ECONOMIC VALUE OF OUR BIRDS 63 



order of shore-birds, concerning which a strange 

 condition now exists. Forty years ago, aye, even 

 thirty years ago, many members of this group of 

 sixty conspicuous bird species were scattered 

 throughout the length and breadth of our country 

 east of the great plains and west of the Sierra 

 Nevada Mountains. The jack-snipe, woodcock, 

 killdeer plover, the curlews, dowitchers and others 

 spread from the Atlantic coast to Nebraska and 

 Kansas, and everyone knew them. 



To-day, in practical effect, the shore-birds of the 

 United States are limited to a remnant along the 

 Atlantic shore line, and another remnant along the 

 Pacific coast. At long intervals between, in little 

 pockets as it were, a few snipe and woodcock still 

 survive, but as representatives of the great blanket 

 of shore-birds that once was spread over our coun- 

 try, they do not amount to anything more than 

 pitiful samples. To-day, when you say to your 

 neighbor that "our shore-birds are vanishing, and 

 need quick protection," the chances are that he will 

 look at you with a puzzled expression, and ask in 

 all sincerity, "Just what are shore-birds?" This 

 has actually occurred repeatedly in my experience 

 during the past two years. It is a fact that to-day 

 our shore-birds need an introduction to the Ameri- 

 can people at large, their natural protectors. 



If we are asked to describe the order of shore- 

 birds, in a few words, we may say that it contains 

 the long-legged, slender-billed, plainly colored 



