AUTHOR’S PREFACE, 
This work has been written for the purpose of giv- 
ing a concise description of the Game Birds of Canada 
and the United States, their haunts and habits, and the 
methods of shooting and capturing them practised in va- 
rious parts of the Continent. I have also endeavored to 
show how the birds act when pursued by man, to give an 
idea of what field sports are in different sections of the 
country, and to sketch some of the types of sportsmen 
which one frequently meets on the borders of civilization. 
Having no sympathy with those who slaughter birds in- 
discriminately for the sake of boasting of heavy bags, 
I have kept the pot-hunting element of sport as far in 
the background as possible; and as I do not consider that 
men armed with modern weapons, and assisted by highly 
trained dogs, have much to vaunt about even when they 
make unusually big bags, I have given more prominence 
to human incidents in the field than to the mere shooting 
of birds, which is largely a mechanical act. Field sports 
ought to be with gentlemen a means to an end, that end 
being the development of faculties which are useful in 
every sphere of life, the cultivation of generous-traits of 
character, and the retention or recovery of health through 
exercise, fresh air, and abstention for a time from harass- 
ing duties. The pleasant excitement and change of scene 
incident to field sports, and the opportunities they afford 
for communing with Nature in all her moods, make them 
a panacea for many of the ills -which afflict men of seden- 
tary occupations. If this work induces some of them to 
devote more attention to the “virile amusements of gen- 
tlemen,” I shall feel that it has accomplished some use- 
ful purpose, provided they do not destroy life wantonly, 
nor forget that 
“ He prayeth well, who loveth well 
Both man and bird and beast, ” 
