41G 
FOREST AND STREAM 
Fishing and Hunting at Small Cost 
HE liberal policy of the Province of Que¬ 
bec in keeping open to United States 
citizens the privileges of the magnificent 
hunting and fishing opportunities of that great 
game country is not to be interpreted as fore¬ 
shadowing a diminution either of game or fish. 
The Province has thousands of miles of free 
land in which its own citizens and American 
visitors may, at very reasonable fee, enjoy good 
sport. 
But the policy of the far-sighted men in con¬ 
trol of Quebec’s natural resources is to consider 
the future as much as the present. The laws 
of Quebec permit the acquisition through lease, 
individuals and clubs, of lake waters, rivers and 
sections of hunting territory. This means that 
any citizen or incorporated body of citizens of 
the Province, or for that matter of the United 
States may, under proper arrangements, secure 
direct proprietorship in fishing or hunting rights 
in a pasticular territory. These leases are not 
given indiscriminately, and they are based on the 
assumption and in fact on the obligation that 
those to whom they are issued will become re¬ 
sponsible for the enforcement of all laws 
through the engagement of guides or wardens, 
whose duty shall be to see that in as far as 
possible the game and fish resources are con¬ 
served, protected and increased. As a matter 
of fact, individuals and clubs to whom these 
valuable rights are granted come into posses¬ 
sion and enjoyment of what might be termed 
natural refuges, with the result, growing out of 
the limited taking of game, that adjoining hunt¬ 
ing sections find an increasing supply. 
There has been some objection to the Quebec 
system of leasing lake waters and hunting terri¬ 
tory on the ground that it restricts their en¬ 
joyment or use. The officials of the Govern¬ 
ment, however, have successfully combatted 
such objections by showing that the leasing 
system is bringing into the Province many thou¬ 
sands of dollars where previously the indiscrim¬ 
inate over-running of open territory, coupled 
with the impossibility of strictly enforcing the 
law, threatened discontinuance of revenue and 
foreshadowed exhaustion of the game supply. 
Of course the Quebec system could not pre¬ 
vail in a densely populated section, but even so 
Quebec probably will have more game as pop¬ 
ulation increases than the Province possesses 
now—in direct contrast to the experience of our 
own states and other provinces which have fol¬ 
lowed different policies. As it is, the Province 
of Quebec offers what may be termed the last 
opportunity for classes other than mulbi-mil- 
lionaires, to obtain at small cost and in perfect 
security, fishing and hunting territory which 
really is owned in enjoyment if not in physical 
possession, by those to whom the privileges are 
extended. 
It is idle to predict what the final outcome of 
the Quebec system will be, but we have an idea 
that the Province will report a continuing abun¬ 
dance both of game and fish long after neigh¬ 
boring sections have seen these resources swept 
away or sadly diminished by the usual loose en¬ 
forcement or lack of enforcement of laws, that 
have followed the opening of this continent. 
Have You Seen Any? 
LTH'OUGH convinced that the passenger 
pigeon is extinct, we must admit that at 
times our faith is revived by the plausible 
stories that come to Forest and Stream of the re¬ 
appearance, in small isolated flocks, of that once 
numerous species. We are always glad to hear 
from our friends on this subject, and while the 
rumors are generally unsubstantiated, or the re¬ 
sult of mistaken identification, once in a while 
we get word that seems credible. A friend in 
Bellevue, Ohio, sends us a clipping from a local 
paper to the effect that A. L. Smith, a farmer 
living near Washington Court House, observed 
a flock of passenger pigeons passing his place re¬ 
cently. Mr. Smith says he was familiar with the 
birds years ago and that he cannot be mistaken in 
his identification. Another Ohio resident, Albert 
Botkin, of South Charleston, also reports having 
seen a flock of forty wild pigeons near his home. 
Perhaps somewhere on the continent a few birds 
may have survived. Interest in the subject is 
kept alive more by hope than anything tangible. 
It will be a great day among ornithologists if a 
living wild passenger pigeon is found, and as far 
as ourselves, convinced almost unwillingly but 
none the less certainly that the last pigeon is 
gone, we will continue to hope with the larger 
body of sportsmen and naturalists that we are 
mistaken. 
