THE MAKING OF A SANCTUARY.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXXXIV, Issue 61, 6 July 1908, Page 1

THE MAKING OF A SANCTUARY.

, It. is not a large place, bub it is secure, and in an age of indiscriminate shooting' at whatever may come handiest in tno shape of fur or feather,, the wild things soon learn that they are unmolested at a certain spot, and take full advantage of its shelter. Several years ago i assisted at the beginning of the sanctuary, and 1 'have a vivid recollection of two hard digging, in company with four boys, 'during most of winch timo wo were covered in clay and perspiration, and unlit for polite society. I lion, on tliD third day the kst yard of ground that separated the water-race we proposed to divert, to • the hoi low which was to be a lake was cue through, and a small boj r rushing up the niii to the house summoned my friend and the regaining members of his i'anuiy to view the turbid stream running in its new course and forming the lake, which since that time has been the homo of \Vilil 'fowl of different kinds. Later on another small lake was made, and as nothjng seeking refuge 011 either cf them 'has cvor failed to hud it, birds that would, if found a niiJe or so away —on'oho of their expeditions—be olf like lightning, are quite indiii'erent to the presence of man, and will swim up to the edge to be fed, in perfect confidence.

Tinio lias fringed the banks with"a 'plentiful 5 gl'owth of ru&hes, iiax and toitoi have been planted, and the small willows that were roughly put in to take their.chance have developed rapidly, and" arb now fair-sized trees with branches that help to 'malie 1 cover for the ducks. The first proceeding when the pool [ was full was to stock it with trout, and [the 'second to fish most of them out '-again, but when that had been accomplished and the new pool below had attracted the bathers, Liio piaco was left more to itself.

; Some teal were the first feathered inhabitants, and for months they were in the habit of coming lurch lrumsome secret fastness at dusk, and disporting themselves about the pool. I'hen in the springtime they went away, never to return, possibly misfortune befell them, but at any.rate ihey had given the boys an idea that it would be interesting to havo wild birds on their lagoons, which was carried out as opportunity offered. During the following summer four black cygnets were brought from a distant lake, and the first made pool having been fenced in, these were pinioned and liberated on its waters. One came to grief, but the others or their descendants still remain tiiero in security. " Oil another excursion in the summer holidays a brood of halfHedged Paradise ducks was found on a and three were captured. Two of them died or disappeared, and one remained with the swans until the next summer, when more captures of his kind were made to bear him company. ' The majority of a brood of grey ducks also arrived as part of the spoil of the same foray, but unluckily these were old enough to have notions of their own about staying where they were put, and after a brief sojourn of two days, "missing ' had to be recorded as their fato.

A solitary grey druko appeared from somewhere, and soon got into the way of, coming down the races connoting tlio two pools, and feeding with tlio fowls and Paradise ducks at the puns ill' the adjoining held. in the spring ho went away, like the leal, but one winter morning it was reported that seven grey ducks wero on tlio pool. The supposition is that the (iruko brought his family back to a piuee Where he knew ti;ey wouid be hai'e, but be that as it may, t.ie number of grey ducks wliicli conic regularly to bo fed by the youngest daugtitor of the owner has increased from year to year, and no fewer than fifty-two were counted at breakfast yesterday. Every evening at dusk'lboy all" go out to forago on the . neighboring ponds and creeks, returning sometime before daylight. No doubt a few are shot irom time to time, but their number never seriously diminishes until the coming of spring, when they gradually S® ,°u to attend to their domestic dlraiis, anci for the summer months the pools are left to the l/aradise ducks and swans. then with the autumn comes the shooting season, and, driven from place to place by gunners, the old grey ducks, who know tlio place, collect the survivors of their families and liy home with them to tho security of the sanctuary. "Canterbury," in the Press.