THE COMMERCIAL VALUE OF BIRDS. n 



where their fecundity, instead of diminishing, has increased 

 to a wonderful degree. It was these peculiarities that 

 probably impelled prehistoric man to domesticate them 

 and keep them in captivity as ready supplies of food, 

 and which his descendants have continued to do with so 

 much profit and success. Take, for instance, the Grouse 

 of the Arctic and temperate regions of the northern 

 hemisphere, a widely distributed group of birds whose 

 flesh is highly prized as an article of food. Hundreds 

 of thousands, nay, millions of Grouse are eaten every 

 year in Euro- Asia and North America, not only by the 

 highly civilised races of mankind, but by the various 

 Siberian and Russian tribes, and by the Esquimaux and 

 Red Man of the New World. The Pheasants are another 

 important and widely spread group of this family of 

 birds. They are confined to the Old World, their home 

 being in temperate Asia, whence they have been intro- 

 duced into most parts of Europe. The common Pheasant 

 is one of the best known species of game bird in this 

 country, and the delicious flavour of its flesh is perhaps 

 unrivalled. The Partridges and Quails of the Old World, 

 and the Curassows, Colins, and Plumed Partridges of the 

 New World, are also highly esteemed for the flavour of 

 their flesh, and are eaten in countless numbers. The 

 Jungle Fowls of India and other parts of tropical Asia 

 are also members of this important family of birds, 

 and are specially interesting as the original stock from 



