12 



THE GAME BREEDER 



lake, and to listen to their weird call just 

 before a rain. "For," he said, "it is a 

 fact that rain is sure to follow the cry 

 of a loon within twenty-four hours 

 after." 



This statement was disputed on its 

 face by Prof. Vandemore, who declared 

 that he was at the beach one whole sum- 

 mer when it did not rain at all, and the 

 loons hollered every night all the same. 



"Oh, that was an off year," Mr. Sned- 

 icor rejoined. "They just hollered out 

 of spite, because it didn't rain!" 



All hands were examining the specimen 

 just after it had been brought in, and 

 presently one happened to notice the 

 tail of a four-ounce perch sticking out 

 of its gullet, which the bird seemed to 

 have been in the act of swallowing when 

 it met its fate. This circumstance was 

 thumbs down for Mr. Loon, for it at 

 once directed prejudice against him as 

 a fish destroyer, and anglers are jealous 

 of their prerogatives, especially when 

 they fish for count, as most of them 

 seemed to do at Geneva Beach. Any 

 feathered pirate (kingfisher, loon, gull, 

 crow or fish hawk, land bird or water 

 fowl) which would detract one iota 

 from the chances of an angling competi- 

 tion would come under the ban and be 

 destroyed at once if reached. 



This disturbing factor naturally raised 

 the question as to the actual damage 

 done to sport and the economic fisheries 

 by fish-eating birds, as well as their 

 number and variety ; and I was accord- 

 ingly induced to investigate from data 

 opportunely at hand whereby I w^ G 

 enabled to reach results which I am 

 certain will surprise your readers as 

 much as they did me. The facts I 

 gather were first submitted by Robert 

 Ridgeway, curator of the Ornithological 

 Department of the National Museum at 

 Washington, to the International Fish- 

 eries Congress, held in London in 1885 ; 

 and as the summary is my own, com- 

 piled from the Ridgeway list, I doubt 

 if the like has ever been published be- 

 fore. From the prefatory note in the 

 catalogue it would seem that there are 

 no less than a grand total of 277 aquatic 

 species, in addition to the fish-eating 

 land birds, like the kingfisher, osprey, 

 ousel, etc., which live largely upon fish 



Indeed all water birds may be assumed 

 to be piscivorous. Grouped in their 

 orders, they would appear as follows: 

 Catalogue of Aquatic Fish-Eating 

 Birds. 

 Order of Herodiones or Herons. 



Herons, varieties 14 



Storks : 2 



Ibises 4 



Spoon-bill ibis 1 



Total 21 



Order of Limicoles or Shore Birds — - 

 Eat Eggs or Spawn. 



Oyster catchers 3 



Turnstones 3 



Plovers 15 



Snipes 5 



Sandpipers 22 



Woodcock , 2 



Godwits 4 



Curlews 5 



Yellowlegs 2 



Greenshanks ; 1 



Willets 1 



Tattlers ..'.:." 2 



Phalaropes 3 



Avocets '. 2 



Total 70 



Order of Paludicoles or Marsh Birds. 



Rails 10 



Gallinules . . - 



Crakes 



Jacana 1 



Coots .' 



Limpkin 1 



Cranes 3 



Flamingo 1 



Total 22 



Order Anseres. 



Swans 4 



Geese 12 



Brant 2 



Ducks 40 



Total 58 



Order Steganopodes or Totipalmate 

 Swimmers. 



Pelicans » 



Cormorants 12 



Gaunets 4 



Tropic birds 2 



Total 21 



