106 



AMERICAN GAME BIRDS 



still are, the tundras of Alaska and the 

 l)arrcn grounds that, dotted with count- 

 less lakes and rivers, stretch to the iVrctic. 



Flere, in these northern wilds, solitude 

 reigns supreme, and vast multitudes of 

 waterfowl breed, assured of both food 

 and safety. On these Arctic plains Na- 

 ture has proN'ided in a remarkal^le way 

 for lier winged servants by suppl}'ing an 

 inexhaustible crop of l.ierries. ,\s the 

 short summer season wanes the berries 

 ripen and furnish a nutritious food upon 

 which the waterfowl fatten and gain 

 strength for their long southern journe)-. 



Then the Ice King takes the remainder 

 of the crop in charge, wraps it in a man- 

 tle of snow and ice, and keeps it safe in 

 Nature's cold storage, ready for delivery 

 in spring to the hungry migrants. With- 

 out this storehouse of berries it is doubt- 

 ful if our waterfowl could sustain life in 

 the Arctic, and the so-called barrens, in- 

 stead of being a nursery for myriads of 

 fowl, would indeed be barren so far as 

 bird life is concerned. 



When the short Arctic summer closes 

 and the yoinig birds acc|uire strength for 

 the journey, multitudes of ducks, geese, 

 swans, and shoreltircls, anticijjating the 

 .Arctic winter, wing their way to southern 

 lands. Including these winged hordes 

 from the Arctic that \'isit our territory 

 and the birds that nest within our own 

 Hmits, America possesses upward of 200 

 kinds of game birds, large and small, 

 man\' of which are in the front rank, 

 whether viewed niereb' from tlie eco- 

 nomic standpoint as food or tlirough the 

 eyes of the sportsman. 



FORiM];R .\IUIND.\NCI': 01-* (',.\,MI-; lUKDS 



While the aggregate numbers of game 

 birds are very great, they sink into insig- 

 nificance when compared with their for- 

 mer al)undance. The statements of the 

 early chroniclers regarding the multi- 

 tudes of ducks, plo\'er, and wild jiigeons 

 almost defy belief. When, in the records 

 of the first part of the last centurw one 

 reads of clouds of pigeons that recjuired 

 three days to pass a gi\'en point in a con- 

 tinuous moving stream, and again of 

 (locks estimated to contain more than 

 two liillion birds, credulity is taxed to the 

 limit. 



Yet not only one such flock was ob- 

 served, but they were of periodic occur- 

 rence during many years of our early his- 

 tory, and the accounts of them are too 

 well attested to be doubted. As throwing 

 a curious sidelight on the abundance of 

 wild fowl and the hardships to which the 

 slaves of the period were subjected, I 

 tpiote a paragraph from Grinnell (Amer- 

 ican Game Bird Shooting), who states 

 that "in earl_\' da3's slave owners, who 

 hired out their slaves, stipulated in the 

 contract that canvasback ducks should 

 not be fed to them more than twice each 

 week" ! 



C.VUSKS OF ni{CRE.\SK OF CVME BIRDS 



AA'hat, then, has become of the teem- 

 ing millions that once possessed the land? 

 Before attempting to answer this Cjuestion 

 it may be well briefly to review certain 

 general causes that contribute to the de- 

 pletion of the ranks of game birds. 

 Among these may be mentioned natural 

 diseases ; natural enemies, both winged 

 and four-footed: forest, brush, and 

 prairie fires : the drainage of swamps and 

 the general elimination of nesting grounds 

 by the advance of agriculture ; and finally, 

 most potent of all the agencies of de- 

 struction — firearms. 



From the nature of things, no data are 

 a\ailable to show exactly the relative im- 

 portance (if the abo\'e causes of decrease 

 or of their se])arate or combined efifect. 

 \'e\ertheless we can arrive at an approxi- 

 mate idea of their relative eft'ect. 



Natural diseases seem to play a com- 

 parativel)' unimportant part in causing 

 the death of birds, except perhaps indi- 

 rectly. In a state of undisturbed nature 

 there are few sick or old birds, for the 

 reason that the sick, the heedless, and the 

 old, as soon as their strength begins to 

 fail, are promptly eliminated by natural 

 enemies, who, while foes of individual 

 bird life, ne\ertheless do good service to 

 the species in keeping the \igor of the 

 stock at a Jiigh standard by promptly 

 weeding out the unfit. 



While the annual loss of game birds by 

 attacks of predatory birds and mammal's 

 is no doubt very great, it is to be noted 

 tliat it is relatively far less at the present 

 time than formerly, owing to the general 



