PREFACE 
and I have striven to bring together much material of 
interest to the sportsman which is now scattered 
through many volumes and periodicals, and is thus not 
easily accessible. 
The plan of the book does not differ essentially from 
that of “American Duck Shooting.” Its first part is 
devoted to descriptions of the birds and their hab- 
its, the second part to the various methods employed 
in taking the birds and the aids to shooting—dogs, guns 
and ammunition; while in the third is discussed the 
shooting of the future. 
I have received at several hands valuable assistance, 
which I desire here to acknowledge. Dr. A. K. Fisher, 
of the Biological Survey of Washington, a keen sports- 
man and experienced ornithologist, kindly read over 
the manuscript. Mr. B. Waters, distinguished as a 
crack shot, and especially learned in the hunting dog, 
is chiefly responsible for the chapters especially de- 
voted to dog and gun. To the kindness of Mrs. Ver- 
non Bailey and of the Houghton, Mifflin Co. I owe the 
excellent plates of the scaled quail and Mearns’ quail, 
taken from her “Handbook of Birds of the Western 
United States.” Messrs. Little, Brown & Company 
give me permission to reproduce several cuts from 
Baird, Brewer and Ridgway’s “North American 
Birds.” The Forest and Stream Publishing Company 
1X 
