4 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



Dark clouds of coming storms obscured the northern skj^ and 

 the wind blew wild and chill. The Indian hunter, standing 

 on the river shore at sunset, might then have seen the whole 

 sky overcast by clouds of birds, formed in dun strata, moving 

 fast and far in varying lines, but all trending toward the 

 south. Dense masses of Scaup winnowed their way low over 

 the land. Vast flocks of Teal swept close by, with a roar of 

 rushing pinions as they swayed and turned in quest of feeding- 

 grounds. Lines of Mallards extended across the dome of the 

 sky, flock after flock, in almost continuous array. Swift flights 

 of Canvas-backs kept their unwavering course. Masses of 

 Red-heads kept them company, while smaller flocks dis- 

 charged their members like zigzag bolts to the wave below. 

 Here and there Teal and Widgeons rode down the air with 

 stiffening wing, concentering upon lake or river, where many 

 a weary flock sought rest, until the water was black with float- 

 ing birds, and still unwearied myriads high in air sped south- 

 ward. Canada Geese, in the long " V " formation of the 

 unbroken flock, in shattered ranks or in changing lines, trail- 

 ing, crossing and diverging or converging in the sky, passed 

 over in untold numbers with unslackening wing. Their musi- 

 cal notes filled the air like the cries of a thousand packs of 

 hounds. The upper air was full of nameless water-fowl, 

 while far above them all great flocks of Cranes swam in the 

 blue sky; and higher still, in the full light of a sun now 

 passed from view, rode long lines of snowy Swans, their clang- 

 ing, trumpet tones lost among the nearer sounds of voice 

 and wing that fell from the mighty hosts of smaller water- 

 fowl and waders rushing on their way. Scenes approach- 

 ing this great concourse of moving fowl were witnessed and 

 described even as late as the middle of the last century, in 

 the sparsely settled country of the middle west. 



In early days the discharge of a musket near a marshy 

 pool would seem to cause the whole marsh to rise in a mass 

 that blotted out the sky. For days the sky was never clear 

 of Pigeons, and sometimes was entirely obscured for hours. 



The shape and character of the continent and its elevations 

 and depressions are such that, while the autumn movement 

 was generally south throughout the country, much of the 



