AUTHOR'S PEEFACE. 



Tbis work has been written for the purpose of giv- 

 ing a concise description of the Game Birds of Canada 

 and the United States, their haunts and habits, and the 

 methods of shooting and capturing them practised in ya- 

 rious parts of the Continent. I have also endeavored to 

 show how the birds act when pursued by man, to give an 

 idea of what field sports are in different sections of the 

 country, and to sketch some of the types of sportsmen 

 which one frequently meets on the borders of civilization. 

 Having no sympathy with those who slaughter birds in- 

 discriminately for the sake of boasting of heavy bags, 

 I have kept the pot-hunting element of sport as far in 

 the background as possible; and as I do not consider that 

 men armed with modern weapons, and assisted by highly 

 trained dogs, have much to vaunt about even when they 

 make unusually big bags, I have given more prominence 

 to human incidents in the field than to the mere shooting 

 of birds, which is largely a mechanical act. Field sports 

 ought to be with gentlemen a means to an end, that end 

 being the development of faculties which are useful in 

 every sphere of life, the cultivation of generous traits of 

 character, and the retention or recovery of health through 

 exercise, fresh air, and abstention for a time from harass- 

 ing duties. The pleasant excitement and change of scene 

 incident to field sports, and the opportunities they afford 

 for communing with Nature in all her moods, make them 

 a panacea for many of the ills which afflict men of seden- 

 tary occupations. If this work induces some of them to 

 devote more attention to the "virile amusements of gen- 

 tlemen," I shall feel that it has accomplished some use- 

 ful purpose, provided they do not destroy life wantonly, 

 nor forget that 



" He prayeth well, who loveth well 

 Both man and bird and beast. " 



