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SHOOTING

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PARTRIDC

OUK FEATHERED GAME

Po tN DBOOK fOr YEE
NORTH AMERICAN GAME BIRDS

BY

DWIGHT W. HUNTINGTON

WITH EIGHT FULL-PAGE SHOOTING SCENES IN COLOR
AND ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE BIRD PORTRAITS

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
Pe OR Kaiecint 32 82 22 1909

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SS RQ XxxXe. No.
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COPY 6.

CopyRIGHT, 1903, BY

CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS

Published, June, 1903

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PRINTING AND BOOKBINDING COMPANY

NEW YORK

iT.

IV.

XVI.
XVII.
XVIII.

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 5 : 7 5 mAs ~ I

. GUNS AND DoGs : 5 A : - - fs 9

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES P 4) 320

BOOK I
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS . st ; 6 . AL
PHEASANTS
THE WILD TURKEY : ; ss : - a 40
. THE PHEASANTS - - , s . . ey Pye
GROUSE

. THE NORTH AMERICAN GROUSE . - s Go

. THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE : : - : Paks

. THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE . S > - rays’

. THE SAGE-COCK—COCK OF THE PLAINS 5 el KOS

. THE RUFFED-GROUSE : : 3 ; ; af oe

. THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE : : : 24 *O6
. THE CANADA-GROUSE, SPRUCE-GROUSE, OR BLACK-

GROUSE : = - - 4 - - 2 eULOO

. THE PTARMIGAN s - : 5 - - a LOS

PARTRIDGES

THE PARTRIDGES . a 5 0 - 1 106

BoB-WHITE : 3 ; A : - - I09

THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES ‘ ‘ ° A E@Is

THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES - a) ge
Vv

XIX.
XX.
XXI.
XXII.
XXIII.
XXIV.

XXV.
XXVI.
XXVII.
XXVIII.
XXIX.
XXX.

XXXII.
XXXII.
XXXIII.
XXXIV.
XXXV.
XXXVI.

XXXVII.

CONTENTS

BOOK II
WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS

THE WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS

THE WILD SWANS : - & 6 6
WILD GEESE 4 : 5 5 5 3
OTHER WILD GEESE . :
THE SNOW-GEESE, BRANT, ETC. 4
TREE-DUCKS 5 2 é . i A
SEA-DUCKS
SEA-DUCK SHOOTING : :
THE CANVAS-BACK . : 5 :
THE RED-HEAD : ° °

THE SCAUP-DUCKS ; Ne
THE GOLDEN-EYE AND OTHER SEA-DUCKS
OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS . A

RIVER DUCKS

RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING . A .
THE MALLARD . : : ° °
THE DUSKY DUCKS . 5 5 é .
ES Ate : ; - 5 ‘ .
THE Woop-DUCK ‘ A : .
OTHER RIVER DUCKS = 5 5 A
MERGANSERS

THE MERGANSERS ‘ A 7 : r

241

CONTENTS vil

BOOK III

SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS

XXXVIII. THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS : : 6, RNG
XXXIX. THE WOODCOCK 5 ; : : ‘ rie ese:
XL. THE SNIPE . F 5 : A : ¢ . | 268

XLI. THE BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER — UPLAND
PLOVER . : : “ 5 : A 5 ig!
XLII. Bay BIRD SHOOTING . c 0 = ¢ zor,

XLIII. OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS é : » 294
SIV LHe PLOVERS ~~ 3 ‘ c ‘ : SO7,
XLV. OTHER VARIETIES OF SHORE BIRDS.

BOOK IV

CRANES, RAILS, AND REED BIRDS, WILD
PIGEONS AND DOVES

XLVI. THE CRANES : : ° : ° : me
XLVII. THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS ., 4 2 An BE)
XLVIII. WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES ° 334
APPENDIX. F ; 3 : 4 . 5 ° » 347

INDEX

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7 sia tial at

Hana
7

PARTRIDGE SHOOTING—SCATTERED BIRDS .

IEEUSTRATIONS

SHOOTING SCENES IN COLOR

From original drawings by D. W. Huntington.

GROUSE SHOOTING ON THE PRAIRIE
SHOOTING SAGE-GROUSE IN THE DESERT . :

A DIFFICULT SHOT AT A RUFFED-GROUSE . 5 4
SHOT BEHIND HIM .

SHOOTING CANVAS-BACKS AT RAGGED ISLAND .

CocK SHOOTING, LATE IN THE DAY
SNIPE SHOOTING IN THE MARSHES

BIRD PORTRAITS
At End of Volume

PLATE I

TURKEYS AND PHEASANTS

I.
2.

3:

Oo ON Aun

English Pheasant.

Mongolian Pheasant.

Wild Turkey.

PLATE II
GROUSE

. Prairie-grouse.

Heath-hen.

. Sharp-tailed Grouse.
. Ruffed-grouse.

. Dusky-grouse.

. Canada-grouse.

ix

10.
Mate

12.

13.
14.
15.
16.

Bz.
18.

PLATE III

GROUSE
Ptarmigan, Winter.
Ptarmigan, Summer.
Sage-cock.

PLATE IV

PARTRIDGES
Scaled-partridge.
California Partridge.
Gambel’s Partridge.
California Mountain

tridge.
Bob-white. «
Massena Partridge.

Frontispiece

FACING
PAGE

68
84
g2
148
176
258
280

Par-

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE V
SWANS

1g. Whistling Swan.
20, Trumpeter Swan.

-

Nn Ww N N

NI

34
35

36.

37
38

SEA-DUCKS AND MERGANSERS
Q).

>

3
40
41
42

43:
44.

Oe

PLATE VI
GEESE

1. Cackling Goose.

. Hutchins Goose.
Canada Goose.

PLATE VII
GEESE AND BRANT
. Black Brant.
Brant-goose.
Emperor Goose.
. Ross Snow-goose.

PLATE VIII

GEESE AND TREE-DUCKS

. Lesser Snow-goose.

. Blue-wing Goose.

. White-fronted Goose.
. Greater Snow-goose.
. Fulvous Tree-duck.

. Black-bellied Tree-duck.

PLATE IX
SEA-DUCKS
. Canvas-back Duck.
. Ring-neck Duck.
Labrador Duck.
. American Scaup-duck.
. Lesser Scaup-duck.

PLATE X
Red-head Duck.
. Buffle-head Duck.

. Surf-scoter.
. Hooded Merganser.

American Merganser.

Red-breasted Merganser.

PLATE XI
SEA-DUCKS

. American Golden-eye.
. Long-tail Duck.

. Harlequin Duck.

- Ruddy-duck.

. Masked Duck.

PLATE XT
SEA-DUCKS

. White-winged Scoter.
. King Eider.
. American Eider.

PLATE XIII
RIVER-DUCKS

. Blue-winged Teal.

. Cinnamon Teal.

. Dusky-duck.

. Green-winged Teal.
. Wood-duck.

. Mallard.

PATE Oliv)
RIVER-DUCKS

. Widgeon (Female).

. Widgeon.

. Sprig-tail, or Pintail.
. Shoveler.

. Gadwall.

. Gadwall (Female).

PLATE XV
SHORE BIRDS

. Wilson’s Snipe.

not.

. Bartramian Sandpiper.
. Dowitcher.

- Woodcock.

. Pectoral Sandpiper.

ay.
12%
73:

74-

79:
80.
81.

82.
83.
84.
85.
86.

87.
88.
89.
go.
gl.

ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE XVI
SHORE BIRDS
Hudsonian Godwit.
Marbled Godwit.
Black-necked Stilt.
American Avocet.

PLATE XVII
SHORE BIRDS

. Hudsonian Curlew.
. Eskimo Curlew.

. Pacific Godwit.

. Long-billed Curlew.

PLATE XVIII
SHORE BIRDS

Willet.
Ruff.
Greater Yellow-legs.

PLATE XIX
SHORE BIRDS

White-rumped Sandpiper.

Sanderling.
Baird’s Sandpiper.
Stilt Sandpiper.
Purple Sandpiper.

PLATE XX
SHORE BIRDS
Spotted Sandpiper.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper.
Red-backed Sandpiper.
Solitary Sandpiper.
Wandering Tattler.

92.
93-
94-
95:
96.
97:

98.
99:
100.
10].
102.
103.

104.
105.
106.
107.
108,
109.

IIo.
DEP.
112.
Tg:
114.

xi

PATH exe
SHORE BIRDS

Belted Piping Plover.
Piping Plover.
Semipalmated Plover.
Black-bellied Plover.
Pacific Golden Plover.
American Golden Plover.

PLATE XXII
SHORE BIRDS

Snowy Plover.
Wilson’s Plover.
Surf-bird.

Black Turnstone.
Mountain Plover.
Ruddy Turnstone.

PLATE XXIII
SHORE BIRDS

Least Sandpiper.
Semipalmated Sandpiper.
Aleutian Sandpiper.
Curlew Sandpiper.
Western Sandpiper.
Wilson’s Phalarope.

PLATE XXIV
SHORE BIRDS

Northern Phalarope.
Red Phalarope.

Kill-deer Plover.
American Oyster-catcher.
Black Oyster-catcher.

xii

105.
116.

17.

118.
119g.
120.
T2i0

122.

123;

ILLUSTRATIONS

PATE XeGV

COOT AND CRANE

Coot.
Sand-hill Crane.

PLATE XXVI

CRANE
Whooping Crane.

PLATE XXVII

RAILS
Black-rail.
Yellow-rail.
Sora-rail.
Virginia-rail.
Clapper-rail.
King-rail.

124.
125;
126.
127.
128.
129.

PLATE XXVIII
PIGEONS AND DOVES
Ground-dove.
White-winged Dove.
Mourning Dove.
Red-billed Pigeon.
Passenger Pigeon.
Band-tailed Pigeon.

PLATE XXIX

PIGEONS, DOVES, AND BOBOLINK

130.
133;
192:
133:
134.
135.

Zenaida Dove.
Blue-headed Quail Dove.
White-fronted Dove.
White-crowned Pigeon.
Inca Dove.

Bobolink.

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I
INTRODUCTION

OME years ago I was shooting ducks in North
Dakota with some army officers from Fort
Totten. In looking over the bag one evening I found
a number of birds which were entirely new to me.
Several of them were not mentioned in any of the
books on field sports. It occurred to me then that
a book describing every game bird would be a valu-
able addition to a sportsman’s library.

The authors of the earlier books had little or no
experience west of the Alleghenies and many of the
birds now taken by sportsmen were unknown to them.
When Audubon and Wilson wrote their ornithologies
much of the Western country was inhabited by hostile
Indians and was inaccessible. Audubon was aware of
the existence of the best American grouse, the sharp-
tail, but said that he was entirely unfamiliar with its
habits. Forester had no acquaintance with the com-
mon prairie-grouse. All the birds are now known,
and described, but the information is contained in
many volumes, and is, for the most part, too technical
to entertain sportsmen.

There is not to-day a complete manual of the

feathered game of North America.
I

2 INTRODUCTION

Field sport conditions have changed much. They
are diametrically opposite those of twenty-five years
ago. Forester wrote of the marvellous abundance of
game in the Eastern States, calling attention to the
fact that there was not a game law or a game pre-
serve in the land. With a friend he bagged one hun-
dred and twenty-five woodcock in a day, quite near
New York, and he records large bags of other game.
To-day the game birds are nowhere abundant in the
Eastern States: there is everywhere a multiplicity of
game enactments and there are hundreds of game
preserves.

The abundance of game in the United States was
truly marvellous. It was not unusual for a sportsman
to shoot one hundred ducksin a day, and the market
gunners often killed as many at a single shot from a
swivel-gun. There are reliable records of over a hun-
dred shore-birds being killed at a shot. Bogardus
with a friend shot three hundred and forty snipe one
day in Illinois, and the writer was present in Ohio
when the bag contained over one hundred and fifty
partridges (Bob-whites), besides ruffed-grouse and
woodcock. Grouse were killed by the wagon-load.

The prairie-grouse are extinct in many of the
States besides Kentucky, where Audubon says they
were regarded as pests on account of their destruction
of the buds of the fruit trees. There are few places in
America where one hundred ducks could be bagged
in a day except on the marshes owned and preserved
by clubs.

A few years ago the shooting everywhere was free
and unrestrained. A posted farm in the Central and

INTRODUCTION 3

Western States was the exception. The few game laws
on the statute books were nowhere enforced, and the
market gunners plied their trade unmolested, in season
and out. Vast quantities of birds festooned the fronts
of game-stores in all the cities, and filled thousands of
barrels and boxes which were handled by commission
men.

Forester doubted if the breech-loader would ever
come into general use on account of the inconvenience
of the little cases in which the loads were carried. I
spent a whole day in New York recently in a fruitless
effort to find one of the old single muzzle-loaders to be
used in making an illustration. The muzzle-loading
double gun is rapidly becoming a curiosity.

The dogs have been carefully bred for speed and en-
durance and that quality known to sportsmen as “ bird
sense,” and are now trained to the highest degree of
perfection. The field trials of these animals, which
had a small beginning in 1876, are to-day events of
much importance where large purses are offered.
There were no fewer than thirty of these competitions
in America the past year.

When it became evident to sportsmen that the game
was rapidly vanishing, the legislative assemblies were
appealed to, and we soon had many game laws. These
were directed principally toward the shortening of the
open season, the prohibition in many places of summer
and spring shooting, and, most important of all, the
prohibition of market shooting and the sale of game.
Laws were passed limiting the size of the bag to be
made in a day, in some States to a very small number
of birds. Other laws provided for a license of from

4 INTRODUCTION

$1o to $40 for non-residents and a smaller license usu-
ally for residents. Two States prohibited the shoot-
ing by non-residents within their borders. In addition
to these laws, now in force almost everywhere in the
Northern States, there are many others of less impor-
tance, or of a local nature, such as the law in New Jer-
sey, for example, which prohibits all shooting when
there is a “ tracking snow” on the ground. In many
of the States the season for all game closes by the first
of the year and opens in October or November.

These laws were supplemented by a national law
(known from its author as the Lacey law) which pro-
hibits the shipment of game by interstate commerce
wherever its sale or transportation is prohibited by
State law.

Since the passage of the laws prohibiting the sale of
game in most of the Northern States, game birds are
no longer exposed openly in the markets where such
sales are illegal, but the laws have been evaded in
many ways. Vast quantities of game are handled
each season by the cold-storage warehouses. Mr.
Starbuck, President of the Cuvier Club, one of the
strongest game-protective clubs in the United States,
referred in a recent address to the seizure in 1891 of
7,931 grouse, 5,571 partridges or quail, 96 woodcock,
1,324 ducks, 8,848 plover, 7,108 snipe, 8,328 snow-bunt-
ings, 7,607 sand-pipers, 1,008 reed birds, and 738 yel-
low-legs, at a cold-storage warehouse in New York,
the penalties amounting to $1,168,315. The agents
of the Government last fall made a seizure of five
thousand partridges at a small station in the Chick-
asaw Nation. President Starbuck says: ‘ Wagon-

INTRODUCTION 5

loads of small game have been going out of the woods
with astonishing frequency. The sportsmen through-
out the country should ponder on the important facts
which have come to light in connection with the above
seizures. Let them consider that each large city of
the country has many of these cold-storage ware-
houses, in which there may be illegal game in numbers
almost as large as was found by the above arresting
officials ; and besides these large warehouses, there are
many others in smaller places of less capacity.”

Mr. Hornaday, who has made a careful study of the
decrease of bird-life and has gathered many facts to
support his statements, estimates that thirty-three
States and Territories, comprising three-fifths of the
total area of the United States, show a decrease in
the number of birds of 46 per cent. during fifteen
years. The decrease in game birds is fully 75 per cent.

The Agricultural Department, in a recent bulletin,
says that the woodcock and the wood-duck are in dan-
ger of extermination. The fact that in the great seiz-
ure of game above mentioned but ninety-six woodcock
were taken is significant.

Professor Dury says: “The game birds of Ohio and
the Central States are being rapidly reduced in num-
bers, and some species to the very verge of extinc-
tion.” The ornithologist Elliot, in his recent popular
work on the wild-fowl, says: “While engaged upon
this book I felt that I was writing the history of a
rapidly vanishing race.”

