55 
To-day the “ man behind the gun ” is, of all men, the 
most destructive to birds. The shooter, therefore, naturally 
heads the list. 
Sportsmen and Market Hunters. — Sportsmen and “ so- 
called sportsmen ” are given the chief place as bird de- 
stroyers. This does not agree with my experience, but there 
is probably some difference of opinion among the observers as 
to what constitutes a sportsman, and their definitions might 
not agree with my own. Nevertheless, it is my duty here to 
give the returns exactly as received, without attempting to 
put my own construction on them. The number of observers 
who give sportsmen or so-called sportsmen the first place is 
considerably in excess of those who name market hunters. 
This is rather surprising, until we consider the increase in 
the number of sportsmen in the past fifty years. 
Every city now has its gun club or sportsman’s club, and 
so have some towns. The members practise to obtain pro- 
ficiency in shooting on the wing. Even the boys have clubs 
of their own, in some places, where they practise at trap- 
shooting. Forty years ago there were comparatively few 
good wing shots. Since the invention of the glass ball and 
clay pigeon they have become a legion. The number of 
trained setters, pointers and retrievers also has increased 
greatly. Mr. H. E. Packard of Attleborough writes that 
there are now at least seventy-five hunters provided with bird 
dogs, where there were only three bird dogs in the town 
thirty years ago. Others in other localities make similar 
statements. A man who knows very little of the habits of 
the birds can find birds with a dog. A well-trained dog en- 
ables the sportsmen to find and follow birds to the death when 
once started. Market hunters, on the other hand, seem to 
have decreased in number, owing to the decrease of game, 
the shortening of the shooting season and the prohibition of 
the sale of woodcock and grouse. 
The improvement in modern firearms renders the gunner 
of to-day far more dangerous to the birds than was his great- 
grandfather, with the uncertain flintlock. In olden times the 
sportsman must do the best he could with his single shot 
(when the gun did not miss fire). Then came the double 
