INTRODUCTION 



The number of people who are trying to accom- 

 plish something in this good work in America is 

 greater now than ever before, and the promise of good 

 results is brighter than it has been. On the other 

 hand, in many sections the stock of native birds is 

 pitifully reduced, so that while once the only per- 

 sons who used the shotgun were the field shooters, 

 to-day the number of men who shoot afield is small 

 by comparison with those who use the shotgun at clay 

 targets thrown into the air from a trap. 



The good sportsman good in the sense of being 

 devoted to the ethics of sport, and in the sense of being 

 successful in his pursuit of game wishes to know all 

 he can about the life ways of the beautiful birds that 

 he seeks for, and in getting together the material for 

 this book I have endeavored to keep this fact con- 

 stantly in mind. 



xviii 



