10 GAME BIEDS OF CALIFORNIA 



are now crowded into the few ponds and marshes which are not yet 

 reclaimed. It now takes a seientifieally managed gun-club pond with 

 every attraction that can be offered to wild fowl to bring the birds 

 in large numbers. The same numbers of birds that can now be seen 

 on baited ponds were present formerly on every small natural pond 

 in the state. An example of tliis concentration is to be found in the 

 vicinity of Gridley, Butte County, where geese still congregate 

 annually in immense numbers; but most of the localities in the San 

 Joaquin and Sacramento valleys which formerly favored the winter- 

 ing of these birds, are completely devoid of them now. INIany observers, 

 seeing thousands of ducks on a few sections of overflowed land, fail 

 to realize that the same sort of ground once extended far and wide 

 through the valleys, and that these immense areas were then as well 

 populated as are the smaller areas at the present time. 



The annually diminishing kills on club grounds also indicate that 

 both waterfowl and upland game birds have decreased in this state. 

 Although the gradual reduction that has been made in the bag limit 

 might be expected to favor the maintenance of an adequate supply 

 of ducks, the increase in-the efficiency of firearms and methods of 

 attracting waterfowl has undoubtedly facilitated their capture. The 

 old-timers continue to complain of the decreasing number of birds 

 brought to bag. The following table (no. 1) compiled from the books 

 of the Empire Gun Club, one of the best managed clubs in California, 

 will serve to indicate the changes in abundance of the several species 

 of game birds visiting those grounds. Of course the figures do not 

 take into account the varying number of shooters each year, nor the 

 fewer shooting days from year to year. A noticeable decrease in the 



Table 1. — Game birds shot on the grounds of the Empire Gun Club (Elkhorn, 

 Monterey County, California) in four seasons between 

 1905 and 1913 

 1905-06 1910-11 1911-12 1912-13 



Mallard 106 18 13 22 



Gadwall 5 7 1 10 



Widgeon 525 537 328 227 



Teal 2028 436 780 1198 



Spoonies 905 332 881 651 



Sprig 449 1839 1660 1645 



Canvasback 251 8 87 23 



Bluebill 91 125 44 29 



Black-jack 28 5 5 



Quail 693 776 600 382 



Snipe 117 189 95 24 



Sundry 96 34 38 16 



Totals 5266 4329 4532 4232 