Forester referred to the fact that the sportsman often
slipped out the back way, when going afield, since there
was a prejudice among his neighbors against all sport,

6 INTRODUCTION

and no distinction was made between the terms sports-
man and sporting-man. Such puritanical notions no
longer prevail. Sportsmanship is now fashionable.
The sportsman of to-day no longer slips out the back
way, but travels more often ina luxurious railway car,
especially constructed for his comfort and convenience.
Thousands annally go to the domain of the sage-cock,
the sharp-tailed grouse, and the plumed and crested
partridges.

No country in the world was so well supplied with
feathered game. The largest and most magnificent
pheasant in the world (the wild turkey) heads the
list. There is a splendid assortment of grouse, includ-
ing the second largest grouse in the world, three fine
grouse of the open country and five wood-grouse, one
of which, the ruffed-grouse, is often called the king of
game birds. Bob-white is the best all around par-
tridge, and there are five other plumed and crested
partridges which rival in beauty those of the Old
World. Fourteen shoal-water ducks or dabblers come
to the marshes, including the mallard, three teal, the
gorgeous wood-duck, the handsomest duck in the
world, and the rest, all excellent food-birds.

The far-famed canvas-back heads the list of twenty-
four deep-water or sea ducks, one of which, the pied-
duck, formerly abundant in the New York markets, is
now unfortunately found only on museum shelves.
There are but forty-two specimens in the world.
The best of these are in the American Museum of
Natural History, New York. We have a fine assort-
ment of swans, geese, and brant. Turning to the shore-
birds or waders, we find the splendid woodcock and

INTRODUCTION 7

snipe, the delicious field-plover, and more than half a
hundred others, more or less desirable as marks or food.
North America has (or had) more than its share of the
wild pigeons of the world. The passenger pigeon has
gone never to return. But the band-tail, a fine bird,
still remains in goodly numbers on the Pacific Coast,
and there are a number of other excellent pigeons and
doves which are still shot by sportsmen. There are
two edible cranes. The king-rail is a large and tooth-
some bird, and the smaller varieties all are good to eat.

It is with some regret that the writer has observed
the change from the old conditions to the new. Al-
though clubmen are everywhere cordial and hospitable
and there are invitations enough to shoot over private
preserves, there was a charm about the tramp over
virgin fields when there were no game-laws, club-rules
or restraints of any kind, not soon to be forgotten.

At the outset we are met with the difficulty of de-
termining what birds are game. I have decided to in-
clude in my commentary all birds which are legally
taken by sportsmen, save one—the robin red-breast
(which is legally shot and devoured in some of the
Southern States)—giving more space to those deserv-
ing of it. There are many which I would willingly see
protected at all times.

My observation of the birds is from the sportsman’s
blind, or as he sees them in a tramp across the field,
with dog and gun; a sufficient description, however,
being given in the notes at the end of the volume
to enable the reader to identify the species. We
do not go to the museums to compare skins with
the naturalists in the hope of creating a sub-species,

8 INTRODUCTION

but to the fields to shoot over those still open, as
well as on club grounds and private preserves, making
some inquiry by the way as to the natural history of
our game, and the new methods of preservation and

propagation.

II
GUNS AND DOGS

HE advice given by Polonius, “Costly thy

habit as thy purse can buy,” applies as well to
guns to-day as to the clothes of Hamlet’s day. The
sportsman in selecting a gun will do well to purchase
the best he can afford. A good gun will last a lifetime.
A cheap gun will soon wear loose at the breech, and a
shaky gun is anabomination. The locks of a good gun
willnever miss fire, and will work with the precision of
a costly timepiece. The barrels will not wear out or
burst. A certain amount of good engraving about
the locks adds to the beauty of a gun and gives it a
finished look, but do not spend money on the fancy
engraving of shooting scenes with impossible ducks,
pheasants, or dogs inlaid in gold. The best guns,
some years ago, were made in England, and a real
good one was not to be had for less than $150 to $200.
The guns have been much improved of late; there
are many excellent American makes, and a very safe
and serviceable gun may be had from $50 up. There
are much cheaper guns, to be sure, but I would not
advise buying them. A gun for general shooting,
when the sportsman has one gun only, should be 12-
gauge; the barrels thirty inches in length; the weight
seven to seven and one-half pounds. The gun should,

of course, be hammerless, since the hammerless gun
9

10 GUNS AND DOGS.

is by far the safest. Most of the accidents in the
shooting field have been caused by the old-style gun
with hammers. I have known of many accidents
caused by the hammers catching when the gun was
carelessly drawn toward the shooter in a boat or
wagon. Many accidents have occurred by the gun
being fired by the dog. A favorite setter sent a load
of shot within an inch of my head. I had put the gun
down; was holding it with one hand and about to
open a gate when the young, enthusiastic dog, pranc-
ing about, put one foot on the hammer, raising it high
enough to explode the cartridge when his foot slipped
off.

I may say, in passing, that there should never be
more than one gun in a duck-boat, and never a loaded
gun in a wagon, except when the wagon is used to
approach game, as in shooting the upland plover, and
in that case there should be no more than one gun in
the wagon and that always held in a safe position with
the muzzle pointing outward. I have always insisted
upon an inspection of the guns—all tipping them open
to show that they are empty—when several are using
a wagon, and will on no account shoot with a man
who brings a loaded gun into a wagon. It is unnec-
essary to advise a sportsman never to point a gun,
loaded or unloaded, at a person. The penalty for a
boy’s doing such a thing should be the loss of his gun.
It is the unloaded gun, usually, that kills a companion.
There should never be any uncertainty as to whether
the gun is loaded. Remove the loads in getting over
a fence, especially if the fence be at all shaky. It isa
safe rule always to remove them.

GUNS AND DOGS II

The 16-gauge has many advocates. I have seen
excellent work done with it, and have found it light
and serviceable in partridge shooting. Much smaller
bores are used, but | do not think well of a smaller
gauge than 16, since there is more danger of wound-
ing birds with small guns, and the sportsman should
always try to kill “clean.” The 14-gauge is very
little used, but | have owned such a gun and am
inclined to think it a little better for upland field
shooting than either the 12 or 16, but the 14 is used
so little that it is difficult in most places to get ammu-
nition to fit it. The heavy 1o-gauge was, a few years
ago, carried in many fields, but it is seldom seen
to-day excepting where it belongs, in the duck blinds,
when the game is the wild geese and the heavy-
plumaged sea-fowl. Larger guns are not found in
the equipment of many sportsmen. They are pro-
hibited by law in some of the States. The only
persons who ever used the swivel-gun or cannon
were the market gunners, and they have almost every-
where been put out of business by legal enactments.

It is all important in selecting a gun that it fit the
shooter. The fit of the gun is far more important
than the fit of the clothes. Good shooting is depend-
ent upon it. A gun which fits is said to “come up”
well or handle well. By that is meant that when
it is tossed suddenly to the shoulder it will be so
poised that the eye will see along the barrel and the
aim be true without further adjustment of the gun.
Some shooters prefer a straight stock; others a
crooked one. The beginner should take the gun
which for him comes up the best. Many years

12 GUNS AND DOGS

ago, when I purchased my first expensive gun, I
named the price I expected to pay and had the
dealer stand out some twenty or thirty guns of various
makes, all good ones, however, and taking these one
by one I aimed them suddenly at a small object of
some kind in the store with both eyes opened, then
closed one eye to see how accurate the instantaneous
aim was. Handling the guns one after another I dis-
carded those at once that did not come up well and
soon had but a half dozen left. Using these one after
another I soon found one which seemed to fit me exactly
and which had a fine balance and was in every way
satisfactory. With this gun I did excellent work the
first day I went into the field for partridges. I of
course obtained a gun by a good maker, since there
were no bad makers represented at the start. But I
preferred fit to maker. All the guns from which a
selection is to be made may of course be by a desired
maker, provided the stock be a large one; or for that
matter, a gunis often made to order, the measure being
taken from a gun found to fit. The good points about
a gun are careful workmanship, strength, and fit.

The gun being selected, the beginner will do well to
bring it up often unloaded, aiming it suddenly at small
objects about the room, and then use it much at the
inanimate targets, the clay pigeons, which are thrown
with great velocity from the spring-traps. Do not in
practice for field shooting stand with the gun at the
shoulder and say “pull” to the boy at the trap, but
hold the gun at any and all of the different positions
in which it may be held in the field either in the pres-
ence of game or when walking about. A/ter giving

GUNS AND DOGS 13

the order to the boy to release the target pitch the
gun to the shoulderand fire. It is often said that good
“trap-shots ” are not good “field-shots”’ and vice versa.
Of course a man cannot go walking about the field
with the butt of the gun always at his shoulder. Hence
he should not so hold it when shooting at the traps if
he would become a good field-shot. He may be beaten
at the traps by the shooter who holds his gun at his
shoulder, but he will defeat the latter in the field.
Much field-work, however, is necessary to make a good
field-shot.

In shooting at the traps I shoot much at double
birds. The double shot in the field gives the most
satisfaction, and to made double shots one must be
accustomed to the quick use of the second barrel. In
shooting at single clay pigeons I always fire the sec-
ond barrel at any large fragment which may go sailing
away when the first shot does not smash the target
into the minute fragments which one likes to see.

Books have been written about the use of guns, but
it is most important to aim quickly; to aim well over
rising birds and under descending ones and far ahead
of fast-flying marks crossing the line of sight, either
directly or at an angle. Remember that more shots
are missed by shooting behind than ahead of the birds.
A few shots at ducks or shore-birds flying low over
the water will teach the shooter much, if he looks to
see where his shot strikes the water. The shooting at
one duck to see another many feet behind it fall dead
will be another lesson. It takes many lessons to make
a fine field-shot.

Always shoot with both eyes open. The mark is

14 GUNS AND DOGS

seen better and the rate at which it is moving is more
rapidly estimated.

I shall have something more to say about guns and
loads in connection with the various birds in the
proper place.

The dogs used in upland shooting in the United
States are usually the pointers or setters. Small span-
iels are used to some extent for cock-shooting, but not
so much as in England. The setter and the pointer
are both excellent dogs. The “ pointer-man” insists
that the pointer is the only dog. The “setter-man”
usually will have only setters. I have shot over both
dogs, in many fields. The setters, with their silky
coats, feathered legs and tails, to my eye, are the hand-
somer dogs. I know of no more beautiful animal in all
the kingdom, than a well-marked English setter. The
long hair, I admit, collects the burrs, and the dog is
often badly used up by them, while but few, if any,
stick to the pointer. The pointer will go farther in
warm weather, and without water, and he is an excel-
lent dog for the prairie. The setter is the better dog
in cold weather, since the pointer shivers whenever
he is at rest and it makes one cold to look at him.

Pointers are by some regarded as slower dogs, but
the modern pointer of field-trial stock, will go like a
greyhound, and is fast enough in any field. I have
seen them keep the setters busy on the vast Western
prairies.

There is much talk, now that field-trials are held
annually in all sections of the country, about the com-
parative merits of “ field-trial dogs’’ and “ shooting-

GUNS AND DOGS 15

dogs.” The competitive running of dogs for short
heats and ata high rate of speed (the dogs going at
long distances from the gun), it is argued, does not
make good shooting-dogs. Fast wide-ranging dogs are
often lost in the thickets and often get beyond the
range of the whistle. But speed and endurance as
well as ‘bird sense” are the qualities which go to
make up a good field-dog, and after listening to the
controversy until the small hours, between field-trial
men and shooters, at the tavern, after a field competi-
tion, I have arrived at the conclusion that the sports-
man will do well to select for his shooting, a dog of
field-trial stock, but one that has been especially trained,
not for a field-trial, but to hunt to the gun, as it is
called, or for field shooting. The slower dog, hunt-
ing carefully before the gun, is often referred to asa
“good meat dog.” By that is meant, of course, that
more birds will be killed over him. There is much
force, however, in the saying of the handlers: “ You
can teach ’em to stay in, you can’t teach ’em to go out.”
Give me the field-trial dog with all his energy and in-
dustry, trained down to hunt to the gun where there is
cover. On the vast prairies of the West, he cannot go
too fast or too far to suit me, provided always he be
stanch on his point and will always hold the birds
until the wagon arrives.

There are three kinds of setters used in America,
the English setters, the Irish setters, and the Gordons.
The first-named are the most popular dogs. They are
of all colors. The black, white, and tan, and the orange
and white dogsare to my eye the handsomest. In each
case I like to see the head evenly marked, a broad

16 GUNS AND DOGS.

white line running from the nose over the forehead
and the legs well ticked with tan or orange. Dogs of
medium size, rather large than too small, | like the
best. They should, of course, be well-formed, strong
and muscular. The Irish setters are dark red, the
Gordons black and tan. White dogs, or dogs in whose
coats the white predominates, are best, since they are
more easily seen in the woods and brush. We hear
much of “bench-show’”’ dogs and “ field-dogs.” The
dog should be handsome enough to win on the bench
and good enough to take into the field. Field qualities,
not looks, are of the first importance, however. One
of the best setters I ever owned, was a liver and white
dog, and his first owner, an excellent trainer, had mu-
tilated him by cutting off part of his tail and named
him Bob in honor of the occasion. In the field, how-
ever, he was a wonder, and | could not resist buying
him, although I lked neither his color, his tail, nor his
name. There are many reputable dealers and many
good trainers; and some bad ones unfortunately, as
among horsemen.

Dogs of good pedigree will point birds without
any training, and are not hard to train sufficiently to
make good field-dogs. First of all they should be
taught to come instantly to the whistle. Begin when
they are quite young to have them associate the sound
of the whistle with their liberation from the kennel,
and asacall to meals. I have often gone to my back-
door and sounded a whistle to see a lot of bright-faced
puppies instantly appear at the stable windows. Hav-
ing immediately let them out I fed them. Sometimes
I placed the food at the other side of the house and

GUNS AND DOGS 17

from thence sounded the whistle, and it was remark-
able to see how soon the puppies learned to come when
called. Taking them to the fields without a gun, with
a few scraps of food in the shooting-coat, I rewarded
the first to arrive after the whistle sounded and my
dogs soon learned to come in as fast as they went out.
Meantime teach the young dogs to drop or charge at
command, rewarding them for quick action, and to walk
at heel until ordered to go out. Taking the young
dogs to a covey of partridges, flush the birds alter the
dogs have pointed, and check any tendency to chase
when they take wing. Use a cord when necessary,
which will bring the dog up suddenly when he runs
the length of it, and punish with the whip, using it as
little as possible, however. Firing a pistol at some
distance from feeding puppies will often prevent the
dogs becoming gun-shy, a serious fault. If a heavy
load is fired over a young thorough-bred dog before he
is accustomed to such noise, he may be ruined. A gun-
shy dog is usually worthless. He may be cured, but is
more often not worth the training. Some teach their
dogs to retrieve. It is a showy performance in the
field and I like to see it. A dog should point the dead
bird first and retrieve it upon an order to do so, hand.
ling it with great care. The danger is that a dog will
sooner or later mouth and thus mutilate the birds.
There is much that is entertaining in giving young
dogs their instruction, but a lot of patience is required,
andittakes much time. All training should be persist-
ent. A little every morning and evening, each day,
will accomplish more thana whole day of it now and
then. Stop when the young dogs seem to be getting

18 GUNS AND DOGS

tired of it and take it upagain later. They should have
their play-time as well as their school-time.

In England and on the Continent dogs are especially
trained as retrievers only. Much of the shooting is
done differently there. The birds are often driven to-
ward the shooter by beaters or drivers, and the re-
trieving dog is kept in until birds are shot, and then
ordered to retrieve. ._ 1 much prefer to tramp across
fields and to see the dogs galloping about, indus-
triously searching for the birds, and _ stanchly point-
ing them, and last of all retrieving the slain.

The cocker-spaniels are trained to hunt close to the
gun. They do not point, but give tongue when the
cock takes wing.

For wild-fowl shooting, larger retrieving spaniels are
mostly used, and they have wonderful noses, and find
and retrieve the dead and wounded wild-fowl in the
heaviest rushes and reeds.

