160 CONSERVATION OF CANADIAN WILD LIFE 



Atlantic coasts to Argentina and Patagonia, a distance of 

 6,000 to 9,000 miles. In the spring it took a westerly course 

 northward, and covered the prairie regions of the United 

 States and Canada. It was in the Middle States, on the 

 prairies of Texas and Kansas, that the ''dough birds," as 

 they were called, met their fate. They congregated in such 

 closely massed, large flocks that their wholesale slaughter 

 by the market gunners was rendered easy. Forbush has 

 given an excellent account of the history and the disappear- 

 ance of this bird. He records the occurrence of immense 

 flights of these birds on their southward journey; their 

 dense flocks of milHons would darken the sky, and the 

 fishermen of Labrador and Newfoundland salted them 

 down in barrels. All down the east coast the slaughter in 

 the fall was terrific. In the spring they were killed in 

 thousands in the Mississippi Valley, and were shipped into 

 the Eastern market by the ton, in barrels. No bird could 

 stand such slaughter, and in less then thirty years they 

 were practically exterminated. It is a sad story of the 

 exterminating effect of unrestricted destruction, and affords 

 one of the most powerful object-lessons. 



The Long-billed Curlew is not common east of the prairies, 

 but it is still fairly abundant in the southern portions of 

 Saskatchewan and Alberta, where it breeds on the open 

 prairie, and in British Columbia. But like other members 

 of the family it is suffering from the inevitable extension of 

 agriculture and the consequent reduction in its breeding- 

 grounds. At the present time this species, the Hudsonian, 

 and other curlews enjoy a permanent close season until 

 1923, and, with adequate protection, it should be possible 

 to prevent their extermination. 



BOB-WHITE, OR QUAIL 



In Canada the bob-white is confined to the extreme 

 southern portion of southwestern Ontario, although its 



