CHAPTER XII 



GAME-BIRDS 



1. Definition. 2. The Number of Game-Birds in the United States. 

 3. The Tragedy of the Water-Fowl. 4. The Tragedy of the 

 Shorebirds. 5. The Tragedy of the Upland Birds. 6. En- 

 emies of Game-Birds. 7. Protection and Conservation. 



Definition 



It is exceedingly difficult to hit upon a defini- 

 tion for game-birds which will meet with univer- 

 sal agreement. The majority of civilized coun- 

 tries have their own individual sets of game-laws 

 and their own definitions of the characteristics 

 considered necessary to place a bird on the game 

 list. These characteristics vary, of course, ac- 

 cording to the species which inhabit the region. 

 Thus, many birds of Europe are accounted as 

 game, which do not occur at all in the United 

 States; the game-birds of South America are 

 very different from those of North America ; and 

 the Australian game-birds differ from any others 

 in the world. 



Two countries with a common frontier may 

 have diametrically opposite attitudes toward game. 

 Popular tradition may have it that a song-bird 



233 



