GAME 



BIRDS 



O F 



AMERICA 



A WOODCOCK 



The range of the species formerly 

 extended over Mexico, most of the 

 United States, and into southern On- 

 tario. The early explorers found it rov- 

 ing in large flocks along the Atlantic 

 seaboard, and at times migrating in great 

 armies in search of food. 



We can form little idea today of 

 the former almost incredible abundance 

 of these noble birds. Our forefathers 

 were accustomed to hunt them for the 

 Thanksgiving dinner, and they rarely 

 failed to secure a good supply. The bird 

 is now extinct through the greater part 

 of its former range. It was hunted, trapped, and shot at all seasons, 

 and is likely to vanish from the earth unless it can be propagated under 

 partial domestication and restored to its former habitat. 



THE CANADA GOOSE 



There is a quality in the cry of the wild geese returning northward 

 in the spring that stirs the blood of all to whom the "Red Gods" call. 

 That wild and solemn clamor ringing down the sky is as "the voice of 

 one crying in the wilderness." All eyes are turned to follow the baseless 

 triangle drifting fast across the sky. What memories are awakened by 

 that resounding call, — -memories of open marsh or prairie, sounding shore 

 and placid bay, lake or river, scenes of a wilderness of waters or of plains; 

 for the wild goose is a bird of the waste places! Two hundred years ago 

 it nested over the greater part of the continent; but civilization and mar- 

 ket hunting have confined it now mainly to the vast morasses of the 

 North, where it seeks some island in the 

 marshy lands and there makes its nest. 



The goose normally mates for life, 

 and as its life is reckoned to last about 

 one hundred years the partnership, bar- 

 ring accidents, is a long one; but life is 

 full of accidents. The goose does not 

 reach maturity early, and therefore does 

 not breed for the first few years. The 

 gander is not such a goose as he looks; 

 for in his constant watch over mate, 

 nest, and young he shows both courage 

 and sagacity. He defends his mate and 

 brood to the utmost extremity. He is 



RING- NECK PLOVER 



This bird mother is brooding a chick. 



