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■which bieeds in this State. In Southern Ohio neither geese nor duels are shot in 
any great numbers. There the spring shooting is the best in the quantity, though 
not in the quality of the game, and it would not be readily surrendered. Upon 
the shores of Labe Erie it is different. Along its bays and marshes waterfowl 
congregate in vast numbers, and the time and method of killing are matters of 
great interest to sportsmen and the public. 
It is the first large body of water which they reach in their spring movement to 
the breeding grounds of the North, and the last where they can delay, and 
strengthen themselves and their young, before their long flight to the marshes, 
lagoons, and bayous of the Gulf, where they winter. In this semi-annual flight, 
the shoal waters of Sandusky are a favorite resting and feeding place for almost 
all the varieties of waterfowl found in North America. In its marshes they find 
abundant food, and here even the famous Canvass-Back is said to rival in flavor 
those fattened upon the wild celery of the Potomac and Chesapeake. 
It is stated that in their migra'ions northward, the waterfowl often reach the 
lake in the spring, while it is still covered with ice, and that while huddled in great 
numbers in the mouths of streams and other open places, they are slaughtered 
indiscriminately, and that too while poor and unfit for eating. It is also repre- 
sented that they are killed and wounded in great numbers by the swivel or punt 
gun, which is a small cannon fixed to a boat, and that by these practices they are 
driven from their usual feeding grounds and places of resort, and are likely to be 
greatly diminished in numbers. It is the well known habit of waterfowl to follow 
the same line and stop at the same points in their migrations, and such a serious 
disturbance at this great half-way station, may eventually result in their seeking 
other quarters To prevent this it is asked that the killing of waterfowl in the 
sprint be prohibited altogether in certain counties, and that the use of the punt 
gun be absolutely forbidden. The petitions upon this subject have been so numer- 
ous, and the petitioners so respectable, that there evidently must exist good cause 
for complaint, and their request should be granted. The use of the punt gun 
along the sea board has been made illegal for like reason, and if it is necessary 
there, it is still more so here. 
A local provision is supposed to be constitutional as to spring killing in the 
counties of Erie, Sandusky, Lucas and Ottawa, as the necessity for the law does 
not exist elsewhere. 
There remain several other game birds which occasionally visit us, such as the 
rail, but their numbers are so few that they scarcely deserve notice. 
The present game law has had a highly beneficial effect, and no change should 
be made in its provisions, unless it can be improved. The amendments believed 
to be advisable which have been indicated in this report, may be repeated — 