The Chesapeake Bay dog is supposed to be a cross
between the Newfoundland and the water spaniel.
They are strong, heavy-coated dogs, especially suited
to the rough work in icy waters. They will swim for
miles among cakes of floating ice, and retrieve the
largest wounded goose or swan.

The beagles are small dogs resembling hounds, and
are used like hounds in packs in shooting the hares,
usually the small animal known as the common rabbit
or cotton-tail. I shall refer again to the dogs and their
use on game when considering the various birds. Let
the beginner take the advice of some older sportsman
in the purchase of a dog and the selection of a trainer,
and he will not go wrong.

GUNS AND DOGS 19

Thoroughly broken dogs are not to be had for less
than $100. Setter and pointer puppies of excellent
pedigree may be purchased for $20 and up. (Good
trainers usually receive $100 or more for training a
dog for the shooting-field or for a field trial. Sports-
men who keep a large kennel, of course employ a
handler by the year. A field-trial winner is often
sold for several thousand dollars, and his services at
the stud are $25 or $50, more often the last-named
amount if he has won first place in an important
event.

The reader who desires to train his own dogs will
find several good books on the subject. “ Training vs.
Breaking’ by Hammond is one of them.

OG
GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES.

HERE are now in the United States many pri-
vate parks and game preserves where game
birds are as carefully propagated and protected by
individuals as they are on the preserves in England.
There are also hundreds (I am almost prepared to say
thousands) of clubs or associations formed to own and
control the shooting over vast areas of both marsh and
upland.

All of the private parks and most of the clubs are
of very recent date. In Forester’s day, as I have ob-
served, there was none, and there is nothing about
them in any of our books on field-sports.

Private parks or preserves owned by individuals are
comparatively few in number in the United States, but
as wealth increases there will be more. The manage-
ment of the private park is similar to that in England.
Game-keepers are employed to protect the game from
poachers, to destroy its natural enemies, and to feed it
and care for it at all seasons. There are hatcheries
for the imported birds, the pheasants, where many
birds are propagated each season, as described in the
chapter on these birds.

Many of the private parks are miles in extent, and

contain large game as well as small. Mr. Whitney’s
20

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 21

October Mountain in the Berkshires, Biltmore in the
South, the Austin Corbin estate in New Hampshire,
Rockefeller’s Adirondack Park, the Rancocas game-
preserve in New Jersey, and other private estates, in-
cluding some of vast proportions on the Pacific Coast,
have been created in the past few years.

By far the greater number of private game-pre-
serves are in the hands of associations or clubs. These
are of limited membership. One or two on Long
Island and at Currituck have but a half-dozen mem-
bers. Others, like the Nittany Club in Pennsylvania,
have aS many as two hundred. The average mem-
bership is from thirty to fifty.

Some of the clubs are composed exclusively of duck-
shooters, and are formed to control the shooting over
marshes where the wild fowl and wading birds are to
be found when migrating. In other clubs the mem-
bers are interested in shooting on the upland. A few
of the clubs have both kinds of shooting.

They are all organized upon somewhat similar lines,
and in most cases are incorporated under the State
law where the preserve is situated. The articles of
incorporation contain—

ist. The name of the club or association.

2d. The object for which it is formed, usually—* To
own and lease lands, and shooting and fishing priv-
ileges; to aid in the enforcement of game and fish
laws,” etc.

3d. The number of members and shares.

4th. The place where the principal office shall be
located and the meetings held.

The constitution and by-laws provide for the elec-

22 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

tion and qualifications of members, usually that they
be males twenty-one years of age, and that they re-
ceive the vote necessary to elect them. Two or three
blackballs are usually sufficient for rejection. The
officers are a president, vice-president, secretary, and
treasurer, whose duties are similar to those of the
officers of other clubs. As a rule, the shares can be
sold by a member only to a person who has been duly
elected to membership. The shares in a shooting club
are often issued at $100 or $200. In many of the clubs
they are now held at $5,000, and sell for even more in
some cases. There are annual dues which vary in
amount from $25 to several hundred dollars.

In addition to the house committee, whose duties
correspond to those of a city club committee, there
is a game and fish committee, whose duty it is to at-
tend to the stocking of the grounds of the upland
clubs, to provide for the propagation of the pheasants,
and generally to care for the game, employ the game-
keepers, etc. At the duck clubs this committee pro-
vides for the feeding, or baiting as it is termed, of the
ducks, and the erection of the blinds, and has charge of
the live decoys and the boats, and employs the super-
intendent and the guides or punters. One of the
duties of the game committee of the Wyandanch Club
(Long Island) is to hire men “to plant patches of grain
to be left standing.” This committee should also on
all upland preserves provide shelter for the birds in
the winter and nesting-places in the spring, such as
brush-heaps, corn-shocks, and brier and grass patches,
and the committee should also see to the destruction
of the natural enemies of the game.

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 23

Both the upland and the duck clubs own a farm,
where the club buildings are erected and where the
superintendent and his family reside. The superin-
tendent has charge of the club buildings and grounds,
and, with the aid of watchmen or guards, prevents
poaching and all trespassing on the preserve. Where
the entire preserve is not owned by the club the privi-
lege to shoot over the marshes and farms is usually
leased fora term of ten or more years, with a privilege
of renewal. It would be well always to have a privi-
lege of purchase in the leases at a fixed price, since the
ground sometimes becomes valuable in an unexpected
way. Oil, for example, has been discovered on a
game-preserve. A system of drainage may raise the
price of a worthless marsh and at the same time de-
stroy the shooting.

Some of the clubs are for members only; others
permit a member to bring his family to the club-house;
not, however, during the shooting season, and to bring
guests for the shooting. At other clubs a member is
not permitted to invite a guest. Such is the rule of
the Ottawa Club, for example. Here there are fifty
members, and when the shooting is good, there are
scarcely enough good stands for all, since one-half of
the blinds are always undesirable on account of being
on the windward points or shores. At many of the
clubs, however, the members are allowed to invite a
friend for several days’ shooting. The member is
always required to accompany his guest, and is held
responsible for his conduct and for the payment of all
club charges. One of the Currituck clubs which I
visited recently has a rule allowing a member to bring

24 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

a friend for two days’ shooting, having first obtained
an invitation from the club-officers, and the member is
charged $5 per diem for this privilege, and is required
to pay the usual club charge for board, $1.50 per diem.

The club-houses are often large and comfortable.
Many of them are shingled and are picturesque in
color and outline. The main building always contains
a large room with an open fireplace where wood is
burned. A fine view is to be had from many windows.
There are well-filled bookcases, cases full of mounted
game birds, easy-chairs, and tables filled with maga-
zines and papers. The sleeping apartments overhead
are nicely furnished with comfortable beds and each
has a fireplace or stove. There are often inspiring
pictures on the walls—Japanese geese flying away
from excited Americans, mallards and othcr ducks
falling to the successful shot, etc.

The superintendent and his family live in their own
house near by, and there are often dormitories or
cottages for the use of members in addition to the
main club building. The superintendent has the use
of the club-farm, and at the duck clubs his guards or
watchmen have the privilege of trapping muskrats
and other animals which may be found on the marsh.
At the boat-house each member has room for his boats,
and a locker in which to keep his decoys, rubber boots,
coats, etc. There are kennels for the dogs, and a club
rule usually prohibits anyone from using a member’s
dog without his permission. There is a small monthly
charge for keeping the dogs—$3 per month at the
Wyandanch Club, and for puppies $2 per month after
they are two months old, and until they are one year

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 25

old. Since the distances on the preserves are great,
many of the clubs have erected one or more cabins
miles away from the club-house, where may be found
firewood and a few canned provisions, a bed or two,
and some blankets for the use of any club-man who
may be out too late to return to the main club-house.
This has been found necessary, since the duck shooting
is often best just at sundown, and on a dark night it is
often impossible to find one’s way in the marshes.

The night before the opening day of the season at a
duck club, the members present draw for positions or
blinds. An arrow connected with a weather-vane on
the roof swings about a disk on the ceiling marked
with the compass-points, indicating which way the
wind blows; and a crowd of enthusiastic sportsmen
glancing at the arrow, select by lot their places for
the morning’s shooting.

Upon his arrival at the club-house each member is
required to register for himself and guest, and the
time of his departure is also noted in the same book.
Another important and interesting book at all the
clubs is the game-register, which contains the names
of the birds found on the preserve. These are printed
across the top of each page. A member, at the end of
each day, is required to enter his name on this register,
at the left-hand side of the page, and the number of
each kind of birds shot. At the right of the page is a
place for remarks about the wind, the weather, the
place where the shooting was done, and the name of
the attending guide or punter who may have assisted
in gathering the wounded birds, or possibly the un-
wounded.

26 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

Scores from one of the Lake Erie clubs and one of
the clubs at Currituck would read something like the
following :

|| | (gig :
as sd aS A “4 =
: a} | 00) Sls DIS
etre 5 a Plaid leases PHL = & Alo REMARKS,
HES Sle Oise SIE) ale.
S/S lSie | ol |S RloO/V giula|a
BS ly] Oleg O/SIelolol4i 4) giglal &
|a |S) ol Se s/2|8|2'2/2)5| 0/5) ste) 6
(OJ |e [BR | | feed | |e | Ja 04 ||
1895, Nov. 21 }
H. S. A.S—..|++]-+|..]../2o]..|..|-+|../../zo]..|..|..].-]--] 30] Little mud-hole, wind N.E.
1895, Nov. 15.
jJ—. H—..... sel Deel eeX|lecllecleeiesi «il 3 )X (leelllelterise|) 0] Graveyard pond, wind N.
rgo1, Nov. 12.
H. C. H. & son}..]73} 1}..| 4|..|21| 6/z0]..|2|..]..]..]..]../127) Black water cove, wind
N. E.
igor, Nov 12,
1D ag eral lool by Alec) ealtealteal itl lolleal lee) aallsalkiheAlbscllor|): skal ee eitel

* There are usually more birds on the register, but enough are here given to show the
form.

These registers are entertaining and instructive rec-
ords, valuable to sportsmen and ornithologists alike,
when they have been well kept for a series of years, as
they have been at the Crane Creek Club, the Winous
Point Club, the Princess Anne Club, and many other
clubs East and West. At some of the clubs there are
but few entries in the registers at long intervals, and
they are correspondingly uninteresting. By a rule of
the Castalia Club the directors are instructed to see
that the rule requiring members to register the fish
and game taken is enforced. “ And for that purpose
they are directed to require the keeper to personally
see that all members register, and in case of failure so
to do, or in case of their making erroneous entry, it
shall be the duty of the keeper to make correct entry

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 27

upon the register and forthwith report the infringe-
ment of the rule to the directors.” When there isa
rule providing for a bag limit per season as well as
per diem, it is of course important that the entries
on the register be correct. Birds or fish taken by a
guest are charged against the member inviting him.
The Castalia Club has another good rule which pro-
vides that shooting or fishing during the time when
the shooting and fishing are illegal, or prohibited by
the rules of the club, shall be deemed sufficient cause
for expulsion of the member so offending.

Most of the clubs have a rule which prohibits all
shooting by the punters, guides, or attendants. No
rule, | am satisfied, is more often broken; the punter
usually carries a gun, is an excellent shot, and his em-
ployer is often ambitious to make a large bag of birds.
A member of a Western club, in discussing this ques-
tion with me, said the rule was enforced at his club,
but at one adjoining the members could not shoot a
“little bit,” and often took out two punters to do the
shooting for them, and, of course, made good scores.

A half-hour later I was conversing with the presi-
dent of the adjoining club referred to, and he said the
rule in their club was, of course, strictly observed.
“We might as well,” he said, “allow our servants to
drink our champagne as to allow the punters to do the
shooting which we have secured at so great an ex-
pense for ourselves. Our neighbors,” he added, confid-
ingly, “do not observe the rule. They often take out
two orthree men to do the shooting. They cannot hit
a barn-door—most of them, you know,” etc. The
same day I related these contradictory stories to still

28 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

another club-man as something amusing. He, how-
ever, colored slightly and said: “I allowed my punter
to shoot a few dozen ducks for me one day, but I had
a hard headache and was shooting badly in conse-
quence. Ido not believe in it at all—not at all.” And
so it is that duck-murder, like other kinds, will out.

At a club down by the sea I saw an enthusiastic
sportsman go out with two punters, each armed with
a heavy gun, and heard the guns booming until ten
o’clock at night, in utter disregard of the State law
and a club-rule which required that the shooting cease
at sundown.

At many of the clubs the shooting is excessive and
is kept up in the spring, after the birds have mated,
with results, of course, disastrous to the game. At
two of the clubs at Currituck, the spring shooting
was recently prohibited by a club rule, and many of
the ducks remained to breed on the club property. It
is estimated that ten thousand ducks were raised there
the first year.

The simplest form of game-club is found quite near
New York. Certain sportsmen of New Jersey have
combined to control the shooting over many farms
where the ruffed grouse and partridge live and where
the woodcock still come upon their annual migration.
They lease the right to shoot for a term of years, pay-
ing no money rental, but agreeing to make the farmers
members of the association without the payment of
dues, to stock the land with game, and to be responsi-
ble for all damage to stock and fences, or of any kind,
whether it result from the acts of members or tres-
passers. The association further agrees to police the

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 29

ground, and to feed and care for the game, and renew
it when necessary.

On these preserves, of which there are several, there
are no club-houses. The members drive out from
Newark and the other cities and return at night, or
perhaps find shelter at the farm-houses on the club-
grounds. Other upland clubs in the Middle and West-
ern States pay a money rental for the shooting, usually
sufficient to pay the taxes on the land.

Since all game-preserves in America are new, many
of the older methods of pursuit still prevail. There is
a tendency, however, to imitate foreign ways. Sports-
men who a few years ago rowed their own boats, set
their own decoys and carried their own game, are more
often nowadays accompanied by a punter who punts
the boat, places the decoys, carries the game and in
many ways lightens the burdens of the sport, and
sometimes loads the guns and even does the shooting.
In England the ducks have long been “disturbed” by
keepers or beaters and driven to the guns. At many
of the American clubs the ducks are “disturbed” by
punters, who punt or sail a boat and drive the birds
from the open water. The birds are usually baited
with corn or wheat at given points where the blinds
are erected, and often when the season opens are very
tame and afford quite easy shots.

In England, a few years ago, much of the upland
shooting was done over dogs, the setters or the point-
ers. It was in England that these dogs were brought
to the highest state of perfection, and all the best dogs
in America are descended from this English stock. On
the preserves to-day in England the pointers and the

30 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

setters are seldom used. The sportsmen are driven to
the grounds, each attended by a servant to load his
guns. A line is formed. A company of beaters, under
the head-keeper, armed with flags on poles to prevent
the birds from turning back, “moves” the partridges
and drives them to the guns. The shooting is quite
rapid. The bag is large. Since the birds are under
full headway when they reach the line of guns, much
skill is required to bring them down. Two guns are
used, the attendant loading one while the other is dis-
charged. When the shooting is over the sportsmen
are driven to the house of the owner of the estate
whose guests they are.

Mr. A. J. Stuart-Wortley, a talented English sports-
man and writer, says: “ The pointers and setters have
been abandoned, almost, in England, on account of the
disappearance of the old-fashioned stubble.” It seems
strange, however, when so much is expended on the
game, that sufficient cover is not provided forit. In
shooting grouse upon the moors, the birds have long
been driven to the guns. Retrieving dogs are used
exclusively.

Are the ramble in the fields and woods, the obser-
vation of the well-trained dogs, the chief charms of
sportsmanship, to be exchanged in America for a
stand beside a fence, with a servant to load the guns?
Such results may follow the coming of the private
game-preserves. Pheasants will, no doubt, be shot at
an American éatfue, since they often run before the
dogs. Our Western grouse may be driven to the am-
bushed guns. This, indeed, is not so bad, since they
are far too easy “ over dogs,”” Long be the day, how-

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 31

ever, before the best game-bird in all the world, Bob-
white, shall be clubbed by shouting beaters from the
fields, and driven to a line of guns. Stranger things
have happened at the hands of fashion. I am inclined
to predict that the shooting at driven birds is not far
off. From England came the epidemics of the tennis-
court and golf. From England came the riding to
the hounds.

