DUCK SHOOTING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19719, 19 August 1927, Page 14

DUCK SHOOTING.

Sir, —I would like to thank sportsmen for not shooting the swans on the Western Springs. Some so-called sports around there could not resist the temptation to shoot pukekos and ducks, although many of the birds had their wings cut. I think a man who shoots a bird with its wing cut is no sport at all, and it is quite as bad to do this as to shoot the bird on its nest. 1 am writing in the hope that, by drawing attention to this matter, people will refrain from shooting the hirds on this little lake, for nothing could look better than* the pukekos ducks and swans which are there. Consideration should also be given to the amount of good thev do in clearing up rubbish. I went to Hunua to shoot ducks at the end of July, but we found the birds were pairing and nesting, and, when they found they were not shot at or molested, they flew around us again and again, and then back into the creek, thus proving they were nesting. I therefore suggest that it would be a good policy to prohibit duck-shooting in July, for it is now well known that many of these birds begin pairing and laying in that month. Hatxyth'jston Johnston Pitrnan Road, Point Chevalier.