CHAPTER VI 
THE GAME BIRDS AND LARGER NON-GAME BIRDS 
OF CANADA 
In another chapter the protection of the insectivorous 
and other small members of our bird fauna is considered. 
These birds have not received the attention of sportsmen, 
non-sportsmen (including the market hunter), and the 
framers of game legislation that has been given to the large 
class of birds included within the category of game birds, 
in which category, however, are included a number of birds, 
such as swans and cranes, that are no longer regarded as 
game birds. 
Within this important class of birds are included such 
migratory groups as the swans, geese, ducks, cranes, and 
shore birds, and the non-migratory species, such as grouse 
and quail. 
From the earliest historical times perhaps no country 
was inhabited during the spring, summer, and early fall by 
so large 4 number of swans, geese, and ducks as Canada, 
_ whose vast areas of water, in the form of marshes, sloughs, 
ponds, and lakes, furnished nesting-places and food for 
myriads of these water-fowl. The opening up and agri- 
cultural development of the country, the construction of 
railroads, and the birth and growth of towns and cities 
gradually brought about a rapid decrease in their number 
and drove many of them back into the undeveloped lands 
of the north, where at the present time by far the vast 
majority continue to breed. The causes which have mainly 
contributed to this decrease in the numbers of these migra- 
tory game birds are discussed elsewhere (page 172), and 
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