65 



Early Abundance of Game Birds. 



When the Pilgrim Fathers settled at Plymouth in 1620, this 

 country was a vast breeding ground of game birds and mam- 

 mals. The elk, moose, deer, and the bison or buffalo, roamed 

 the land in countless numbers. Multitudes of wild turkeys and 

 many millions of grouse and quails were found on mountain 

 and plain. Pigeons sometimes filled the air with their amazing 

 myriads, hiding the sun, and in migration passed over the sky 

 in constant streams and in astounding numbers. Plovers, 

 snipes, curlews and sandpipers were so abundant that at times 

 the very soil of the Mississippi valley seemed to be alive and 

 moving with their feeding hordes. They swarmed on the 

 Atlantic coast, the islands of the sea, and even on the shores of 

 the Great Lakes in innumerable multitudes, while countless 

 numbers of waterfowl breeding over half the area of what is 

 now the United States, and over nearly all of w T hat is now 

 British America, gathered in innumerable hordes, sweeping over 

 the country in the autumnal and vernal migrations. 1 A similar 

 abundance of game birds once existed in nearly every land. 



Game Birds as Food. 



In the early days in America game was of little value com- 

 mercially, and many a hunter would not waste ammunition on 

 anything smaller than a bear, a deer or a wild turkey. But 

 from the very first settlement, wild turkeys, geese and other 

 waterfowl, grouse and pigeons formed a considerable part of 

 the food of the settlers. Such an abundant source of nourishing 

 food never was neglected, and as the large game diminished and 

 disappeared before the advance of civilization, the game birds 

 became relatively more important as a food supply for the 

 growing population. During the early settlement of the country 

 there were no markets, and when grouse were first sold they 

 brought but 1 copper cent each, while even as late as Audubon's 

 time wild turkeys might be bought in the west for 25 cents 

 apiece. But as the birds decreased in number and the demand 

 increased, prices were correspondingly raised. As civilization 



1 Game Birds, Wild-Fowl and Shore Birds, Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture, 1916, 

 Introduction. 



