MIGRATION OF CURLEW, PLOVER AND SNIPE 



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the shore lines, the curlew are then fat 

 and are most delicious food. These 

 birds are not met with in any numbers, 

 so far as I know, along' the Atlantic 

 coast, and it appears probable that after 

 leaving Labrador, they put boldly to 

 sea and pass several hundred miles to the 

 eastward of the North American coast 

 as they journey South. I have heard 

 that there are islands in the West 

 Indies where they rest on the way, but 

 I believe they are not found as plenti- 

 fully as in Labrador, until some parts 

 of the South American continent are 

 reached. 



Curlews are merely stragglers in New 

 Brunswick and Novia Scotia, though 

 they breed upon the high inland barrens 

 of Newfoundland. They are shot, of 

 course, all along the Atlantic coast, but 

 in very small numbers as compared with 

 the tremendous flocks found in Labra- 

 dor just before the birds are ready to 

 migrate. 



Golden plover have been diminishing" 

 in number in Eastern Canada and in 

 the Northeastern states of the Union 

 very rapidly of late. Fifteen years ago 

 large flocks were found each Autumn 

 in New Brunswick, and, I remember, 

 after one heavy northeastern storm in 

 September, finding the beach between 

 Bathurst and Belledune, on the Bay 

 Chaleur, covered with golden plover 

 that had just been blown in from 

 Labrador. . They were in a most piti- 

 ful plight. The birds were completely 

 exhausted ; so much so that they would 

 not attempt to fly until approached 

 within a few feet, and were mere skele- 

 tons. 



I shot one or two, and then left them 

 severely alone. 



On the Western prairies the golden 

 plover seem to be holding their own 

 better than in the East, and although 

 I do not suppose that they exist in the 

 numbers that was formerly the case, 

 they are an abundant bird yet. As to 

 the sport of shooting them, there may 

 well be a difference of opinion, seeing 

 that they are tame to a degree, and after 

 one discharge the flock will continue 



to hover around the wounded and dead 

 birds — for most of the prairie men 

 scorn to shoot at a single plover — until 

 their ranks are decimated. The kil- 

 deer plover is found more abundantly 

 than the golden plover, but is a much 

 inferior bird. 



Not only are the golden plover de- 

 minishing in number, but the true 

 snipe — Wilson snipe — are becoming 

 painfully scarce in districts that were 

 once famous. 



They are certainly not killed in the 

 Dominion in any numbers ; an Indian 

 scorns to waste powder and shot upon 

 so small a bird, and the number of ex- 

 pert wing shots who indulge much in 

 snipe shooting in the Dominion of Can- 

 ada is not great. All their efforts would 

 be entirely ) inadequate to produce the 

 results noticed. Of course in the 

 Northwestern Territories of Canada 

 snipe are enormously abundant, and are 

 very little troubled by the gunner, who, 

 in that region looks upon a teal as a 

 small bird, and does not think much 

 even of a mallard, reserving his best 

 efforts for the goose or the sand hill 

 crane, but in the Maritime Provinces 

 and in Ontario, it has been noticed 

 that the snipe are decreasing in num- 

 bers with great rapidity, and the same 

 may be said of the woodcock. These 

 birds are erratic in the extreme, and 

 although last autumn some rather 

 good bags were made, generally speak- 

 ing, woodcock shooting means lots of 

 hard work for few birds. 



It is supposed that all these mi- 

 gratory species suffer very heavily 

 during the winter in the southern 

 states. Fewer seem to come back each 

 spring, and I should be particularly glad 

 to hear from some of the southern 

 sportsmen who are readers of Recre- 

 ation upon this subject. 



Has there been any great increase 

 in the numbers killed in the Carolinas, 

 Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi? If 

 so, this would substantiate the theory 

 we northern men have formulated. If 

 this is not the case, some other reason 

 must exist. 



