CLOSE SEASON EXTENDED.
I believe that a particular reform, for which I have often pleaded, has already begun to spread from some of the estates where birds are protected or half protected. Shooting is allowed on them at the time when they are invaded by flocks of migrant, duck ; but a special local change, it was delightful to find, has been made in the date of the close season. Duck are no longer shot in these districts after February 14, and in some areas not after February 1st. Norfolk, which has a model naturalists' society, has given an admirable lead in this matter. It will probably be extended, by custom if not by law ; and one would like to see the extension include some mammals as well as birds. Otters are. in young at the height of the hunting season, and duck frequently begin to nest in the first week or two of February.
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