114 THE GAME BIRDS. 
must now go to the West to find the flocks, 
and, there even, their numbers are greatly 
lessened. 
It could hardly be called sport to hunt 
them when they were common, for a shot fired 
into the midst of a flock would bring down 
numbers of them, but they are now somewhat 
followed as game. They are fine eating; and 
it takes a good shot to secure a single bird, as 
their powers of flight and its velocity are 
wonderful. They migrate in flocks, some- 
times of immense size, but although they re- 
main in colonies, they breed in single pairs. 
