106 



AMERICAN GAME BIRDS 



still are, the tundras of Alaska and the 

 barren grounds that, dotted with count- 

 less lakes and rivers, stretch to the Arctic. 



Here, in these northern wilds, solitude 

 reigns sui)reme, and vast nuiltitudes of 

 waterfowl breed, assured of both food 

 and safety. On these Arctic plains Na- 

 ture has provided in a remarkable way 

 for her winged servants by supplying an 

 inexhaustible crop of berries. As the 

 short summer season wanes the berries 

 ripen and furnish a nutritious food upon 

 which the waterfowl fatten and gain 

 strength for their long southern journey. 



Then the Ice King takes the remainder 

 of the crop in charge, wraps it in a man- 

 tle of snow and ice, and keeps it safe in 

 Nature's cold storage, ready for delivery 

 in spring to the hungry migrants. With- 

 out this storehouse of berries it is doubt- 

 ful if our waterfowl could sustain life in 

 the Arctic, and the so-called barrens, in- 

 stead of being a nursery for myriads of 

 fowl, would indeed be barren so far as 

 bird life is concerned. 



When the short Arctic summer closes 

 and the young birds acquire strength for 

 the journey, multitudes of ducks, geese, 

 swans, and shorebirds, anticipating the 

 Arctic winter, wing their way to southern 

 lands. Including these winged hordes 

 from the Arctic that visit our territory 

 and the birds that nest within our own 

 limits, America possesses upward of 200 

 kinds of game birds, large and small, 

 many of which are in the front rank, 

 whether viewed merely from the eco- 

 nomic standpoint as food or through the 

 eyes of the sportsman. 



FORMER ABUNDANCE OF GAME BIRDS 



While the aggregate numbers of game 

 birds are very great, they sink into insig- 

 nificance when compared with their for- 

 mer abundance. The statements of the 

 early chroniclers regarding the multi- 

 tudes of ducks, plover, and wild pigeons 

 almost defy belief. When, in the records 

 of the first part of the last century, one 

 reads of clouds of pigeons that recpiired 

 three days to pass a given point in a con- 

 tinuous moving stream, and again of 

 flocks estimated to contain more than 

 two billion birds, credulity is taxed to the 

 limit. 



Yet not only one such flock was ob- 

 served, but they were of periodic occur- 

 rence during many years of our early his- 

 tory, and the accounts of them are too 

 well attested to be doubted. As throwing 

 a curious sidelight on the abundance of 

 wild fowl and the hardships to which the 

 slaves of the period were subjected, I 

 quote a paragraph from Grinnell (Amer- 

 ican Game Bird Shooting), who states 

 that "in early days slave owners, who 

 hired out their slaves, stipulated in the 

 contract that canvasback ducks should 

 not be fed to them more than twice each 

 week" ! 



CAUSES OF DECREASE OF GAME BIRDS 



What, then, has become of the teem- 

 ing millions that once possessed the land? 

 Before attempting to answer this ques- 

 tion it may be well briefly to review cer- 

 tain general causes that contribute to the 

 depletion of the ranks of game birds. 

 Among these may be mentioned natural 

 diseases ; natural enemies, both winged 

 and four-footed ; forest, brush, and prai- 

 rie fires ; the drainage of swamps and the 

 general elimination of nesting grounds by 

 the advance of agriculture; and finally, 

 most potent of all the agencies of de- 

 struction — firearms. 



From the nature of things, no data are 

 available to show exactly the relative im- 

 portance of the above causes of decrease 

 or of their separate or combined effect. 

 Nevertheless we can arrive at an approxi- 

 mate idea of their relative efifect. 



Natural diseases seem to play a com- 

 paratively unimportant part in causing 

 the death of birds, except perhaps indi- 

 rectly. In a state of undisturbed nature 

 there are few sick or old birds, for the 

 reason that the sick, the heedless, and the 

 old, as soon as their strength begins to 

 fail, are promptly eliminated by natural 

 enemies, who. while foes of individual 

 bird life, nevertheless do good service to 

 the s])ecies in keeping the vigor of the 

 stock at a high standard by promptly 

 weeding out the unfit. 



While the annual loss of game birds by 

 attacks of predatory birds and mammals 

 is no doubt very great, it is to be noted 

 that it is relatively far less at the present 

 time than formerly, owing to the general 



