
clarion ‘‘a-honk, a-honk, a-honka!” of north-bound 
geese may drop earthward and whip the blood to 
a fever of restlessness, but more interesting is the 
‘rumor of open water, the first pussy willows, the 
low and water-loving gurgle of blackbirds talking 
confidentially and endlessly in the alders. These 
are the signs appealing to the angler, the tramper 
of clamorous brooks. 
To listening ears comes the soft, silken, persua- 
sive whisper of Spring at her beauty-making. The 
poet hidden beneath the old coat of the angler an- 
swers like a sunken bell. He feels the stir of things. 
He writes a fugitive verse to the lures of the mo- 
ment or he goes through all the symptoms. He 
feels the spell stealing in upon his work and play. 
‘He can not rebel nor resist, and so he goes abroad 
to some chosen haunt lost in the length and breadth 
of pulsing landscapes. His seeking of the spell is 
love, his prowling of the waters with the inevitable 
‘compensations of success or failure is living poetry. 
Nature hath no greater lover than the gentle 
angler, the nomad of laughing waters and grow- 
ing things. 22s te mtn 
| START WING SHOOTING RIGHT 
. HERE is no better gun for teaching the young 
| idea how to shoot than the .410, or ‘‘collector’s 
i gun,” as it is sometimes called. Its weight is 
usually somewhere between 4 and 5 lbs., so that 
‘even a boy of tender years can easily manage it. 
To let a boy begin to shoot with a gun that is be- 
yond his strength is one of the worst things pos- 
sible and is likely to develop a slow, awkward, and 
poking sort of style that in later years may be very 
difficult to get rid of. The range of the .410 is, of 
course, limited, for the charge it shoots is a small 
one. This, however, is an advantage rather than 
the reverse with the beginner, for knowing that 
long shots are very unlikely to be successful, he is 
not tempted to take them as he would be with a 
gun of greater power; and if there is one thing 
that the novice should be taught to avoid, it is the 
taking of long shots. For all that, the .410 can do 
surprisingly good work up to about 25 yards range, 
and in the hands of one who knows how to use it, 
it can kill almost anything within reasonable range. 
The .410, if properly bored, and especially if it be 
chambered to take the 214 in. case, is in fact a very 
effective weapon, and very useful for any shooting 
im places where one does not want to make too 
much noise. When brass cartridges are used, the 
.410 becomes a far more efficient weapon because 
of the possibility of firing a heavier charge. The 
2 in. brass case will hold as much as the 214 in. 
paper case, and the shooting appears to be much 
harder with the former. With a light weapon like 
this, one can, of course, be very quick. Those who 
have never used one of these handy little guns will 
be surprised to find how fascinating the .410 can 
be. It is the very thing to take with one for a stroll 
when one does not want to be bothered with the 
more weighty 12-bore. 
EATING LEAD SHOT CAUSES POISONING 
OF MANY DUCKS 
EAD poisoning due to eating shot is a malady 
of various species of wild ducks which of 
| recent years has.attracted attention among 
persons interested in game birds in the United 
ee It is thought by the Biological Survey that 
. 
| 

4 
4a number of species.in addition to those about 
which facts are known may have been poisoned 
in the same way. At present little can be done 
about lead poisoning beyond calling attention to 
its prevalence and describing its cause. 
From year to year a large quantity of expended 
shot is deposited in the mud about shooting points 
and blinds and marshes, shallow bays and lakes. 
Many birds find and swallow these leaden pellets 
while searching for food and become seriously 
affected by the poison thus taken. The mallard, 
canvas-back, and pintail ducks and whistling swans 
have suffered most. It is believed that the trouble 
is generally prevalent throughout the country. 
Sportsmen and others interested in this condi- 
tion among wild ducks will find further details in 
the United States Department of Agriculture Bul- 
letin 793. Lead Poisoning in Waterfowl, by Alex- 
ander Wetmore of the Biological Survey. The 
bulletin may be had while the supply lasts by ad- 
dressing the Division of Publications, United States 
Department of Agriculture, at Washington, D. C. 
IN FAVOR OF THE PHEASANT 
EOPLE who own land on which pheasants 
range sometimes wonder whether the birds 
are an asset or liability. How much valuable 
grain and vegetable matter do they consume and 
what part of their diet consists of injurious insects? 
In this connection, the following item, from a 
British sporting paper, is of interest: 
“Last week when drawing a hen pheasant we 
found the crop almost tight with wireworms. We 
counted a couple of hundred, and then gave the 
business up since there looked to be quite as many 
more. We presumed the bird had gleaned the 
worms on the recently sown wheat fields. We were 
surprised that it could have found so many at this 
chilly season of the year, when we thought even 
the wireworm was not particularly active and 
buried itself. too deeply in the ground for the 
pheasants to reach it. We were also a little sur- 
prised that every worm was dead. We should have 
thought that they could have lived even for days 
in a dead pheasant’s crop and even made their way 
out of it. There was not a single grain of wheat 
amongst them. We called a farmer friend to view 
the find, and he was as surprised as we were our- 
selves, and declared he would never say another 
word against the pheasant.” 
APRIL SONGS 
O listen to song welling and dripping from 
ule the throatal depths of some hidden bird is to 
hear the sweetest and most splendid sound of 
nature. Identity means nothing. If the singer is 
in line of vision, if the mood of the listener is in 
harmony with the mood of time and place, then the 
song is a beautiful thing speaking clear to the 
abyss of the soul. 
And again if the bird be not seen and only the 
song drips in broken and flute-like fragments down 
through green rafters and silence, if man is caught 
unaware and in surprise, the song is an evanescent 
thing that haunts like the dim-remembered break- 
ing of a remote dream. It is poetry, music, all 
the adventurous spirit of a confidential nature 
seeking the romantic in man. 
Beware April for she is famous for these epi- 
sodes that taunt the spirit, ache desire, and make 
poignant the very moments of man. 
217 