There is in America much prejudice against the
private game-preserve, probably on account of its as-
sociation with aristocratic and monarchical institutions.
Large country seats and palatial city houses have, how-
ever, the same association without the game. Prejudice
against the private game-preserve may prove an argu-
ment in favor of the public park or refuge, and this is
far more important to the safety of the game.

In England the private parks have for centuries pre-
served the game. There, although the bags are often
large, the killing is limited to the increase of the year.
Enough are spared to restock the grounds. Clubs
there are, no doubt, in America, which are a benefit to
the game. How many of these there are I do not know.
Many there are which work a serious harm. Rivalry
and shooting for count, or to be “ high gun,” often re-
sult in a slaughter equal to or worse than that when
the marshes and fields were all open ground.

Such recent records as the killing of one hundred
and four mallards in a morning by one gun on an Ohio
preserve, the killing of four hundred teal in a day by
four in Oregon, the killing of four hundred and sey-
enty mallards by three guns on an Illinois preserve,
and the recent killing of two thousand ducks by nine

32 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

shooters in a day in California, would not indicate a
desire to save the ducks. The fact that at many of
the upland clubs the partridges must be renewed each
year, proves that they fare no better. The Lake Erie
group of clubs are recently reported as arrayed against
legislation prohibiting the shooting of wild-fowl in the
spring, when, of course, the birds should be allowed to
mate. The killing of canvas-backs at the Lake Sur-
prise preserve in Texas for the market is only equalled
by the disgraceful performances on the haciendas in
Mexico, which are described later. The recent claim
of the members of the Blooming Grove Park Associa-
tion that they have a right to ignore the State and
federal laws, and kill and ship game out of season, as-
serted in a federal court, does not indicate a desire to
save the birds.

The decrease in value of the shares in game-pre-
serves on the Chesapeake and elsewhere, and many
other facts, might be cited to prove that private game-
preserves do not sufficiently protect the game.

Clubs there are, as we have observed, which have
rules limiting the size of the bag, but so long as the
birds show a rapid decrease year by year it is evident
that the private game-preserve is not a sufficient safe-
guard for their preservation. Ornithological writers
continue to predict the extermination of all game.

The National Park in Wyoming has done much to
save the elk and deer, the bison, mountain sheep,
and bears from extermination. The last named are
already amusingly tame and are taken by the touring
kodaks every year.

The State parks of New York, in the Adirondacks

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 33

and on Long Island, will no doubt save the deer and
the wood-grouse, and, it may be, the moose which
have recently been restored to the Northern woods.
National and State parks are, however, few in num-
ber, but the matter of their increase now claims the
attention of sportsmen and all others interested in the
subject of game-preservation. The number of these
parks should be increased in time to save the turkey
and the grouse, the wild-fowl and the waders, as well
as the larger game.

The army of migratory birds which annually crosses
the United States moves north and south in three
divisions ; one following the Atlantic, one the Pacific
Coast, and the third the great valley of the Mississippi
River.

There should be parks, State and national, in Min-
nesota, North Dakota, and Montana, to include small
lakes and ponds where the wild-fow! still build their
nests, and where the northern-grouse, the sharp-tails,
and the great sage-cock could be safe from persecu-
tion. There should be parks of refuge for the swans,
the geese, and ducks, adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico,
where these birds might safely pass the winter.

The wild-fowl which now nest in these Northern
States in a very few years will be found there no
more. The Southern refuge is equally important.
The slaughter, not alone in our marshes, but on the
haciendas of Mexico as well, is something beyond
belief. Many of the ducks which now go each winter
to the “ Armadas” of Mexico to seek the peace and
quiet which precedes the slaughter, are driven from
our Southern marshes by continued persecution.

34 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

Ducks have a strong protective instinct and have
been known to reason well. They soon learn where
they are safe, and an inexpensive refuge in what is
now a worthless marsh would save them from the
destruction which awaits them across the Rio
Grande.

Louisiana has recently prohibited non-residents
from shooting in the State. Far more good would
be accomplished by the State preserves. There
should be parks of refuge in Oregon and Washington,
where the wild-fowl still remain to nest; on the Sacra-
mento marshes in California, and in southern Califor-
nia, where the slaughter in the winter is immense.
Woodcock, snipe, plover, and many other shore-birds,
cranes, and rails all resort to the marshes, and such
parks as are here proposed would surely save these
birds.

State parks in the north of Maine, at Albemarle
or Pamlico in North Carolina, and in the Everglades
would save the wild fowl which now travel through
the Eastern States in sadly diminished numbers, and
probably restore them to New England lakes. Had
there been public refuges a few years ago the pas-
senger pigeons which came like clouds in the sky to
the forests would not now be extinct. Had there
been State parks in Ohio and Kentucky, the prairie-
grouse would be found in their fields to-day.

For many reasons the game-refuges should be un-
der the control of the National Government. Since it
has been legally held that the ownership of the game
is in the State, uniform national laws for its preserva-
tion, which have been proposed from time to time, can-

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 35

not be enacted. The game-laws being therefore State
laws, there is a deplorable lack of uniformity. New
England awakens to the fact that the magnificent wood-
cock is a vanishing bird, and stops the summer shoot-
ing; but the birds, more tame on that account, fall an
easy prey to the market-gunners, who, in most of the
Southern States, may shoot them after they have
paired in the spring. A State park for ducks in Da-
kota would be of little benefit to the birds without
similar refuges in Tennessee and Arkansas and on the
Gulf of Mexico.

While there is a legal difficulty in the way of uni-
form national laws to preserve the game, no such dif-
ficulty appears to prevent the creation of the national
game-preserves. The United States has its post-
offices and public buildings in all the States of the
Union. Its jurisdiction over the land on which they
stand is exclusive. The United States has its park in
Wyoming, and it is a source of pride and profit to the
State. When the National Government proposes to
establish a marine hospital in one of the States, the
Governor of the State is asked to have the necessary
legislation passed ceding the jurisdiction of his State
in the property to the National Government. A short
bill is prepared at the suggestion of the Governor, and
is promptly passed by the State to be benefited. I
introduced such a bill at the request of the Governor
in the Assembly of Ohio, and it passed the same day
under a suspension of the rules. Bills ceding the State
jurisdiction over game-refuges would, no doubt, pass
in the same way.

Again, the control of the game-preserves by the

36 GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES

National Government is best, since for some reason
national laws are the more closely observed and
readily obeyed. Local liquor laws, for example, are
often evaded, but there is not a tavern in the land
which has not the license of Uncle Samuel framed
and hanging on the wall, to indicate that the tax is
paid.

The cost of the proposed game-preserves for birds
is inconsiderable. The best places are the wildest,
the most inaccessible, the cheapest ; many of them of
necessity are largely covered with water—worthless
marshes, such as are seen at the mouth of the Mis-
sissippi and elsewhere.

The title to many good places for game-refuges is
now in the National Government.

The cost of maintenance of such parks would
amount to little. The keeper’s compensation, as at the
clubs, would be in part, at least, the right to farm the
arable portions of the preserve. Few keepers would
be necessary if it were known that the Secret Service
was prepared to report offenders.

The tendency of legislation, national and State, is
toward the protection of the game. The Commis-
sioner of Agriculture has recently been given certain
powers looking toward its restoration. Restoration,
however, to open fields and a vast army of modern
guns, would amount to nothing. The remedy is the
national game-preserve.

Thirty-one States have game-commissioners, or
other officers whose duty it is to preserve and, in some
States, propagate the game. There are ten national
and forty-three State organizations concerned with

GAME CLUBS, PARKS, AND PRESERVES 37

the protection of birds and game, besides the Audubon
societies in twenty-nine States, but the destruction still
goes on, with improved weapons and appliances, and
until the birds have the needed refuge the danger of
their total disappearance will remain.

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IV
GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

HE game birds of North America which most
interest sportsmen are included in the orders
Galline, birds of the cock or rooster type, the tur-
keys, grouse, pheasants, and partridges: Axatide, the
swimmers—the geese, ducks and brant; and Lzmcole—
the shore-birds or waders, the snipes, sandpipers,
plovers, etc. First inimportance is the order Gadline.
The turkeys, grouse, and partridges are indigenous, but
there are no quails in North America. The ducks
are by many given first place and duck-shooters
insist their sport is first and. best. | There are
a few splendid birds, such as the woodcock, snipe
and some of the plovers and sandpipers in the remain-
ing order of shore-birds. In addition to the birds
included in these three principal orders, there are
the wild pigeons, the cranes and rails, and the reed
birds.

The gallinaceous birds are divided by ornitholo-
gists into the Galline and the Phasianide. The
former term includes the grouse, partridges, and
quails; the latter includes the pheasants. The wild
turkey is the only true pheasant indigenous to North
America. We have recently added two more to our
fauna by importation—the Mongolian, or ring-neck,

41

42 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

from China, and the English pheasant, descended
from the same stock, which has long been a familiar
game bird in England and on the continent of Europe.

Gallinaceous birds are all taken by pursuit. Most
of them are shot over dogs, which seek and follow
them by means of their scent, and which point them
when found. For gallinaceous game the sportsman
usually tramps across the fields with thorough-bred
setters or pointers ranging ahead, and the observa-
tion of these handsome, intelligent companions is,
in my judgment, more than half the fun. The tramp
across the fields and into the beautiful autumn woods
when the frost is in the air, is for me the most
desirable form of field sports. For men who do
not walk and climb the fences well the ambush
is more suitable. Do not think for a moment I would
decry the sport. I have shot nearly every duck
that flies; have spent days in the blinds both for
the sea-ducks and the so-called river-ducks of the
interior; I have been out in all kinds of weather, long
before daybreak and long after dark (before the laws
prohibited night shooting), and have had some splen-
did shooting at the ducks. I prefer the upland shoot-
ing, since | prefer pursuit to ambush and enjoy the
company and performance of setters more than of
retrievers. lam thoroughly in accord with those who
have given to the gallinaceous birds the title: ‘“ True
game birds.”

The grouse, partridge, turkeys, and pheasants
are all terrestrial birds and live and nest upon
the ground. Turkeys and pheasants roost in the
branches of trees, as do their descendants, the

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 43

turkeys and chickens of the barn-yards. Although
the grouse are referred to as hens and chickens
(prairie-hen, spruce-hen, wood-heath-hen, sharp-tailed-
chicken, sage-hen, etc.), they are not related to the
domestic poultry, which is all descended from the
pheasants.

The legs of the turkeys, pheasants, and partridges
are naked, but the grouse all have the shank or tarsus
covered with feathers; in some varieties even to the
toes, as a protection against the snow. Sports-
men will do well to remember this difference, and
looking at the feathered legs of the ruffed-grouse they
will no longer erroneously call the birds partridges,
as many do in New England, or pheasants, as many
do in Ohio and throughout the West and South.
Such misnomers are bad enough when used by boys
beyond the reach of schools. They should never be
used by sportsmen.

Bryant says of the ruffed-grouse :

“ Partridge they call him by our Northern streams
and pheasant by the Delaware.”

Forester says he has a very good name of his own—
ruffed-grouse. Gallinaceous birds all lie to the dogs,
excepting the turkeys, and they do so at times. They
arise from the ground with the loud and startling roar
of wings so disconcerting to beginners, and fly in
straight or curving lines. The smaller birds are
more difficult, and on that account better marks than
the grouse of the open country.

All gallinaceous birds are found associated in
flocks, termed covies or bevies. Late in the fall the
grouse of the open country associate into vast flocks,

44 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

termed packs, and it is then next to impossible to
approach them. The wood-grouse never pack.

The flesh of all the gallinaceous birds is excellent.
They never have the sedgy or fishy taste which some
ducks and shore-birds have at times; but the grouse
which live in the woods have a bitter taste when
eating the spruce buds, and the great sage-grouse
of the Western desert has often a decided flavor of
the artemesta or wild sage. There are in all forty-two
species and sub-species found in North America, but
many of these are much alike, and from the_sports-
man’s view-point there are but sixteen birds—the wild
turkey, three grouse of the open country, the prairie-
grouse, the sharp-tailed-grouse, and the sage-grouse ;
four grouse of the woods and mountains, the ruffed-
grouse, Canada-grouse, blue-grouse and ptarmigan;
two imported pheasants, the Mongolian and English,
and six partridges, the California Valley partridge,
the mountain partridge, the scaled partridge, Gam-
bel’s partridge, the Massena partridge, and last and
best, Bob-white. There are two additional Bob-whites
which are found in the Southwest and Mexico, so
different in their markings as to be worthy of special
notice. These are pictured and described. We first
go in pursuit of the turkeys and their relatives, the
pheasants; then to the prairies and woods for the
grouse and to the fields for the partridges.

The ornithologists now having agreed that there
are no quails in North America, I would strongly
urge the sportsmen to drop the terms “quail” and
“quail-shooting.” It being evident that the ruffed-
grouse, with his feathered legs, is not a pheasant or

GALLINACEOUS BIRDS 45

a partridge, let us all pull together and endeavor to
see that the bird has his proper name. This is the
more important now that we may shoot the true
pheasants with their bright plumage, long tails, and
naked legs, in the same covers with the woodland-
grouse.

V
THE WILD TURKEY

NYONE who has seena wild turkey strutting in
the sunlight, his bronze feathers gleaming with
a metallic lustre and reflecting rays of deep purple,
red, green, and blue, will be prepared to agree with
the ornithologists that he is a pheasant. The wild
turkey,in pattern and markings, is similar to the domes-
ticated bird, but he is far handsomer. Wild turkeys
often are very heavy; there are records of birds weigh-
ing as much as twenty-five and thirty pounds. The
flesh is even finer than that of the tame bird, and
without doubt the turkey is the largest and most mag-
nificent game bird in the world and one of the best, if
not the best, of food birds. The wild turkey is indig-
enous to the Western hemisphere alone; the other
pheasants are found on the other side of the globe,
except the two recently introduced into the United
States.

The range of the turkey given in the check list of
the American Ornithological Union is :—“ United
States from Chesapeake Bay to Gulf Coast, and west
to the plains, along wooded river valleys, formerly
north to Southern Maine, Southern Ontario, and up the
Missouri River to North Dakota.” Three other varie-
ties of turkey are listed, all with a more limited range:
The Mexican turkey, the Florida turkey, and the Rio

46

THE WILD TURKEY 47

Grande turkey. These are, however, so much alike
as to be the same bird to a sportsman. In fact it
would take a very expert ornithologist, | am satisfied,
to distinguish the species where the birds are associ-
ated and have no doubt intermarried. The wild turkey
is an extinct bird in many of the Northern and Eastern
States, and is nowhere found in any numbers save in a
few places in the South and Southwest. It is difficult
to realize the numbers which existed some years ago.
William F. Cody (Buffalo Bill) thus describes the abun-
dance of the turkeys in the West: “ While at this
camp we had a lively turkey hunt. The trees along
the banks of the stream were literally alive with wild
turkeys, and after unsaddling the horses, between two
and three hundred soldiers surrounded a grove of tim-
ber and had a grand turkey round-up, killing four or
five hundred of the birds with guns, clubs, and stones.
Of course we had turkey in every style after this hunt
—roast turkey, boiled turkey, fried turkey, ‘turkey
on toast’ and so on; and we appropriately called this
place Camp Turkey.” They were probably as abun-
dant in the Indian Territory a few years ago as any-
where. My brother found them fairly abundant in
Southern Texas, and there are places in the Gulf States
where there are still some turkeys. A few remain in
the mountains of Pennsylvania and the Virginias.
Like the other game birds, before they became intimate
with man they were so tame as to be called stupid.
Irving, in his “ Tour on the Prairies,” so refers to them.

I found a few turkeys when partridge shooting a
few years ago in Northwestern Ohio and twice the
dogs pointed them. I saw one killed over a point in

48 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

Indiana where we expected a woodcock to spring
before the dog. Forester says turkeys never lie
close enough to be pointed by pointers or set-
ters or to be shot on the wing. This was no doubt
true of the few birds remaining in the Eastern States
in Forester’s day, but I have repeatedly seen the dogs
stand turkeys and have several times seen them
killed on the wing like partridges. It is most unusual,
however. The turkeys that survive are all extremely
wild and wary, and the utmost skillis required to stalk
them in the forest.