The Duck Epidemic in Utah 
ITHIN the last few years vast numbers 
of wild ducks and other water fowl 
have died among the marshes along the 
east shore of Great Salt Lake in Utah and in 
other sections where similar natural conditions 
prevail. It is idle to attempt an estimate of the 
total number thus destroyed, but it runs well 
into the hundreds of thousands. Probably more 
water fowl have died mysteriously in the great 
alkaline marshes and swamps of the west than 
have been shot by gunners east of the Missis¬ 
sippi. This may seem like a startling statement, 
but when we read in reports of official investi¬ 
gations, of forty-five thousand wild ducks hav¬ 
ing been gathered and buried in a small district 
within the period of one month, and of thirty 
thousand birds having been picked up on an¬ 
other single stream (Weber River) with simi¬ 
lar official reports from other districts, some 
idea of the mortality among water fowl may 
be had. 
These statistics do not relate to the past year. 
The ducks have fallen victims to so-called but 
misnamed epidemics for many years past. From 
what is known now, following the investigation 
of state and national experts, the water fowl do 
not die as the result of bacteriological poisons, 
nor are they killed off by acid sewage from 
smelting establishments, as has been supposed. It 
is admitted that discharge of acid waste from 
industrial plants does not help matters and prob¬ 
ably is, or at least could be, the cause .of some 
mortality. The ducks do not die from a disease 
that they transmit one to the other. If the con¬ 
clusion of official investigation of biologists is 
correct, the tremendous slaughter of good game 
birds is traceable to an alkaline poison from the 
soil, which is made active as drainage takes 
place or waters recede. The alkali is also 
taken up in solution as the wet seasons come on, 
and fed into marshy areas that the ducks fre¬ 
quent. In a word, between conservation of wa¬ 
ter by advancing settlement and natural drying 
up and re-flooding of marshes, the ducks s'tiand 
little chance. 
This is a serious matter and deserves more at¬ 
tention than has been given it. Several reme¬ 
dies have been suggested; one being to divert 
water from reservoirs into the marshes—for the 
ducks recover in a majority of cases when given 
fresh water. Another suggestion is that the 
ducks be kept away from the affected districts 
and a third is that the afflicted birds be gathered 
up and transferred to better surroundings. The 
second and third remedies appear impracticable, 
and as a matter of fact the first will be hard to 
put into effect. It begins to look as though the 
ducks of the alkaline districts around Salt Lake 
and in similar districts in other states, are 
doomed, unless indeed science shall find a way 
to save them. 
The Starling—Is He a Pest ? 
HE Government is about to make another 
effort to ascertain “where we are at” as 
regards the imported English starling. 
The species is multiplying with amazing rapidity 
and is spreading at a speed that puts even the 
English sparrow to blush. Whether the star¬ 
ling is another sparrow pest or whether he will 
prove a valuable or even a tolerant addition to 
our bird life remains to be seen. The investiga¬ 
tion which the Government is making will be 
complete and of particular value inasmuch as 
examination of the stomachs of the birds will 
disclose whether the starling is truly insectivor¬ 
ous or simply a scavenger of the English spar¬ 
row type. 
The starling has been the subject of much 
poetic tribute, but the ordinary American citizen 
can see little in him that smacks of poetry. In 
flocks he parades the lawns of city parks and 
in his dusty black coat, his attenuated tail and 
ivory bill, he is already too familiar an object. 
When the starling first came to us as a stranger, 
he seemed to have some semblance of a song or 
a melodious whistle, but around the cities where 
he preferably makes his habitation this whistle 
is rarely heard, the ordinary note or conversa¬ 
tion of the bird among his fellows being a sharp 
rasping sound, like the click of a fishing reel. 
While writing only from city observation, we 
believe that the starling is driving out the rem¬ 
nant of wild bird life that has remained with us 
up to this time, and the only satisfaction that 
can be deduced from his presence is that he is 
occasionally seen knocking the stuffing out of the 
pestiferous English sparrow. As a matter of 
fact the sparrow, where the starling sets up his 
aggressive campaign, is becoming a tree bird. 
Of necessity, he may in time become really in¬ 
sectivorous. But the country could get along 
quite happily and to good advantage without the 
presence of either of these visitors. 
