.6' 



\^' 



0. S. F. 



S. receive; 



UBRARY 







Uritcd States Departirient of the Interior 













Bursau of Biological Siirve-- 













Fildlife Leaflet £5-155 









V/ar.hington 



D. 



C. * 



Apr 



il It^. 





ohi&i:tal Ain: ??3S5i^t s n^aSPiG- hafg ss cr GiriTAii: gais birds 



3y Hol^ert C. LlcClpnahan 

 Pioloi^i'ot, Divisicn of TTiic'life Hesearch 



Information on the ori^'inal an -.rell as the present distribution of 

 various gaiie Gpecies is indispens?.l)lo to the ^^arie teclmician who is work- 

 ing for the increase of v/ildlife en rn are--.. Attempts to introduce or 

 propagate ^p-ne tirds and narisals cut side their n: tural ranges usually end 

 in failure or expensivo and doubtful success, although there are notable 

 exceptions, wildlif e-inana::eiient .practice,-? therofcre should to a large ex- 

 tent have to do with species that occur or have occurred in the region. 

 This leaflet is designed to s-onmarir^s in convonicnt lorn information on the 

 former arid present distribution of certain gav.c birds in the United States, 

 for use by federal, Stato, and private v.-orkors on game problems. 



It is generally recognized that ranges are not stable, but are continu- 

 ally changing. The rapid spread of the English smrro-r and the li-jiropear 

 starling after their introduction into the United. States, the a-o-oearance of 

 the ring-necked dack as a nesting bird in I^aine, and the s-oread of f'-e 

 prairie chicken northwesterly are striking cxa::n'.olcs of recent extensions in 

 range, 



ihe extinction of the passenger pigeon anr' the heath hen and the great 

 reduction in the breeding area of the tru'ipeter s:7an ai-e extrenc i^ lustra- 

 tions of roductions in rynge that h-ve taken place. 



In the case of v;aterfowl, tne drainage of sloughs, T)onds, and lakes for 

 cultivation and mosquito control has eliminated manv of the former breeding 

 areas. Drought, portially the result of unwise drainage, has f-orther re- 

 duced the ranges of many species, and as a direct rcs'alt of lowered water 

 levels botulism has taken its toll of the di-anishcd v.'aterfowl TDor^olaticn. 

 Market hunting, spring shooting, and other ^j:isr.ortsmanlikc practices did 

 not permit sufficient n-^bcrs of birds to return to the breeding grounds, 

 and because of continued shooting over the same waters, lead r^oisoning be- 

 came prevalent. In coastal ai'eas oil pollution took a hocv^^ toll, and in 