As objects of pursuit I do not much care for them,
for the reason that they do not lie well to the dogs.
I much prefer the open tramp behind the setters to
the covert stalking of any game, when one moves but
a half step at a time, with the utmost caution, striving
not to make the slightest noise. It may be that I do not
care for stalking turkeys, since lam not very good at it,
but Iam quite sure that were I successful, I would
still be found with the dogs, I had anexcellent oppor-
tunity to learn the turkey shooter’s methods, when
shooting partridges several seasons with a sportsman
devoted to turkey shooting, but we usually parted
company when he discovered turkey signs.

Another objection I have to turkey shooting is the
long time between shots. Toone accustomed to using
from fifty to a hundred shells in a day, and the lively
work with the prairie grouse, partridges, ducks, or snipe
a single shot in a week, or perhaps no shooting at all,
seems slow. I must admit that there is much skill dis-
played in fairly outwitting the turkey of to-day, and
the sportsman who kills one has every reason to be

THE WILD TURKEY 49

proud of his achievement, and is deserving of the mag-
nificent prize he obtains. There are several methods
of capturing turkeys other than stalking them. The
most familiar is calling them up to an ambush by
means of an imitation of their gobble. Some turkey
shooters become very expert at this, and can call the
turkeys within afew feet of theirguns. The turkey-call
is usually made of the wing-bone of the bird. Often
the sound is produced by the vibration of a leaf placed
against the mouth. The gobble is sounded at intervals
when a bird responds, and there is considerable excite-
ment while the wild, wary birds are approaching, but
when they step out in an open place a short distance
from the gun, the sitting shot is an easy one, and the
flying marks present no great difficulty for the second
barrel.

Turkeys are often shot with the rifle, the aim being
at the head, so as not to destroy the flesh. Such shots
are often at long range, and difficult. Before the turkeys
were too wild, a dog was of service to tree them, in the
same manner dogs are used in some woods to tree the
ruffed-grouse, when of course, the bird is shot sitting.

Another method of taking turkeys is to shoot them
on moonlight nights when they are roosting in the
trees. There are many accounts of this night-shooting
in the river bottoms of the Southwest, but when one
stops to think of it, it is unsportsmanlike to shoot any
bird after it has gone to sleep, and such shooting is now
prohibited in many of the States. Shortly after leay-
ing the roost, the turkeys are on the ground busily
engaged in feeding, and they are then more easy to
find and approach than later in the day.

mo GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

There are some turkeys in the great preserve of the
Nittany Club in Pennsylvania, and here, if anywhere
in the North, I believe by proper care the turkeys
might be made to show an increase. Turkeys are
great wanderers, but the preserve of this club is miles
in extent, and if a lot of new birds could be procured
and protected, there no doubt would be in a few years
enough turkeys for the club members to kill one now
and then when in pursuit of other game—possibly over
a point. Some tame birds of the bronze variety closely
resembling the wild ones might be turned out in the
farms preserved by the club,and these would aid in
keeping the wild birds on the preserve, and would most
likely soon be found associating with them. A wild tur-
key is a great prize in any bag. His appearance would
cause rejoicing at the club table. I heard of a few flocks
in the mountains of Western Pennsylvania a year ago,
and had an invitation to go in pursuit of them; there
were ruffed-grouse in the same woods, a few woodcock,
and afew coveys of partridges in the valleys. A friend
who shot over the ground, assured me there could be
no doubt about the turkeys being there, and I am
always glad to learn of the existence of these birds any-
where. Their extermination seemed certain a few
years ago. Unless they be preserved on some of the
club grounds, I fear they will vanish as completely as
did the buffalo and wild passenger pigeon. In the
West the turkeys are pursued with greyhounds, but
I have never witnessed this sport. The birds are
repeatedly driven into the air, each flight being shorter,
until finally the dogs overtake one.

Turkey shooting is a most uncertain sport. When

THE WILD TURKEY 51

I wrote “In Brush, Sedge, and Stubble,” since repub-
lished as “ The True Game Birds,” I referred to my
experience in the Ozark Mountains with a local sports-
man who knew the woods. I spent several days look-
ing for turkeys but did not see a bird. We were in-
formed that in our absence a boy had killed one with
a stone, from a small flock which appeared in the
village.

VI
THE PHEASANTS

LTHOUGH tthe pheasants were introduced
and naturalized in England more than eight
hundred years ago, there was not a pheasant in the
United States prior to the year 1881, excepting, of
course, the wild turkey. It was through the efforts of
our Consul-General at Shanghai, Judge Denny, of
Oregon, that the birds were first introduced into the
United States. His first experiment was a failure, but
the next year he was successful with the birds shipped
to his brother, Mr. John Denny, of Albany, Oregon.
Many of the birds survived and were liberated on his
farm, near Patterson’s Butte. Being protected for a
number of years by legislation, they became abundant
and the pheasant is now a common game bird on the
Pacific Coast.

Many sportsmen became interested in this bird and
it was soon introduced into many of the Eastern States,
and protected everywhere for a periodof years. A
number of pheasant farms and hatcheries were started,
and they found it difficult to supply the demand for
birds and eggs. In some of the States the propagation
of these birds was undertaken by the State game com-
missioners. The clubs have liberated pheasants on
their preserves, and many individuals throughout

52

THE: PHEASANTS 53

America are interested in raising them to stock their
private shooting grounds.

In many of the States the close period is now about
to expire, and the pheasant will be shot with the other
game birds, but I doubt much if they will anywhere
survive in the Eastern States, save on the preserves.
The birds are large and noticeable on account of their
bright plumage, and although swift flyers they are not
very difficult marks; and in localities where there are
several shooters in each field the moment the season
opens, and often before, with dogs of all sorts, I do not
see how the pheasants can possibly escape.

It would seem that the climate of our country, at least
that of most of the States, is even more favorable to
these beautiful fowls of the Orient, than that of England.
Since the birds have been successfully propagated
there for centuries (and although the shooting has
been excessive in England and on the Continent of
Europe) there is each year an abundance of birds in
the preserves, I see no reason why they should not
do well everywhere in America where there are clubs
or preserves. To-day I notice in a morning paper this
telegram from Paris: “ Count Bonide Castellane enter-
tained King Carlos, of Portugal, at a shooting party
yesterday, at the Chateau Marais, near St. Cheron.
The bag includes four hundred and sixty-one pheas-
ants.” Royalty everywhere is very fond of pheasants,
and of all shooting, for that matter, and the foregoing is
not an extraordinary bag, but large enough to show
how successfully the birds have been introduced and
propagated in other countries.

The shooting clubs of the Eastern States have been

54 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

successful with the pheasants, and some of them already
have very good shooting. I am informed that at one
of the clubs on Long Island the shooting is now as
good or better than that to be had on most English
estates of similar size. This club each year releases
about two thousand birds in the covers, which have
been bred on neighboring farms. In Ohio, the pheas-
ants are propagated by the State, and distributed each
year. Many of the Ohio clubs have also liberated
pheasants on their preserves, and they are now abun-
dant in many places, more especially on the grounds of
the duck clubs which control the shooting on the
marshes south of Lake Erie. The heavy sedge seems
to offer a safe refuge for the birds, and no doubt pro-
tects them from hawks and other enemies. The shoot-
ing is not yet open in Ohio, but last year, when sketch.
ing in the marshes, I saw many pheasants, which (as I
came upon them in fields or in the paths through the
sedge) flew away with a loud clucking like the prairie-
grouse, presenting about the same, or little more diffi-
cult marks.

Although only about twenty-five birds were liberated
on the grounds of the Ottawa Club (Sandusky) and
there has been no effort made toward propagation,
they have increased rapidly, and there are now thou-
sands of birds on their preserve.

In England and the older countries the shooting of
pheasants is largely done at the dattue, and a recent
writer for Harper's Weekly (I don’t know who, since the
article was unsigned) well says: “It used to be the
fashion to sneer at the dattue ; men who had killed big
game in the forest laughed at the picture of good King

THE PHEASANTS 55

Edward sitting in an arm-chair potting half-tame
pheasants, but there is no kind of shooting, I think, that
requires surer marksmanship than the dattue as it is
practised in the national preserves of Rambouillet. It
is not a wild sport, but it is a sport in which skill is
everything. Its sporting equation would be: ‘The
battue is to stalking grizzlies as billiards is to football.’
I have shot prairie chickens over a good red setter in
the stubble of Wisconsin fields, and have had my day
in a boat on the reeds for wild ducks; now, believe me,
in neither instance does the game have so fair a chance
for his life as he does in a dattue, when he is flagged
out of the bush or copse and driven down upon your
gun. Far less destructive than shooting over dogs, it
is therefore more sportsmanly. This is especially the
case when pheasants are in play.” The writer de-
scribes a dattue at which M. Loubet, the President of
France, was the principal shooter.

In America pheasants are usually shot over dogs.
We are good imitators, however. Something like the
fox-hunting of England is seen on Long Island and
elsewhere, and I predict it will not be long before the
pheasants are shot at the dattues on October Mountain
and on the other vast country estates now owned by
American men who can afford them. A member of
one park association recently informed me that on that
preserve the pheasants are held in captivity until a
member of the club notifies the game-keeper that he is
coming. Thereupon the few birds which each member
is allowed to shoot are placed out in a field and he is
informed exactly where and proceeds to shoot them.
I said nothing when this information was imparted ;

56 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

but my informant added: “It does seem a little funny,
does it not?” I replied that it did!

The domestic hens are found to be valuable assistants
in the raising of young pheasants. The eggs laid by
the pheasants are removed and placed under the hens in
little boxes in a house, where many hens may be seen
at once sitting on as many as twenty eggs each. The
little chicks with their foster-mothers are put out in
coops where the chicks can run about in the grass.
Pheasants are polygamous and one cock is usually
penned with a number of hens. If more than one cock
is placed in an inclosure they will spend much of their
time in fighting, since they are very pugnacious. Wal-
lace Evans, of the game propagating farm near Chicago,
says that if the cocks are permitted to occupy the same
inclosure during the breeding season they will fight al-
most constantly, to the utter neglect of their conjugal
duties. The hens commence laying about April 15th,
the date depending somewhat upon the weather; and
each hen lays from fifty to seventy-five eggs in a season
if properly fed and cared for, thus furnishing the breeder
with several settings of eggs every spring. The eggs
are gathered daily and set under the hens sometimes as
lateas July. The period of incubation is about twenty-
one days. The young birds are fed on boiled custard
for afew days. Mr. Evans advises the removal of the
foster-mother and her brood when the poults are some
three or four days old, and that their food be changed
slightly ; the custard being fed once daily and one meal
being of finely chopped hard-boiled eggs. As the poults
begin to show strength a small quantity of the smaller
grains—such as cracked wheat, millet, etc., should be

THE PHEASANTS 57

mixed with the food, the quantity of grain being increased
gradually until the birds can be fed entirely with the
grain. Mr. Evans says, further, that it is good policy
to work the poults off the soft food as soon as possible.
The breeder at the outset will get full instructions
from the dealer who owns the pheasantry, and following
these he should have no trouble in stocking his farm
or preserve.

In setting out the young birds the foster-mother and
coop should be moved to the place selected and the
young fed there daily, until they become accustomed
to the place. This will prevent their wandering away.
It is well to know that pheasants do not inhabit large
forests or open plains. They insist upon cover, but
feed in the fields. In this they much resemble our
partridge, Bob-white, and the pheasants as a rule will
do well on the same ground. In the early morning
and again toward evening the pheasants leave the
cover to scratch and feed in the fields. When alarmed,
like the partridges, they fly to the cover, but some-
times trust to their legs and travel at a gait to exas-
perate a setter trying to road and point them.

A successful breeder, De Guise, writing for Forest
and Stream, says: “ They will at once make their home
in and never leave any wooded hollow, where cedars
and other evergreen trees abound, through whose
depths runs a never-failing stream, and which lies amid
fields of grass and grain. Such is an ideal harborage
for them, where their every want will be supplied.

In trying to set up a stock of pheasants no
efforts will be fully repaid, no success will be perfect,
unless a determined and continued onslaught is made

58 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS

on their foes, furred and feathered. The brook so
necessary for their comfort is the lurking place of the
mink. The grateful shade of the trees harbors hawks
and owls, and many a brood will be left motherless,
and many a hen will be bereft of her young, unless all
such depredators be ruthlessly exterminated.”

The male bird of the true Mongolian pheasants is
very handsome. The head is of an iridescent green,
reflecting blue and purple, and about the neck is the
broad white band which suggested the technical name
Torquatus, ring-neck. The English pheasant has lost
this white ring about its neck, and in some specimens
it is represented by a few white feathers. Both birds
have reddish-chestnut breasts, reflecting purple, and
have long tails barred with black. The English birds
are regarded as better than the true Mongolians for
American covers, but the Mongolians are handsomer
birds, on account of the broad white collar about the
neck. The flesh of both birds is excellent, nearly as
white as the domestic chicken, and far more palatable.
I have eaten them both at the same meal, and doubt if
I could detect the difference, if unaware which bird was
served. The English bird is said to be somewhat
heavier, the Mongolian seemed to me to possibly have
a more gamy flavor.

There are many other beautiful pheasants which
may some day be added to our fauna, but the Mongo-
lian and the English pheasants are those which are
now interesting to sportsmen.

In shooting pheasants, beat the sides of the fields
early in the day and at evening, and the dog will soon
discover the trail of the birds when they have run out

THE PHEASANTS 59

into the fields to feed, and follow them to a point, pro-
vided they do not run away from him. Mr. Miller, of
Eugene, Oregon, says the pheasant lies better to the
dog than the blue-grouse or prairie-chicken, but my
information would lead me to believe that the prairie-
grouse is the better bird before dogs, prior, of course,
to the time when it packs and does not lie for them at
all. The long tail, when this pheasant presents a cross
shot, will tend to make the sportsman shoot behind his
bird and so miss him, or bring down only the feathers
from the tail. Shoot well ahead of crossing birds and,
as | have before remarked, do not forget that there is
little danger of yourmissing by shooting too far in ad-
vance of the bird.

VII
THE NORTH AMERICAN GROUSE

EVERAL years ago I suggested that the Ameri-
can grouse might properly be divided into two
classes—(1) the grouse of the open country and (2) the
grouse of the woods and mountains. The classifica-
tion is not of course ornithological, but sportsmanlike,
since the grouse of the open country all lie better to
the dogs than the grouse of the woods, and are dis-
tinguished from the wood-grouse in other ways, impor-
tant to sportsmen, as we shall observe later. Many
grouse are listed in the check list, which are so much
like others as to be distinguished with difficulty.
When the pattern and markings are the same, and the
habits of the species and sub-species are identical, and
the only difference is a slight variation of the general
color, the birds may be, and are, regarded as the same by
sportsmen. The sub-species of ruffed-grouse—for ex-
ample, the Canadian ruffed-grouse, the gray ruffed-
grouse, and the Oregon or Sabines ruffed-grouse—are the
same in pattern and markings and have the same habits,
and the sportsman is right in regarding them as iden-
tical The great ornithologist, Coues, says: “They
are ruffed-grouse, each and all of them, and we may
ignore the varieties, unless we desire to be very pre-
cise.” Any attempt to portray these sub-species in

black and white fails. They all appear exactly alike,
60

THE NORTH AMERICAN GROUSE 61

for the reason that the differences are in color. Were
the pictures made in color there would necessarily be
many of them, since the sub-species intergrade and all
the specimens in a collection might be different.

Discarding the sub-species, there remain three grouse
of the open country: the prairie-grouse, the sharp-
tailed grouse, and the sage-grouse; and four grouse
of the woods and mountains: the ruffed-grouse, the
Canada or Spruce-grouse, the blue- or dusky-grouse,
and the ptarmigan, which turns white in winter.

The grouse of the open country all lie well to the
dog until late in the year, and seldom fly to the trees.
The grouse of the woods and mountains are all given
to flying to the trees, and are often shot from the
branches. The flesh of the wood-grouse is usually
light ; that of the grouse of the open country is darker.

