He used to be called
cock-of-the-woods, but the name was twisted around until it became
woodcock, and some people believe that he is the gamey little bird we
so much delight to shoot and eat. But they belong to different
orders, one being a climber and the other a wader. Lester speaks of a
rabbit, not knowing that there is no such thing as a wild rabbit in
our country, and calls it _Ortyx Virgiana_, when he should have
called it _Lepus Virginianus_, the name he uses being the one by
which our quail is known to ornithologists. A deer, which he calls a
dog-wolf, is _Cervus Virginianus_. O, he's a naturalist as well as a
sportsman," shouted Don, as he laid back upon the sofa and laughed
until his sides ached.
"Then he didn't get one of the names right?"
"Not a single one. After all, his ignorance on these points is not so
astonishing, for everybody is liable to make mistakes; but that any
boy living in this day and age should imagine that, by simply getting
up a club and adopting a constitution, he could imprison or fine
another boy because he didn't do just to suit him, is too ridiculous
to be believed. That particular paragraph was probably copied after
some old game law Lester read years ago; but he ought to know that
before a sportsman's club, or any other organization, can have
authority to prosecute persons for trapping birds and sending them
away, there must first be a law passed prohibiting such trapping and
sending away; and there's no such law in this state.
Pages:
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141