92 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
\ 
BY THE WAYSIDE 
Published on the tenth of each month except 
July and August. 
The official organ of the Wisconsin, Illinois and 
Michigan Audubon Societies. 
Twenty-five cents per year Single copies 5 cents 
All communications should be sent to Roland E. 
Kremers, 1720 Vilas St., Madison, Wis. 
IMPORTANT 
The National Association of Audubon 
Societies is trying to preserve 'the few 
remaining small colonies of the Snowy 
Herons and American Egrets. To do 
this, they are trying to raise a fund of 
$1,000 with which to pay wardens to 
guard these birds. ‘Without this pro¬ 
tection, the birds stand in great danger 
7 o o 
of extermination. All contributions and 
correspondence should be addressed to 
Mr. T. Gilbert Pearson, Secy., 
1974 Broadway, 
New York City. 
Let Wisconsin respond nobly! 
Tf you want to do a real service to 
the birds, keep your cat indoors from 
now on until August 1st, unless it is un¬ 
der your personal watch every moment 
that it is out of doors ! 
Spring Shooting 
Just what grounds, other than a desire 
4 
to hunt and kill at all times, the advo¬ 
cates of spring-shooting have, we do not 
clearly see. It ought to be apparent to all 
hunters as it is to many that the available 
supply of game-birds has been greatly re¬ 
duced, reduced even to a danger point. 
In his comprehensive work, ‘The Distri¬ 
bution and Migration of North American 
Ducks, Geese and Swans/’ Mr. Wells 
Y. Cooke, assistant, IT. S. biological sur¬ 
vey, says: “Protection during the breed¬ 
ing season is the least that any friend 
of the ducks would advise." He further 
states that, “The present rapid diminu¬ 
tion in the number of water-fowl cannlt 
be stayed, however, by any such partial 
measures. Nothing short of absolute 
prohibition of spring shooting, in even- 
part of the country, should be advocated 
by those who believe that duck-shoot 
ing should be enjoyed by future genera¬ 
tions." 
Nor can they argue that it is of no 
avail to try to protect the birds. We 
select this example from the numerous 
ones at our command. At Palm Beach, 
Fla., a certain hotel forbids any shoot¬ 
ing on that portion of the river adjoin¬ 
ing its land. Here the Lesser Scaup 
Duck, so abundant in our own waters, 
spends the winter. Under the protection 
accorded them, here, they become so 
tame a:s to feed from the hand, while out 
in the river, where they are shot at, these 
same ducks are as wild as any. We 
could mention still other instances show¬ 
ing the beneficent results of protection. 
From the above, we see that the advo¬ 
cate of spring-shooting is blocking his 
own ends! Can it be that he does so be¬ 
cause of a mistaken conception of a 
private right? But what citizen has a 
right to insist on a practice which is de¬ 
structive both to his own and to the gen- 
eral welfare? Or is his opposition due 
to ignorance of the true state of affairs? 
But when was an action based on ignor- 
ance justifiable? Let us take courage 
and 1 maintain our ground! Much good 
has been done, more remains to be done. 
For, in the words of Mr. Wells W. 
Cooke, “Should the lessons of the past 
be unheeded and protection be withheld 
for a few years, then measures of the 
most radical kind will be necessary.” 