In some of the States the season for shooting the
grouse of the open country commences in August.
This is a month too early, since many of the birds have
then an immature flight and go fluttering out of the
grass or stubble with a speed not much better than
that of the rails, presenting marks which in no way
test the skill of the sportsman. It is, too, excessively
hot on the prairies in August and so dry and dusty
that the dogs have great difficulty in finding and
pointing the game and often suffer from thirst. On
the high plains of the Northwest the temperature is
better, and the many small lakes and ponds furnish
water for the dogs. The opening day for grouse in
Scotland is August 12th, and this date would do for
North Dakota, Montana, and Manitoba. I have had
many good days in Dakota and Montana in the latter

62 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

part of August, when the birds were fairly strong on
the wing, but for many reasons | am of the opinion
that September Ist should be the opening day for
grouse shooting in America. This is the best date
when all the States are considered, and uniformity is
desirable. And since the birds have rapidly dimin-
ished, it is well to have a short season.

Ten years ago I had no hesitation in predicting the
extermination of the grouse of the prairies. They had
already disappeared from Ohio and Kentucky, and
when I went to shoot in Indiana, Illinois, and Kansas,
I observed that the race was rapidly diminishing, and
that the birds were shot as early as July, sold openly
in the markets, and served at hotels and restaurants.
Market gunners vied with sportsmen in the making of
outrageous bags, and the birds were shot for sport,
when they could not be transported or used on ac-
count of the heat. Stories were common of wagon-
loads of game thrown away. The sharp-tailed grouse
fared somewhat better for a time, on account of the
Indians, who were the best game preservers in the
world, using what they needed only, and preventing
their white brothers from taking any.

The legislation shortening the open season, and pro-
hibiting the sale and shipment of the grouse, has done
much, and with the creation of preserves in the grouse
States, the birds will no doubt be saved for all time
and cared for and handled as grouse are in Scotland,
where immense numbers are killed each year, but
enough are left to restock the preserves.

In Scotland the game preserves are of great value.
‘‘ Shoots” are advertised for the season at a rental often

DHE NORTH AMERICAN GROUSE 63

of thousands of dollars. The editor of the British
Sportsman said, last fall, that the annual sporting rental
of Inverness-shire is close upon $100,000. Adding the
rentals received in Perthshire, Ross-shire, Argyle-
shire, and Aberdeenshire, and $140,000 for the deer
shooting, it is estimated that the shooting privileges
yield an annual rental of over $2,200,000. “ These fig-
ures,” says the editor, “ give the value of shootings when
properly looked after, and it must be borne in mind that
all this money is derived from land which in the days
of our grandfathers produced practically nothing.”

I look to see somewhat similar conditions in the grouse
States of America before many years. The grouse
are especially adapted to some of the city sportsmen,
since the shooting in America is usually done from a
spring-wagon with cushioned seats, and the shots are
comparatively easy, being made over dogs. Already
there are places in this country where the entire taxes
on farms are paid by city sportsmen, and I predict it
will not be long before the “ shoots,” to use the English
expression, bring much better prices. The distance
from the large cities to the shooting grounds is no
longer a serious problem. A day ortwo in aluxurious
private car, or in the library of an express train, will
put one down upon the finest grouse-fields in the
world. In Scotland the grouse shooting is largely
done from ambush, the birds being driven across a
line of guns. The birds are under full headway as
they pass or cross over, and the shots are more diff-
cult (as they are at driven pheasants) than those pre-
sented when shooting over dogs. I know a number
of American sportsmen who go to shoot grouse in

64 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

Scotland, and they are very fond of the drives. There
is no place in the world where driving could be better
done than on the prairies and plains of the Western
States.

We will no doubt shoot at driven grouse before
many years, since the “preserve” idea is moving West-
ward like the course of empire.

The wood-grouse are all great wanderers afoot, and
require large forests for their preservation. The cut-
ting down of the trees has been sufficient to extermi-
nate them in many places. They are benefited by the
establishment of the preserves, and get along with less
woodland when not too much persecuted.

All of the grouse are sufficiently important to be
considered separately, when we shall have something
to say as to the natural history of each, and the
methods of pursuing them.

Vill
THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE

HE common-grouse, known as the prairie-hen or
chicken, and the sharp-tailed grouse, are simi-
lar birds but easily distinguished. The former in-
habits the prairies and the latter the plains. They are
associated where the prairies and the so-called great
plains of the Northwest blend. The prairie bird was
formerly found from the Eastern States to the plains, and
was abundant in Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky, but few,
if any, remain in Ohio and the bird is nowhere as
abundant as it was a few years ago. It is probably
more abundant to-day in Kansas, Nebraska, Texas,
Iowa, and parts of [Illinois than elsewhere, and is ex-
tending its range toward the Northwest. The prairie-
grouse is a reddish-brown bird with dark brown
stripes running crosswise. The sharp-tailed grouse
is much lighter in color, being almost white under-
neath and the markings are lengthwise. The sharp-
tailed grouse is easily distinguished by the sharp tail
and white spots on the wings.

The prairie-grouse live only in the open country,
preferring prairies of vast extent. As they are culti-
vated the grouse remain and feed in the stubbles and
corn, and the vast corn-fields in the prairie States have
done much toward their preservation. When it was the

fashion everywhere to shoot these birds in the sum-
65

66 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

mer, even as early as July, the growing corn afforded
a refuge often miles in extent where it was intensely
hot and where the shooting was difficult, especially so
where the broad green leaves of the corn grew higher
than the head. In Illinois and Kansas I have seen
many a fine covey of grouse at the first shot on the
stubble fly directly to the corn and sailing for a long
distance over it settle where it was difficult to mark
them and impossible to shoot them. Toward evening
the birds return to the stubble to feed, but at the first
shot they fly back to the corn.

The prairie-grouse builds its nest on the ground and
there are usually from twelve to fifteen eggs. The
cocks in the spring make a loud booming noise, and
strut and fight often at certain places called by the
country folks scratching places.

Many nests are destroyed by prairie fires and many
by spring floods. | Provided it be not too late the hen
will usually nest again, Many are of the opinion that
the grouse raise two broods in a year; I doubt not
they do sometimes, and usually if the first brood is
destroyed. Early in the season the young birds are not
strong on the wing and are very easy marks. They
arise from the ground with the loud whirring noise
made by all gallinaceous birds, and familiar to every-
one who has stumbled upon a flock of partridges or a
ruffed-grouse in the woods. When full grown the
flight is strong and well sustained, the whirring con-
tinues for a time and then the birds sail on extended
wings, soon to whirr and sail again alternately until
they have flown a great distance. When the grouse
are young and tame, and have not been shot at, they

THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE 67

do not fly far, often not much beyond the limit of a
large field. They are then the easiest kind of marks,
and the whole flock is often killed by two guns in very
short order. They lie well to the dogs, which find
them easily, provided it be not too dry, but as the
season advances they are more difficult to approach,
and an October grouse is a swift and difficult mark,
rising nearly out of range.

As soon as the weather becomes cold many coveys
associate, forming vast flocks, which are termed packs.
It is then next to impossible to approach them within
shooting range. They may be seen sitting on fences
and on hay-stacks, and are even visible sitting about on
the ground with heads up, and always alert and ready
to fly a mile or more when the sportsman approaches.
It is useless to try and get within range of them. A
few birds might possibly be killed at long range with
a rifle, but no sportsman fond of shooting over setters
would thus destroy the birds. Sometimes on warm,
sunny days late in the fall, if a pack of grouse be moved
early in the day while feeding, they will fly out on the
prairie and as the sun becomes strong in the middle of
the day they resume their feeding, and if well scattered
may lie to the dog.

In September the sportsman looks for the grouse
early in the day and again late in the afternoon. The
birds start quite early from the long and heavy grasses
or from the standing corn, going afoot to the stubbles
to feed. In the middle of the day the dogs will not
find them. Late in the season if there is any shooting
it will be in the middle of the day.

The distances on the prairie are so great that the

68 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

sportsmen usually drive in a wagon, alighting to shoot,
or ride about shooting, often without dismount-
ing. I have tried both methods many times and am
very fond of the saddle. When the horse, or Indian
pony, is used to the gun and will stand anywhere with-
out hitching and come when called, as a well-trained
pony will do, this method is perhaps the best. A drive
with a companion or two in a light spring-wagon, with
the opportunity of praising the conduct of the dogs
and discussing the shots at the last covey, is the usual
way. The dogs range far and wide, and when they
come to a point the wagon is driven rapidly within a
very short distance of them, the sportsmen take their
positions behind the dogs, slipping the shells in the
guns as they approach, and when all are ready the
owner of the dogs steps forward a pace or two, his
companion moves forward with him, there is a loud
whirring of wings, a rapid firing of the guns and if
the aim be true, four large brown birds tumble dead
into the stubble at the report of the four barrels.

The driver shades his eyes with his hand and from
his seat in the wagon observes the flight of the sur-
vivors as they go whirring and sailing away like so
many two-pound meadow-larks, and marks them by a
tall weed when they settle on the prairie.

The dog having retrieved the dead, they are placed
in the wagon and a short drive brings the shooters to
the scattered birds. Soon the setters or pointers lo-
cate them by the strong scent. One dog draws up
quickly to a point and the other backs him, or per-
chance they both point at once at separate birds.
These arise as the sportsmen move forward, present-

dqraivad HHL NO ONILOOHS ASNOXD

t Bake %

THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE 69

ing single shots and often doubles, since two or three
birds will often get up together. Others arise at the
report of the guns, and the shooting is rapid. Here,
as in all field shooting, observe the rule as to silence.
Do not exclaim about the merits or demerits of a shot,
especially when the gun has just been fired, for you
will most likely move a pair of birds just at your feet,
which no doubt will present the easiest chance for a
double, and be talked about for the rest of the day, as
the fish are which get away. Do not shout at the dog
or give him any orders if it can be avoided. Replace
the shells in the gun immediately after firing, and if
you care to do so and shoot fairly well you may bag
every bird in the covey then and there.

Since the shooting is always in the open it is not
difficult to mark and follow the birds, except in stand-
ing corn, and it is not unusual for the entire covey to
be brought to bag before the sportsmen leave it.
Now that the birds are few in number sensible sports-
men do not care to exterminate them, and on the pre-
serves it is quite necessary to spare some of them if
there is to be any shooting another year. The mar-
ket gunner, always the most destructive, finding it
more and more difficult to dispose of the game, has in
most places ceased to shoot, and those who used to
trap large numbers of the birds, using large traps
which often caught a covey at a setting, have ceased
to trap them for the same reason.

In many of the States there are laws limiting the
size of the bag to be made in a day to from ten to
twenty-five birds and the limit may be easily reached
by shooting a few birds from each covey. So soon as

70 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

the birds are everywhere preserved, as they no doubt
will be, the bag limit may well be increased, since per-
sonal interest will so regulate the killing as to save
enough to restock the grounds for another year.
Upon a preserve the natural enemies of the grouse
are destroyed; suitable nesting places are not burned
over and the birds are fed and cared for in the winter.
Under such conditions large bags may again be made
in a day without danger of a permanent diminution of
the game.

When I first went to shoot in Kansas the birds
were abundant. We drove out but a short distance
from a little village in the central part of the State,
and the dogs soon found and pointed a covey. There
was more unbroken ground than cultivated fields, and
the birds when flushed were scattered in the prairie
crass, and we had little difficulty in making large bags.

The wide, brown prairies, level or gently undu-
lated, stretched away in every direction until they
met the sky. The small houses, more often cabins
or dugouts, were scattered at long intervals. There
were few fences, and no sign-boards forbidding the
shooting. The drive inthe fresh, cool air of the
morning was followed by rapid shooting, and in the
heat of the day we rested often for several hours and
again cast off the dogs in the afternoon and enjoyed
the sport until sundown. There was no restraint of
any kind; no law to limit the bag; no irate farmer
ordered us off. The sportsman who goes to shoot
the prairie-grouse to-day will do well to get per-
mission in advance to shoot over the farms and look
up the law of the State he proposes to shoot in,

THE PRAIRIE-GROUSE 71

Going out one season with some army officers from
Fort Leavenworth as the guest of a railway official,
in a private car, the engineer whistled when the
grouse flushed before his engine and stopped while
we went in pursuit of the birds. There were but one
or two trains daily and the car seldom had to seek a
siding to avoid them. We had Gordon setters, Eng-
lish setters and pointers, young and old, and they
found and pointed the birds equally well. It was late
in August and the pointers suffered less from the heat
and were on that account the more serviceable dogs.
Use No. 7 or 8 shot early in the season; 5 or 6 later.

THE HEATH-HEN

The earlier ornithologists regarded the heath-hen
as identical with the pinnated-grouse or prairie-
chicken of the Western prairies. It is closely allied
to the latter bird and so much like it in pattern and
color markings as to be easily mistaken for it. The
present habits of the two birds are, however, different,
since the heath-hen is found in the woods, its favorite
haunt being in scrub-oaks, where it feeds largely on
acorns and berries, going out, as the ruffed-grouse
goes, to the open fields for grain. The term heath-
hen seems inappropriate now that the bird is an
arborial species, but it may indicate that it was found
in the open years ago, when it was distributed over
Massachusetts, Connecticut, Long Island, New Jersey,
and Pennsylvania. It is now almost exterminated, and
all that remain are in a limited area of about forty
square miles on the island of Martha’s Vineyard,

72 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

Mass. Here they are strictly protected, and Brewster
says they are in no present danger of extermination.
According to present calculations there are not more
than two or three hundred birds remaining.

From this source the clubs of Massachusetts and
Long Island might possibly restock their club grounds,
if the game officers of Massachusetts would permit it,
and the experiment is well worth trying, since this
grouse would prove a valuable addition to any game
preserve. The experiment was once tried of stocking
the preserve of the Robin’s Island Club, on the island
of that name in Peconic Bay, with prairie-grouse from
the West, but the birds all flew away, probably to Con-
necticut, since one was reported to have been seen
there.

Brewster says the heath-hen-weighs on an average
one pound less than the prairie-grouse. Samuels, in
his “ Northern and Eastern Birds” (published in 1883),
gives the pinnated grouse, or prairie-hen, as a former
inhabitant of Massachusetts and other Eastern States,
and says it is not now to be found in this section, ex-
cept on Martha’s Vineyard.

A friend of the writer shot one of these birds some
years ago on Martha’s Vineyard, brought it to New
York and had it mounted by a taxidermist. Upon
learning of the penalty for his offence, however, he was
not much inclined to discuss the occurrence.

IX
THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE

OR many reasons I regard the sharp-tail as the
best American grouse. Its flight is similar to that
of the prairie-grouse, if anything more swift and well
sustained, its gray plumage, effectively marked with
white and black, is more attractive, the pointed tail
gives it a trim appearance, its flesh is equal to the best,
and it lies well to the dogs. The country where it
dwells is better suited to the use of dogs than the prairie,
by reason of the cooler temperature and the abundance
of water in the many lakes and ponds.

The range of the sharp-tailed grouse and the two
sub-species (which so closely resemble the species as to
be of no importance to sportsmen) is from Northern
Illinois and Wisconsin to the central portions of Alaska.
The prairie sharp-tailed grouse is found as far south as
New Mexico. The Columbian sharp-tail is found on
both sides of the Rocky Mountains, eastward to Mon-
tana, Dakota, and Wyoming, southward to Utah,
Northern Nevada, and Northeastern California. These
birds are most abundant in the Dakotas, Montana, on
the plains of Eastern Oregon and Washington, and in
the British possessions from Manitoba west. When I
first went to shoot in Dakota—there was but one Dakota
then—I found the sharp-tailed grouse very abundant,

73

74 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

but during my visit of several weeks’ duration I shot
only one or two of the pinnated or prairie-grouse. It
has been well settled, however, that the common
prairie-hen follows civilization to the Northwest, and
these birds are increasing in Dakota. Many of them
now find their way to the same bag with the sharp-
tails, and since variety is pleasing, they have made
their common range the most desirable grouse land in
America. I can imagine no better grouse preserves
than those which will soon occupy all the country
from Minnesota and the valley of the Red River of the
North to Eastern Oregon and Washington. The vast
number of small lakes and ponds and the little streams
and sloughs overgrown with reeds and rushes and
wild rice, are full of the best ducks that fly, both
the sea-ducks, such as the canvas-backs and red-heads,
and the shoal-water mallards, teal, wood-duck, and all
the river-ducks or dabblers. Many remain in North
Dakota to build their nests, and when chicken-shooting
I have often seen a pond full of young mallards and
teal, and once made a double shot, killing a duck and
a chicken, a large mallard and a swift-flying sharp-tail.
The sharp-tailed grouse is very similar in its habits to
the prairie-grouse. It struts and scratches and fights
in the spring; many performing at a time on the
scratching places, and as the birds bow and slip past
each other with their tails up they present an amusing
appearance, which has been compared to the dancing
of a minuet.

