The savage desire to kill “all that the law allows” often is manifested in men in whom we naturally expect to find a very different spirit.  By way of illumination, I offer three cases out of the many that I could state.

Case No. 1. The Duck Breeder.—­A gentleman of my acquaintance has spent several years and much money in breeding wild ducks.  From my relations with him, I had acquired the belief that he was a great lover of ducks, and at least wished all species well.  One whizzing cold day in winter he called upon me, and stated that he had been duck-hunting; which surprised me.  He added, “I have just spent two days on Great South Bay, and I made a great killing. In the two days I got ninety-four ducks!"

I said, “How could you do it,—­caring for wild ducks as you do?”

“Well, I had hunted ducks twice before on Great South Bay and didn’t have very good luck; but this time the cold weather drove the ducks in, and I got square with them!”

Case No. 2. The Ornithologist.—­A short time ago the news was published in Forest and Stream, that a well-known ornithologist had distinguished himself in one of the mid-western states by the skill he had displayed in bagging thirty-four ducks in one day, greatly to the envy of the natives; and if this shoe fits any American naturalist, he is welcome to put it on and wear it.

Case No. 3. The Sportsman.—­A friend of mine in the South is the owner of a game preserve in which wild ducks are at times very numerous.  Once upon a time he was visited by a northern sportsmen who takes a deep and abiding interest in the preservation of game.  The sportsman was invited to go out duck-shooting; ducks being then in season there.  He said: 

“Yes, I will go; and I want you to put me in a place where I can kill a hundred ducks in a day!  I never have done that yet, and I would like to do it, once!”

“All right,” said my friend, “I can put you in such a place; and if you can shoot well enough, you can kill a hundred ducks in a day.”

The effort was made in all earnestness.  There was much shooting, but few were the ducks that fell before it.  In concluding this story my friend remarked in a tone of disgust: 

“All the game-preserving sportsmen that come to me are just like that! They want to kill all they can kill!”

There is a blood-test by which to separate the conscientious sportsmen from the mere gunners.  Here it is: 

A sportsman stops shooting when game becomes scarce; and he does not object to long-close-season laws; but

A gunner believes in killing “all that the law allows;” and he objects to long close seasons!

I warrant that whenever and wherever this test is applied it will separate the sheep from the goats.  It applies in all America, all Asia and Africa, and in Greenland, with equal force.