CHAPTER VI 



THE GAME BIRDS AND LARGER NON-GAME BIRDS 

 OF CANADA 



In another chapter the protection of the insectivorous 

 and other small members of our bird fauna is considered. 

 These birds have not received the attention of sportsmen, 

 non-sportsmen (including the market hunter), and the 

 framers of game legislation that has been given to the large 

 class of birds included within the categoiy of game birds, 

 in which category, however, are included a number of birds, 

 such as swans and cranes, that are no longer regarded as 

 game birds. 



Within this important class of birds are included such 

 migratory groups as the swans, geese, ducks, cranes, and 

 shore birds, and the non-migratory species, such as grouse 

 and quail. 



From the earliest historical times perhaps no country 

 was inhabited during the spring, summer, and early fall by 

 so large a number of swans, geese, and ducks as Canada, 

 whose vast areas of water, in the form of marshes, sloughs, 

 ponds, and lakes, furnished nesting-places and food for 

 myriads of these water-fowl. The opening up and agri- 

 cultural development of the coimtry, the construction of 

 railroads, and the birth and growth of towns and cities 

 gradually brought about a rapid decrease in their number 

 and drove many of them back into the undeveloped lands 

 of the north, where at the present time by far the vast 

 majority continue to breed. The causes which have mainly 

 contributed to this decrease in the numbers of these migra- 

 tory game birds are discussed elsewhere (page 172), and 



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