THE BIRD STUDY BOOK 



and having this conform to the available game 

 supply, every state could at one and the same time 

 preserve the different species, and furnish satisfac- 

 tory shooting for its sportsmen. 



But in practice the theory failed to work as 

 expected; the gunners were on hand every fall 

 in incre-'sing numbers but the birds continued to 

 grow scarcer. 



In the vernacular of the sportsman, birds that 

 may legitimately be shot are divided for convenience 

 into three groups, viz., upland game birds, water 

 fowl, and shore birds. It is in reference to the for- 

 tunes of the water fowl and shore birds that the 

 greatest apprehension has been felt. Approximately 

 all of the species concerned are of migratory habits. 

 The open seasons when these may be hunted vary 

 greatly in different states and all attempts to get any- 

 thing like uniform laws in the various hunting 

 territories have been attended with failure. 



It became clear in time that the most important 

 action that could be taken to conserve these birds 

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