I have observed the great sage-grouse performing
in the same way, and the cocks of both species often
get to fighting, as dancers have been known to do at

THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 75

other balls, and the cause of the fight is always the
same—rivalry.

The nest of the sharp-tail is built on the ground, and
contains from twelve to fifteen or even more eggs. The
coyote and the many prairie falcons are their chief nat-
ural enemies, and these are so abundant that it seems re-
markable how the sharp-tails manage to survive. The
hawks, though not very wild, usually managed to keep
just out of range of our guns. I often observed many
of them sitting on the tops of the telegraph poles, and
many were always in sight sailing overhead. They
did not seem to be afraid of a team, and a friend often
dropped out of our wagon, and walked behind it until
within easy range of a hawk on a pole, and as he
stepped out to shoot, it was amusing to see the
alarmed bird jump into the air only to fall dead to his
unerring aim. A few steel-traps placed on the tele-
graph poles and in other likely places, would yield a
rich harvest of hawks, and prove a great benefit to both
the chickens and the ducks. At night a pack of coyotes
often came quite near our camp and howled, in their
dismal warbling fashion, their desire for our birds
which were hung up in the trees.

The sharp-tail weighs about two pounds; sometimes
as much as two and one-half. It feeds on grain, seeds,
berries, and insects, and its flesh is always in fine con-
dition for the table, and the young birdsare tender and
delicious. I prefer all grouse broiled quickly before a
fire, but they are very good cooked in any way do-
mestic chickens are, and in the winter they may be
stewed or parboiled to advantage like domestic fowls
of mature age. Although the sharp tails, like all other

76 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

gallinaceous birds, are protectively marked and rely
upon concealment, they are seen more often than the
prairie grouse on the ground, or sitting on the wheat
shocks, and on frosty mornings sitting on the branches
of the trees which grow about the streams. They
stand high on their legs and cock up their pointed tails
like a wren, and present a singular appearance when
the long neck is outstretched, as it generally is when
on the lookout. In the slang of the day, they might be
termed “ rubber-necks.” Uponapproaching the birds,
however, when they are thus visible, they disappear as
if by magic. Those sitting on the shocks fly away
or drop into the stubble; the “rubber-necks”’ are
shortened, the bodies fade out of sight. Although the
stubble or grass may be short and thin and you walk
directly tothe place where the birds were seena mo-
ment before and look carefully about, not a feather
will be visible. As you are about to step on a bird,
however, he bursts forth witha roar of wings, and flies
rapidly, usually clucking as do the prairie-grouse and
sage-cocks (tuck-a-tuck-tuck-tuck, repeated rapidly) as
if scolding you for the disturbance. Bestir yourself
rapidly if you would tumble the gray-cock into the
stubble. In an instant he will be out of range.

Once, shooting with an Indian agent, we had
scattered a flock of sharp-tails, and as I approached
the spot where [ had marked one, a bird went out and
I killed it, supposing it was the one marked down.
The agent called to me from the wagon that my bird
was a few feet farther on, and going to the place in-
dicated, I carefully looked about, without being able to
discover it. I was about to give it up, when I almost

THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 77

stepped on the bird, which arose with a loud whirr, but
I was fortunate enough to bag it. The concealment was
most remarkable since at no place was the grass much
longer than the bird’s legs. The above incident was
but one of many which proved that the bird, although
more willing to expose itself to view, was as good at con-
cealment as the partridge, ruffed-grouse, or woodcock.
Roosevelt refers to passing through a flock of sharp-
tails without seeing a bird on the ground, and glancing
back, to see all the long necks outstretched in the
grass, intently watching him, I have never seen the
prairie-grouse exhibit any such curiosity, and it is un-
usual in the shooting season to see those birds at all
until they are on the wing,

One day at Fort Totten, the Indian agent came to
invite me to shoot with him. He had a good pair of
horses hitched to a light spring wagon and one of his
Indian policemen (Mr. [ronlightning, I cannot write
his Sioux name) sat beside him. Anorange and white
setter was in the wagon, a _ big, strong dog I had shot
over often before. Wedrove out ashort distance, and,
releasing the dog, he went off like a greyhound on the
wide, gray plain. Soon he went more slowly, and it
was evident from his actions that he was approaching
birds. We drove forward as he settled to a point, and
the Indian held the reins while we went in and flushed
a covey of fifteen or twenty birds. The shots were easy,
and at the report of the four barrels in one, two—three,
four order, feathers white and gray hung in the air,
and four plump birds fell dead in the grass. The sur-
vivors did not fly far, and slipping shells into the guns,
we moved forward afoot, and soon were busy with the

78 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

scattered birds. There were but few misses and it was
not long before we had shot them all, excepting a few
which got away while the guns were empty.

The taciturn Indian sat in the wagon and marked
the birds, but the few that were left were widely scat-
tered and we proceeded to cast off the dog and search
fora newcovey. An officer from the garrison with
an Irish setter joined us, and on one occasion when the
dogs pointed a covey the birds arose, as they often do,
but a few at a time, in rapid succession, and reloading
quickly we killed them all before retrieving a bird.
Although the distances were great, the dogs were used
to them and were fast and untiring, and we found one
covey after another and had excellent sport with them
all. Afew ducks were shot as they flew from the ponds,
an occasional snipe went out with harsh squeak and
zig-zag flight from the wet grass about the ponds, and
found a place in the bag. Such was the shooting of
the sharp-tails a few years ago, and such it is to-day in
the Dakotas, Montana, and from Manitoba to Washing-
ton and Oregon. There are some restraints, however.
A gun license is usually required, costing as much as
$40 in Wyoming, and where the sport is best there is a
legal limit to the bag—ten birds in a day in Oregon,
twenty-five in Dakota.

A limit of ten birds per day makes a short day’s
shooting when the birds are abundant. It may be
necessary to save the game when the shooting is fine
and gunners are numerous, but, as I have observed
before, this limit may well be increased when the birds
are well cared for on the game preserve, their natural
enemies destroyed and food supplied them in the winter.

THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 79

A recent writer for Field and Stream says he has shot
into packs (coveys no doubt are meant) of both birds
(prairie and sharp-tailed grouse) in the same field.
“Some years ago,” he adds, “I killed an old mother-
bird with six young. The mother was a genuine
prairie-hen; the young were mixed. Three of them
favored the father bird (sharp-tail) even to the tail
with mixed coloration, breasts barred with V-shaped
markings; the others had tails like the mother, mixed
coloration with V-shaped marks on sides of whitish
breast.” Several varieties of pheasants are known to
interbreed on the preserves in England, and it may
be that the grouse will do the same on our grouse
preserves when the two birds are closely associated.

The sharp-tailed grouse is probably extinct in
Northern Illinois. A close season now in force in
Wisconsin may save the birds in that State, but there
is no bird whose salvation is more dependent upon
the preserve, in my opinion, than the sharp-tailed
grouse, and in fact all of the grouse of the open
country.

The ornithologist Coues, the best authority upon
our Western birds, says: “The pinnated-grouse pre-
fers to glean over cultivated fields, while the wilder
sharp-tailed clings to his native heath. The railway
will take the former along and warn the latter away.”

In an earlier book I expressed the opinion at vari-
ance with this high authority that the true reason for
the disappearance of the sharp-tails from the eastern
part of their range was to be found in the shot-gun.
I have observed the sharp-tails where farms were
being opened and found they were very fond of the

80 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

wheat-stubble. Roosevelt describes killing one hun-
dred and five sharp-tails one day while shooting with
his brother, over inferior dogs, in the stubbles to the
eastward of his ranch on the Little Missouri. I have
seen no reason to change my opinion that the sharp-
tailed grouse are not driven away by the railway, but
on the contrary, thrive in a wheat-farming country ;
and if sufficiently protected they will increase and
multiply so as to afford the finest grouse-shooting in
America for many years to come. One season I took
a ride of about a thousand miles through the country
inhabited by sharp-tails. Starting at Fort Buford,
North Dakota, we ascended the Yellowstone Valley
from the mouth of the river to Fort Keogh, Montana,
and went thence up the valley of the Rose-bud;
crossed the Panther Mountains to the Tongue River
and proceeded to the Big Horn Mountains; thence
northward along the Big Horn and Little Big Horn
to the Yellowstone, and crossing that river we re-
turned again to Forts Keogh and Buford. The
sharp-tails had not then been shot at. It was just
before the surrender of Sitting Bull, and we travelled
over country which was well preserved by the Indians.
The sharp-tailed grouse were very abundant in many
of the valleys and out on the plains, but no more so, I
am satisfied, than they were some years later on the
stubble fields of Dakota before they were much perse-
cuted. Sharp-tails do not like small farms, but
neither do the prairie-grouse, and for the same reason
—in a closely settled country there are too many
guns. It is no wonder when the shooting began in
July and the birds brought good prices in the Chicago

THE SHARP-TAILED GROUSE 81

markets, when there was no bag limit, no license, no
game warden or game law, that the birds were
“warned ” away from Northern Illinois. They might
readily be restored, in my opinion, with the prairie-
hen to many of the farms of Illinois; but the experi-
ment would not be worth while unless the birds were
closely protected for a period of years and thereafter
carefully guarded on preserves of large size where the
shooting would necessarily be limited to the increase
of the year. There are many vast preserves owned
by Chicago men where the ducks most congregate.
A preserve with the sharp-tails restored might well
be laid out adjoining the marshes frequented by the
ducks. On such a preserve the partridges, woodcock,
and ruffed-grouse would need but little more than
protection in the oak groves against over-shooting
to increase and multiply, and pheasants might be
added to advantage. Before it is too late I hope to
see the sharp-tails well established on many preserves
where the race will no longer be in yearly danger of
extermination.

I have referred at other times to the picturesque
features of the country where the sharp-tailed grouse
dwell. The many little lakes and ponds reflecting the
image of the sky suggested to the Indian the poetical
word Minnesota, the land of sky-tinted waters; Minne-
waukon, the lake of the Great Spirit, a large, salt lake
second in size to that in Utah, lies well out on the
range. The villages of the Mandans, Sioux, and Crows,
and their inhabitants in bright costumes, feathered
and beaded, were picturesque inthe extreme. Much of
the sharp-tail country is a land of wild roses and sun-

82 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

flowers, and small wild fruits, where the buffalo, elk,
deer, and antelope were but little molested when I first
began to shoot. Such was the land when Custer fell,
and for a few years thereafter. The railroad now runs
over it. Towns have taken the places of the Indian
tepees. The buffaloes are exterminated, the antelope
are nearly gone, and the sharp-tails must go to the
game preserve or vanish from the earth.

X
THE SAGE-COCK—COCK OF THE PLAINS

ANY years ago I rode out from Fort Bridger

with Professor Marsh and _ his assistants es-
corted by a company of troops from the garrison.
The expedition was against the dead of long ago,
whose fossil remains lay buried in the Terre Mauvais,
or Bad Lands of the Green River country, in what
is now the States of Utah and Wyoming. I had
asked to accompany the expedition and do part of the
work, not on account of an interest in paleontological
research, but from a desire to visit an unknown land
in comfort and safety and to shoot at the living.

We rode away from the garrison over a vast plain
overgrown with the artemesia or wild sage. Faraway
to the south were the bad lands or buttes, strangely fash-
ioned by erosion, and, beyond, the snow-capped peaks
of the Uintah Mountains. I carried a double gun
across the saddle, and we had not gone far before I
dropped behind the others, riding somewhat to the
left of their trail, in the hope that I might get a shot
at something. Suddenly a large bird, nearly as big as a
turkey, arose from my horse’s feet, and with a tremen-
dous roar of wings flew off across the plain, loudly
clucking as he went. Not stopping to consider if my
horse would stand the firing I pitched the gun to my

shoulder and had the satisfaction of seeing the bird
83

84 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

fall dead. When I picked him up I found that I had
a very heavy bird, weighing at least six or seven
pounds. Its general color was gray, with a large
black patch below. It had a long tail of stiff feathers
and tufts of white on the shoulders. It was three
times as large as any grouse I had ever seen on the ©
prairies, but I suspected the truth—it was the sage-
cock, or cock of the plains, the largest grouse in the
world save the capercailzie of Europe.

Hanging my prize to the saddle I remounted and
rode about in the sage hoping to have another shot,
but the bird was solitary, or I failed to move his com-
panion. Shortly afterward a large animal bounded out
of the sage and made off with tremendous leaps. An
antelope, thought I, as I made a snap shot at it, but
when I picked it up the extremely long ears made it
evident that I had bagged the jack, or jackass rabbit,
the animal which had been recently exploited by Mark
Twain in “ Roughing It.’ When I arrived at our
camp my identification of both species was verified,
but neither the cook nor the plainsmen who acted as
our guides seemed to regard my performance as he-
roic as could be desired.

I soon learned that in the presence of larger game,
such as the elk and mule-deer, neither the sage-cock
nor the jack-rabbit were regarded as worthy marks or
as desirable food.

There has been much controversy as to the merits
of the sage-cock on the table, and I had occasion to
review the authorities, as the lawyers say, on this point
ina former work. All shades of opinion will be there
found expressed, in terms varying from “quinine

LYGSAd AWHL NI ASHOAD AOVS ONILOOHS

~kobi-

smuebuymyner —-

SEN

THE SAGE-COCK 85

brute” to “delicious,” but the truth of the matter is
that these birds, like others, often receive a flavor from
their food, and when the wild sage is their exclusive
diet they have a more or less bitter taste. When, how-
ever, the birds are young and have been feeding on
grasshoppers, their flesh is as good as that of the sharp-
tails or prairie-grouse.

Before we made our second camp I shot a number
of these grouse, and selecting a young and tender bird,
plucked him and broiled him on a stick, and I found
the flesh, as Lieutenant-Colonel Dodge describes it—
“juicy, tender, and delicate as a spring-chicken, besides
having the richest game flavor.” [am surprised that
the ornithologists are almost to a man arrayed against
this bird as an edible dish.

The sage-cock was made known to the world by
Lewis and Clark in their report of their expedition,
and they named it the cock of the plains. It inhabits
the sage plains from Western Dakota, Colorado, Ne-
braska, and Kansas to the Pacific States, and south to
about thirty-five degrees. It never wanders away from
the sage. The birds do not fly to the trees, but I have
found them in the shade of the cottonwoods along the
banks of streams, only, however, where the wild sage
extended up close to the trees. They are often found
far out on the sage-plains many miles from water, and
the presence of ponds or streams does not seem neces-
sary to their existence. Their flight is the same as
that of the other grouse, alternately flapping and sail-
ing, but the noise produced by the wings is multiplied
and has been compared to a burst of thunder. The
cocks measure two and one-half feet or more, and the

36 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

hens are somewhat smaller. It is remarkable that
such large birds can conceal themselves as they do,
and they often refuse to take wing until fairly kicked
out of the bush. They lie well to the dogs, but it is
important to take water in the wagon for these animals,
as it often is on the prairies, to prevent their suffering
from thirst.

My shooting at these birds was mostly done from the
saddle while on the march. When we flushed a covey
of birds I took a shot at them, and marking those that
flew away to the particular bush where they settled,
rode at once to the spot and sometimes dismounted
to shoot at the scattered birds. Upon several occa-
sions I went out with a friend especially to shoot them,
riding here and there (we had no dog) until the horse
flushed a covey, and following them so long as we could
make them take wing. Birds often escaped by hiding in
the sageand refusing to fly. The most likely places
seemed to be depressions where the water evidently
flowed in wet seasons and little knolls adjacent, but we
stumbled upon the birds almost anywhere in the sage,
and often made very good bags. It was next to im-
possible to miss one, since the shots were always in the
open and the marks large. The birds required hard
hitting, however, to bring them down, and I would not
advise the use of shot smaller than number 5 or 6. A
wounded bird is difficult to recover without a dog
where the sage grows thickly, and I always tried to kill
the birds outright. The side shots, or those at quar-
tering birds, are more likely to be fatal than those at
birds going straight away, since the shot then pene-
trates the lighter feathers beneath the wings.

