INTRODUCTION 7 



snipe, the delicious field-plover, and more than half a 

 hundred others, more or less desirable as marks or food. 

 North America has (or had) more than its share of the 

 wild pigeons of the world. The passenger pigeon has 

 gone never to return. But the band-tail, a fine bird, 

 still remains in goodly numbers on the Pacific Coast, 

 and there are a number of other excellent pigeons and 

 doves which are still shot by sportsmen. There are 

 two edible cranes. The king-rail is a large and tooth- 

 some bird, and the smaller varieties all are good to eat. 



It is with some regret that the writer has observed 

 the change from the old conditions to the new. Al- 

 though clubmen are everywhere cordial and hospitable 

 and there are invitations enough to shoot over private 

 preserves, there was a charm about the tramp over 

 virgin fields when there were no game-laws, club-rules 

 or restraints of any kind, not soon to be forgotten. 



At the outset we are met with the difficulty of de- 

 termining what birds are game. I have decided to in- 

 clude in my commentary all birds which are legally 

 taken by sportsmen, save one — the robin red-breast 

 (which is legally shot and devoured in some of the 

 Southern States) — giving more space to those deserv- 

 ing of it. There are many which I would willingly see 

 protected at all times. 



My observation of the birds is from the sportsman's 

 blind, or as he sees them in a tramp across the field, 

 with dog and gun; a sufficient description, however, 

 being given in the notes at the end of the volume 

 to enable the reader to identify the species. We 

 do not go to the museums to compare skins with 

 the naturalists in the hope of creating a sub-species, 



