14 INTRODUCTION. 



of their own reasoning powers to find and 

 secure their game, depend on hiring others more 

 experienced and willing to work, and do not ques- 

 tion the whys and wherefores of their movements, 

 or those of the game. They are content simply 

 to shoot .when opportunities present themselves. 

 The man who is hired does not consider it his 

 particular duty to explain the various habits of 

 the birds, nor the proper manner of taking ad- 

 vantage of a knowledge of them. Amongst pro- 

 fessional hunters, for various reasons, thoughts of 

 book-making are seldom entertained; and though 

 there are many excellent writers, both amateur 

 and professional, who understand it much 

 better than myself, and are much better able 

 to do it justice, the subject — one of unusual 

 interest to American sportsmen — has been almost 

 entirely neglected. Such being the case, it is 

 not without a well-grounded hope that, in the 

 absence of such a work as might be, my 

 labors may not prove altogether useless. 



The ornithological descriptions, by referring to 

 wKich the novice may determine the specific 

 characteristics of his game, I have borrowed from 

 Audubon's " Biographical Ornithology " ; farther 

 than this 1 have abstained from copying from 



