GAME-BIRDS 237 



definition to read "ducks" for "river and sea 

 ducks"; shorebirds, "including plover, woodcock, 

 sandpipers, and curlews . . . "; and left out 

 prairie chickens from the list, including them 

 under the head of grouse. Under the Migratory 

 Treaty between Great Britain and the United 

 States for the protection of migratory birds in 

 the United States and Canada, ratified in 1916, the 

 definition of migratory game-birds included, be- 

 sides ducks, shorebirds, and rails, cranes, such as 

 the "little brown, sandhill, and whooping cranes," 

 and pigeons. There is, however, a permanent 

 closed season on all cranes, though many States 

 still retain the mourning dove on their list of 

 game-birds. 



Birds as game, as defined by law in England, 

 are far fewer in number than in America. Under 

 the law they are "pheasants, partridges, grouse, 

 heath or moor game, black game, and bustards" 

 two natural orders or groups, as against five 

 found in America. These are official game, but 

 shorebirds and wild-fowl, though not officially 

 such, are treated as game and come under the Wild 

 Birds Protection Act of 1880. 



2 

 The Number of Game-Birds in the United States 



According to the definition, and including the 

 pigeon group, there are at the present time roughly 



