open side is let down, covering all 

 but the opening of this tube. With 

 evening comes the flight of ducks ; they 

 have been used to passing through the 

 innocent looking tube of wire netting 

 with impunity, and soon the pen is full, 

 when, however, they wish to depart, to 

 look for an exit in the centre of the pen 

 never seems to occur to them, and they 

 wander disconsolately up and down the 

 walls of their prison, until with morning 

 comes Mr. Bell, duck keeper at Nether- 

 by, to count his captives, cut the wings 



