PART I. 



BIRDS HUNTED FOR FOOD OR SPORT. 



The following histories of living birds include practically 

 all the species and subspecies that are now hunted for food or 

 sport in Massachusetts. The list includes many which are 

 not strictly game birds ; but most of them are of some value 

 as food. The aim has been to present, first, a brief description 

 of each bird and the principal marks and notes by which it 

 may be identified ; next, in case of those species which breed 

 or formerly bred in Massachusetts or nearby States, a descrip- 

 tion of the nest and eggs. The history of the common birds 

 contains such facts as could be gathered regarding their 

 former abundance, together with some account of their deple- 

 tion up to the year 1909 ; also some observations on interesting 

 habits, migration movements and food. Unfortunately, the 

 results of the work on the food of wild-fowl and shore birds, 

 which has been undertaken by the Bureau of Biological Sur- 

 vey, have not yet been published, and there is no authoritative 

 publication on this subject ; but such material as is readily 

 available regarding the food of each species has been utilized 

 in the following pages. 



Grebes (Family Colymbidae). 



In the modern sj-stem of classifying natural objects it is 

 customary to present first the lowest and simplest forms. 

 Since the extermination of the Great Auk, the Grebes have 

 been the lowest in the scale of classification of the forms of 

 bird life commonly hunted. They rank near to the flightless 

 Penguins and the Auks, and only just above the Guillemots 

 and Puffins. All these birds seem closely allied in some 

 respects to the reptiles, from which birds are supposed to 

 have originated. The beak of the Grebe is usually sharply 

 pointed; the eyes well forward, the skin in front of them 



