Forest and Stream, September 13, 1883

Untitled

Tourists and sportsmen -- Field sports - Hunting : Waterfowl and shorebirdNatural resources -- Conservation - Game

THE SHORE BIRD SHOOTING OF 1883 has been miserably meagre. The flights were not heavy, the birds "were up to snuff," and the bags ridiculously small. Disappointed gunners are ready with all sorts of plausible explanations of the deterioration of their favorite sport. The summer beach hotel, the reclamation of waste lands, the Labrador egg collectors, and various other agencies are recited; and against these they inveigh most vehemently, while all hands blaze away at the birds in spring, and again on the southward flight. It never occurs to anyone, however, that the axiomatic truth "you cannot eat your cake and have it too" applies to bird shooting. Until spring shooting is abolished there will be no arresting the steady decrease of the migratory birds. We commend that proposition to the sober consideration of shore bird gunners.