The woodcock, another member of the royal family among game birds, is 

 practically the exclusive property of the American people to deal with as they 

 list. It is true that a greater or lesser number of woodcock cross our northern 

 frontier to breed, but the bulk of the species never leave our own borders. As 

 a prerequisite to its presence the woodcock requires soft, moist earth in which 

 to probe for earthworms, and its range may be said to be largely determined by 

 the presence or absence of its favorite food. Study him at what season you 

 will, meet him wdiere you may, the woodcock is always an interesting bird. His 

 spring-flight song, given as the hours of darkness approach — for the woodcock 

 is chiefly of noctural habits — is unique among the long-billed, long-legged fra- 

 ternity, and the many details connected with his housekeeping are well worth 

 attention. And what music so sweet to the sportsman's ears as the silvery 

 whistle of the woodcock's wings when the bird, suddenly roused from his snug 

 shelter beneath bush or bracken, mounts upward through the silver birches ! 

 Xor is any other prize among game birds so dear to the sportsman's heart as 

 this many-hued denizen of swamp and hillside when brought to bag in fair, 

 sportsmanlike fashion. All the more keenly then must sportsman and bird lover 

 regret the fact that the woodcock is passing. While there is no present danger 

 of extinction, spring and summer woodcock-shooting should be abolished as a 

 crime alike against a fine game bird and fair sportsmanship. 



Length, about 24 inches. Deep pearl gray above : much of rest of plumage 

 white. Not readily distinguished in life from its allies. 



Range : Breeds in Alaska and in Arctic regions south to southern British 

 Columbia, southern Alberta, northern North Dakota, central Wisconsin, south- 

 ern Ontario, northern New York, and Maine; winters from southern British 

 Columbia to Lower California and western Mexico, and from Gulf of St. Law- 

 rence and Great Lakes south to Bahamas, Yucatan, and coast of Texas. 



All things considered, the herring gull is probably the best known of the 

 family by reason of its abundance and wide distribution. Moreover, this is the 

 gull most frequently noticed by passengers as it follows in the wake of our 

 ocean and trans-Atlantic steamers. It breeds no farther south than the coast 

 of Maine, but in winter it is very numerous along the Atlantic coast and in many 

 of our inland ponds. It does excellent service as a scavenger in our harbors, 

 venturing fearlessly among the shipping to secure anything edible that may find 

 its way overboard. The services of this "and other gulls in such a capacity are 

 so valuable that their destruction under any pretense is to be deprecated. When 

 the craze for feathered hat gear was at its height thousands of gulls, without 

 regard to species, were killed for millinery purposes, but it is to be hoped that, 

 now the sale of their feathers is illegal practically everywhere in the United 

 States, the gulls will rapidly increase. 



Herring 



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