8 BULLETIN 
concern to the sportsman, who would have no game to shoot were 
the birds exterminated. The sportsman therefore is vitally interested 
in game protection, and should be among the first, as in many places 
he is, to insist on proper protection for the objects of his sport. So 
far as the sandhill region of Nebraska is concerned, it is evident 
that comparatively little effort and restraint on his part will pro- 
duce excellent and desired results. It is necessary to protect the 
young birds in autumn by enforcing the law until the open season, 
and it is particularly necessary to preserve the breeding grounds 
and protect the birds there in spring and during the breeding 
season. In other words, the prevention of spring shooting is abso- 
lutely essential to the preservation of waterfowl in Nebraska ; other- 
wise there will undoubtedly soon be an alarming decrease in the 
numbers of wild fowl, and possibly even the extermination of many 
of the species, at least in so far as they may be considered breed- 
ing birds of the State. With proper care, however, there should be 
an abundance of waterfowl for the continued future enjoyment of 
the sportsman. 
HUNTING GROUNDS. 
Autumn shooting of waterfowl in Nebraska is of three kinds — 
lake, pond, and river. Of the first mentioned, the best is to be found 
in the lake regions of Brown County, eastern Cherry County, central 
and northern Cherry Comity, Garden and Morrill Counties, and at 
various scattered lakes in the central and western portions of the State. 
Pond shooting, while possible over more or less of the State, is at 
its best in the region comprising Adams, Clay, and Fillmore Counties, 
in the southeastern part of the State. Eiver shooting is best on the 
Platte Eiver between Ashland in the eastern part of the State and 
North Platte in the west-central section, particularly between Schuy- 
ler and Shelton in the eastern portion of the State. Hunting on 
the Missouri and on some of the smaller streams is of much less 
importance. 
WATERFOWL HUNTING IN THE AUTUMN OF 1915. 
Hunting conditions in Nebraska during the autumn of 1915 were 
somewhat unusual. This was due to at least two causes: the ab- 
normal rainfall throughout the spring, summer, and the greater 
portion of the autumn: and, secondly, the accompanying mild fall 
weather, both in Nebraska and in the regions much farther north. 
The excessive rainfall not only raised the level of most of the larger 
lakes and filled the streams of the State, but it also greatly increased 
the number of small temporary lakes and ponds. Thus the ducks 
found abundant water almost everywhere in the sandhills, as well 
as in the wet valleys. This resulted in a much more general dis- 
