254 THE IMPOETANCE OF BIRD LIFE 



listed as inhabiting the United States, only the 

 Virginia and clapper rails hold any importance 

 as game. They generally are shot when high 

 tide floods the meadows which are their home, 

 when they are prevented from running from the 

 gunner and must seek safety in flight. Coots 

 also belong to this same general group and 

 in some localities are highly prized for their 

 flesh. 



Pigeons as game-birds are no longer important. 

 Fifty years ago, when the passenger pigeons were 

 so numerous as to darken the sun at times with 

 their flocks, they afforded an excellent mark for 

 slaughter; but those days are gone, and that bird 

 is extinct. The killing of the Carolina dove is 

 permitted in many Southern States, and until 

 recently enormous numbers were annually slain. 

 It was the custom to bait the birds by scattering 

 grain. When the time was ripe a number of 

 men would collect at the selected spot and thou- 

 sands of doves would die. This practice, however, 

 has been discontinued almost everywhere. Again, 

 the band-tailed pigeon* of California and neigh- 

 boring States a few years ago bade fair to go the 

 way of the passenger pigeon, but promiscuous 

 shooting was stopped in time to save the species. 

 The remaining birds of this group — mainly 

 ground-doves — are immune because of their small 

 size. 



