INTRODUCTION 



SOME years ago I was shooting ducks in North 

 Dakota with some army officers from Fort 

 Totten. In looking over the bag one evening I found 

 a number of birds which were entirely new to me. 

 Several of them were not mentioned in any of the 

 books on field sports. It occurred to me then that 

 a book describing every game bird would be a valu- 

 able addition to a sportsman's library. 



The authors of the earlier books had little or no 

 experience west of the AUeghenies and many of the 

 birds now taken by sportsmen were unknown to them. 

 When Audubon and Wilson wrote their ornithologies 

 much of the Western country was inhabited by hostile 

 Indians and was inaccessible. Audubon was aware of 

 the existence of the best American grouse, the sharp- 

 tail, but said that he was entirely unfamiliar with its 

 habits. Forester had no acquaintance with the com- 

 mon prairie-grouse. All the birds are now known, 

 and described, but the information is contained in 

 many volumes, and is, for the most part, too technical 

 to entertain sportsmen. 



There is not to-day a complete manual of the 

 feathered ganie of North America. 



