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A ME RICA A ' ORNITHOL OGY. 



Why 0\ir Ga-me Birds a-re 

 Disa-ppeaLring. 



What is a game bird? You may 

 say, "One whose tlesh is good to 

 eat," but that is too broad. Robins 

 and blackbirds are considered as 

 very good eating, but tliey are not 

 by any means game birds. I thinlv 

 on the whole a definition that will 

 cover the question is, "A game bird 

 is one that by special legislation, is 

 allowed, at certain seasons, to be 

 slaughtered in unlimited numbers, 

 by a body of men called sportsmen." 

 Not a very pleasant outlook for the 

 birds is it? All birds are endowed 

 with a good share of common sense, 

 and under ordinary circumstances 

 are amply able to protect them- 

 selves, ft does not take them long 

 to distinguish between their friends 

 and^enemies. While foxes, skunks 

 and a few other animals have 

 killed a number of the game birds 

 every year, still their depredations 

 have caused no serious decrease in 

 the numbers. Likewise with the 

 few hawks and owls that prey upon 

 them. Now.^we^come 'to man the 

 most ingenious, creative, and de- 

 structive of all animals. 



Let us commence at the begin- 

 ning. Our forefathers by much 

 practice with their flint-locks be- 

 came expert marksmen (to which 

 fact we owe our freedom today). 

 They were dependent upon their 

 rifles for their supply of meat, and 

 therefore cannot be criticized for 

 killing the few birds that they did. 

 Later the breech loading shot irun 



was invented. Now comes the com- 

 mencement of the downfall of the 

 birds. Hunting which had hitherto 

 been mostly through necessity now 

 became a pastime and was pursued 

 everywhere. Next a brilliant mind 

 conceived the idea of having two 

 barrels on one gun, thus giving him" 

 another chance to get a bird if he 

 missed the fust. So the double-bar- 

 rel shot gun was formed. The cry 

 on every hand was "birds, more 

 birds," and the one who could bring 

 in the most game was considered 

 the best sportsman. At last one 

 more clever than the rest struck a 

 new idea. He thought, "If I could 

 only know where the birds are be- 

 fore they fly 1 could get more. Ah, 

 1 have it." With great persever- 

 ance, he at last succeeds in training 

 his dog to accomplish what he is un- 

 able to do, that is to find the birds. 

 With his superior sense of smell, 

 the dog could scent a game bird at 

 some distance, and he trained him 

 to stand still, and as it is now called 

 "point the bird." This step creat- 

 ed a new impetus to the game de- 

 struction, and the man who didn't 

 have at least one bird dog, was not 

 a "thorough sportsman." There is 

 one part of the outfit that 1 have 

 overlooked, the hunting coat. Hunt- 

 ers soon found that the birds were 

 keen sighted, so in order to approach 

 as closely as possible, before being 

 seen, they had hunting coats con- 

 structed of brown material to match 

 the general color of the woods. 

 These coats were made for use as 

 well as looks, for they were covered 



