more than fifty years ago. It still continues to turn out annually large quantities of young trout into the rivers and lakes of Canterbury, which are now well stocked with fish. Unfortunately a similar success has not attended the Society's effort to protect native game birds and to introduce others.
It must be confessed that a retrospect of the story of feathered game in Canterbury makes sad reading. The native quail, once thick on the plains, are extinct; the kaka and native pigeon, which swarmed on Banks Peninsula, have disappeared along with the bush; duck and teal are still to be found on Lake Ellesmere, but in sadly reduced numbers, and are no longer procurable as food for the people; the pukaki, which formerly blackened the swamp, is becoming a rare bird. Most of this destruction was possibly inevitable; grass fires and settlement exterminated the native quail, and the bush had to be fallen and the swamps drained.
But what has been done to replace the native game birds? We have tried to introduce the pheasant, the partridge, the Californian quail, the Australian black swan, and lately, the Canadian goose. But, unfortunately, the introduction of the sparrow has obliged farmers to make use of poisoned grain, and stoats and weasels have been introduced to kill the rabbits. The result is that Canterbury, to-day, is almost depleted of game. Whether this difficulty can be made good in the future is a question which need not be discussed here, but it may be pointed out that in Leadenhall markets pheasants are often cheaper than fowls, and would, in Canterbury, make a pleasant occasional change even from our celebrated mutton.
The moral of the story of acclimatisation points to the very great care which should be taken in selecting animal, bird or vegetable life for introduction into a new country.