THE SAGE-COCK 87

The horses used in the West are generally trained to
stand without hitching when the reins are thrown over
their heads, and I soon taught my horse to follow me
about when I walked up to the scattered birds. Upon
one occasion he became alarmed at a party of Indians
which rode near, and went off at a gallop, not stopping
until he reached the camp, some miles away. The
Indians were friendly Shoshones, and seemed amused
at my losing my horse. I had a long tramp back to
the camp, and found a few of the big grouse a burden.

The most desirable places to shoot sage-grouse are
in the vicinity of the mountains. The stream neces-
sary for a camp will be found full of trout, and an ex-
pedition may be made into the forest for the blue-
grouse, or for deer. The sage-brush makes a good
fire. I have more recently shot sage-grouse in many
places, usually only a few now and then to add variety
to the camp table. Their habits are everywhere the
same. They are too easy as marks to be very desir-
able game. In addition to the jack-rabbits, I have
seen many of the smaller hares in the haunts of the
sage-cock; a band of antelope was not unusual some
years ago, but these graceful animals are seldom seen
to-day.

XI
THE RUFFED-GROUSE

HE ruffed-grouse is the bird, as I have observed,

so often called partridge in New England, and
pheasant in the West and South. It is one ofthe most
beautiful of the birds having protective markings; and
here I may say, for the benefit of the non-ornithological
reader, that the birds protectively marked are the birds
whose plumage harmonizes with their surroundings, so
as to render them invisible to their enemies, and these
birds all trust much to concealment. Protectively
marked game birds are usually of a brown or gray
color, variously marked with yellowish-tan and black
and white.

The ruffed-grouse is a very handsome bird of trim
outline, alert and game-like in appearance, brown and
gray, but effectively marked with velvety black and
white, which contrast well with brown and gray tones.
The broad band across the tail and the long silken
feathers which form the ruff are glossy black. On the
back are arrow-head or heart-shaped spots of light
gray. The legs are covered with feathers (the distin-
guishing mark of the grouse) of brownish white.
The ruffed-grouse has long been called the “king of
game birds.” When the ruffed-grouse struts and
drums, he elevates his tail (which is spread out like a

fan) and the black ruff about his neck, and as he pran-
88

THE RUFFED-GROUSE 89

ces about on his favorite drumming-log, stump, or stone,
he makes a loud noise which resembles somewhat the
roll of a drum. It begins with several low thumps,
and these are slow and measured, but they increase
rapidly in force and frequency until the deep noise is
produced which can be heard for a mile in the woods.
The sound, which is ventriloquial in character, was sup-
posed formerly to be vocal and many so describe it.
Enough has been written on the subject to fill a book
of large size. An abstract of the lore on this subject
will be found in my former work, “ The True Game
Birds.” Many ornithologists follow Audubon in de-
scribing the drumming noise as being made with the
wings striking the body, but it seems from later obser-
vations that the wings of the bird smite nothing but
the air—‘“ not even his own proud breast.” This
grouse was given its technical name Jdoxasa, since the
noise was supposed to be vocal and to resemble the
bellowing of the bull.

Ruffed-grouse are distributed everywhere in the
woods from New England and Eastern Canada to
Oregon and south to Georgia, Mississippi, and Arkan-
sas. They prefer forests of large extent, since they are
great wanderers afoot, and are more often found in the
hills and mountains in the East, but they were also
very abundant in the oak forests of Northern Indiana
and Illinois, and are to-day abundant in many places
in Michigan, Minnesota, in the Rocky Mountain re-
gion, and the forests of Oregon. The flesh of this
grouse is white and delicious. As an object of pur-
suit he is now far more difficult than the prairie-
grouse or sharp-tailed-grouse. To write another equa-

90 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

tion, which will be understood by fishermen at
least, the ruffed-grouse is to the prairie-hen as the wily
black bass to a school of yellow perch. The ruffed-
grouse is often found solitary or in a group of two
or three during the shooting season. He will often
slip away from the dog and rise out of range or lie
very close until the sportsman has passed, and then
burst forth with a roar of wings in the evident hope
of scaring him to death.

This grouse builds its nest on the ground, and there
are usually ten or twelve eggs. By September Ist the
young birds are strong on the wing. I have urged
September 15th as the opening day of the season for
these birds. In most of the States the season opens
much later. The objection to an early date is that
men going out for grouse are tempted to shoot at all
game, and the partridges are not old enough to shoot
in September. Sportsmen, however, are to-day more
inclined to regard the game laws, and the market gun-
ners should everywhere be kept out of the woods.

Before the ruffed-grouse have been much pursued
they are quite tame, and often fly to the branches of
trees quite within range. There are few places to-day
where the grouse are so uneducated. In some remote
places in Idaho or other parts of the Rocky Mountain
region and in unfrequented places in the Maine woods
or elsewhere where shooters do not go, they are no
doubt as tame as they once were everywhere.

When the grouse are not too wild they are hunted
with a small dog, which drives them to the branches of
the trees and attracts their attention, while the gunner
(the reader will observe I do not say sportsman) ap-

THE RUFFED-GROUSE QI

proaches and shoots them down. I would not have
any friendship for a man who would shoot one of these
magnificent birds sitting and gazing at him from the
branch of a tree.

Forester says that “the constantly repeated tale that
the ruffed-grouse when it alights in trees in com-
panies, will allow the whole flock to be shot down one
by one without stirring, provided the shooter takes the
precaution of shooting the one which sits the lowest on
the tree first, is as fabulous as it is ridiculous.” I have
been informed, however, by reliable persons that this
not only can be, but has been, done repeatedly. The
Canada-grouse have been shot in the same way, as we
shall see later. I have seen the blue- or dusky-grouse
equally tame in the Rocky Mountains, but, of course,
never tried to kill all on a tree. I have repeatedly
found the ruffed-grouse in cultivated fields where they
had gone in search of food, but only in such fields as
were adjacent to the woods, into which they went on
whirring wings at the first alarm.

Ruffed-grouse are always found in wild, romantic,
and picturesque places. They are especially fond of
craggy mountain sides and deep and impenetrable
swamps. A small woodland will not hold them long
unless it be one of a series of woods with intervening
fields. Early in the season all the birds of a brood will
be found together, but I believe there are never more
than one brood associated. In this they differ from
the grouse of the open country, which pack, as we
have observed, into large flocks as the season ad-
vances.

There is much diversity as to the field merits of this

g2 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

bird. He does not lie so well to the dog as the com-
mon partridge, Bob-white, or as the grouse of the open
country. It is unusual to make a large bag of ruffed-
grouse; a half dozen birds in a day is a very good bag,
and will represent many more shots than the same
number of partridges or prairie-grouse, since the birds
fly very rapidly and the shots are usually in heavy
cover.

The birds lie better to the dogs when there are many
fallen logs and much underbrush to impede their run-
ning, and in close thickets, especially thickets with
grass inthem. I have usually found them lying close
‘in swampy places where the ground was soft and over-
grown with tufts of grass and covered with fallen logs.
When the birds are discovered in such places the sport
is indeed magnificent. But when the birds are few in
number and are found on vast mountain sides where
there is no such cover, and the ground is quite open
beneath the trees, they will often run from the dogs in
a most exasperating way and fly from one mountain
side to another; much time is consumed in following
them, to say nothing of the arduous work, and the
dogs are often useless.

I have more often shot ruffed-grouse when in pur-
suit of other game. Following the dogs to the woods
when partridge shooting, I have found them standing
ruffed-grouse, and as soon as the larger birds were
discovered, I have given them my immediate attention
and followed them so long as there was any chance for
success. When I have gone out especially to shoot
these birds I have usually not found them in sufficient
numbers to make the shooting as lively as I like to see

GROUSE

D

RUFF

A

A DIFFICULT SHOT AT

THE RUFFED-GROUSE 93

it. There isa chance for the exercise of much skill
and intelligence on the part of the man and dog, and
they who know best the particular localities in the vast
forests frequented by the birds, and who can go to
them most quickly and quietly, who in a word, can find
and approach the game the best, will make the largest
bags. I have known of a bag of twenty or more birds
in a day, but as I have observed, a smaller bag is the
rule. Forester records a bag of seven birds made by
two guns in four days of resolute fagging with two
brace of setters, as good, he says, as any in the country,
and announced he never would go again in pursuit of
these birds. For my part Iam especially fond of a
ramble in the forest, no matter what may be the
result.

Much pleasure is derived from seeing the dogs
repeatedly point birds in the open; there is fair sport in
shooting at the prairie-grouse late in September, when
they fly swiftly, and when fifty, one hundred, or even
more shots are often fired ina day. But the ramble in
the forest has its magic charm not to be found in the
prairie. There is “a pleasure in the pathless woods.”
The magnificent colors of the autumn trees are over-
hung with the blue veil of the Indian summer. The
breeze soughing in the branches does not mar the
restful quiet. The solemnity is pleasing, quieting,
and causes one to rejoice that he is far from the
noisy rattle of the town. So still it is that the nut
which the squirrel drops sounds loudly on the leaf;
the twig snapped under foot crackles noisily. The
murmur and splashing of the tiny brook, the rust-
ling of the autumn leaves are sounds familiar but

94 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

ever charming. The lunch beside the cool spring,
with mossy logs or rocks for chairs and table, is eaten
with a mountain hunter’s appetite, and the few birds
in the bag are handled and admired more than once.
Meanwhile the good setters who have worked hard are
dozing on the grassy mat where the sunlight falls; the
pipes are lighted and the stories of the shots most dif-
ficult are told again. “Just as I pushed the hemlock
branch aside with one foot over log—Whir! Whir!
Whir!” etc. The sportsman knows. The novice will
find the lesson pleasing.

The ruffed-grouse are fond of wild grapes and also
of whortleberries, and in a general way I may say
here that the knowledge of what birds are feeding
upon is always valuable to the sportsman. I have
often found the ruffed-grouse in the vicinity of the
wild grape-vines. Early in the season they may be
found on the tops of low mountains feeding in the
whortleberry patches. Later in the year they move
down the mountains, and in November the birds will
not be so high on the hills as earlier. There is an un-
certainty about the sport which lends an additional
zest since we prize most that which is difficult of
attainment.

Men who are especially fond of the sport carefully
study the habits of the birds, and are, of course, more
successful than those who shoot them only in con-
nection with other game.

It is a good rule when a bird flushes wild or is
missed to follow him up immediately. If he does not
lie well to the dog the second time, keep after him,
noting his line of flight and after several flushes he

THE RUFFED-GROUSE 95

may decide to rely upon concealment and will pos-
sibly present a very fair shot.

When the dog fails to find the bird on or near the
ground where he has been marked, look carefully in the
trees, going over them a branch at a time. The
grouse will sit so closely and so still that he may be
easily overlooked. The birds are partial to woodland
roads, and when the road is not much travelled it will
pay to run the dogs over it and the adjoining thickets.

The ruffed-grouse have never been domesticated and,
of course, cannot be handled ina preserve as the pheas-
ants are, but when they are not too much shot at and
when their natural enemies, furred and feathered, are
destroyed they will increase in number, and I see no
reason when food is supplied to them, why they should
not do very well in the game preserve. [recently saw
a number of these birds on a preserve on Long Island
where the woodlands, small in extent, are mere thickets
of scrub-oak and pine, and I was convinced there were
more birds there now than many years ago when the
grounds were open to every gunner who came to
shoot, and every boy who came to trap, and when the
markets were prepared to dispose of the birds at good
prices. The prohibition of the sale of these birds has
done much. Like the other birds they were rapidly
being exterminated.

The ruffed-grouse are found in the Rocky Mountains
associated with the blue-grouse, and the Canada, or
spruce-grouse (the Western variety called Franklin
grouse). Where these three magnificent birds come to-
gether there should be another National Park.

XII
THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE

if hae ruffed-grouse has a rival in beauty in the
blue- or dusky-grouse of the West. This bird
is much larger and will weigh as much as three and
one-half pounds. Here as elsewhere among the game
birds the variety-makers have been at work, and have
given us two sub-species, so much alike, however, that
I must frankly say, although I may have shot them all,
I could not know the difference between them. As a
matter of fact the differences are slight and may be
regarded by the sportsman as purely local or climatic.

The blue-grouse are ¢he grouse of the Rocky Moun-
tains. Both spruce-grouse and ruffed-grouse are
found associated with them in places, but from Ari-
zona and New Mexico to the British possessions
one may find the magnificent blue-grouse, and often
find it abundant. They are also found on the Coast
Range, and thence eastward to the Rocky Mountains.

The general color of this bird is a slate-blue. Its
throat is white and it is marked above and on the
wings with black. The general bluish-gray color,
often quite dark, and its size render it unmistakable.
The only bird at all like it is the Canada-grouse,
often called spruce- or black-grouse. The latter bird is
smaller than the ruffed-grouse, however, while the

blue-grouse is nearly twice as large.
96

THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE 97

Much that has been said about the king of game-
birds applies to the dusky- or blue-grouse. I once said
he was the “ King of the West.’ In the spring he hoots
and struts like a turkey-cock. In the early autumn
he lies fairly well to the dogs, fully as well as the
ruffed-grouse. His flesh is white, or nearly so, and
quite equal to that of his Eastern rival.

After observing the blue-grouse some years ago I
could easily imagine how tame the ruffed-grouse were
before forming man’s acquaintance, and I did not
wonder at the local name of “ fool-hen,’ which is
applied to the Western birds, and which has found its
way into the legislation of Montana, where it is now
unlawful to kill more than twenty “fool-hens ”’ ina day.

When I first went to the Rocky Mountains there
were no restraints of any kind upon the shooting,
except at one point where there was an uncertainty
as to what the Utes were doing. Blue-grouse flew
up to the lowest branches of the trees and stood
looking at me in the friendliest kind of way, and
I of course had no desire to shoot at such con-
fiding marks. A few were shot with the rifle (shoot-
ing off the head) now and then to add variety to our
fare. I sometimes took a shot at them on the wing in
the woodland glades. The big-game hunters often
had serious and sinister objections to the use of the
gun, since it disturbed the larger game. We always
had an abundance of meat—elk tenderloins, elk hearts,
venison of both the black- and the white-tail deer, and
wild-fowl and trout of large size, so that little attention
was paid to the blue-grouse.

The fool-hens are fool-hens no longer in many places.

98 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

They have been rapidly taught what a man,a dog, and
a gun mean, and have become “educated birds,” as
the partridge shooters say, as the towns have sprung
into existence in the neighborhood of their haunts.
One who has read Irving’s account of the wild turkeys
standing on the branches and gazing in stupid aston-
ishment at the soldiers who shot them down, will be
prepared to believe the tales of the former tameness of
the blue-grouse, but it is to-day in many places as wild
as the wildest ruffed-grouse, and if such traits are
hereditary, as they no doubt are, it will remain one of
the most difficult of all the gallinaceous birds which
find a place in the sportsman’s bag.

The surroundings of the great blue-grouse are all ap-
propriate. This magnificent bird has a magnificent
background. As I have observed, he is nearly twice
as large as his ruffed cousin of the East. His mountains
are more than twice as high. His trees and rocks and
crags are many times as big. His brooks are larger,
and flow with louder noise; their falls are more majes-
tic. The fish, too—the mountain trout—are large and
fine, far bigger than those of the Eastern brooks.

There are many trees in the woods of California,
Oregon, and other States where the blue grouse lives,
besides the so-called big trees, Gzgantea Sequoia, which
grow toa height of several hundred feet. The ground
is littered with cones of tremendous size. The blue-
grouse when moved from the ground can fly straight up
to the branch of a tree beyond the range ofa gun. The
rifle is more often used to shoot them in many places,
and in fact in all new countries it is the only weapon.

In the late fall, about the middle of November, the

THE DUSKY- OR BLUE-GROUSE 99

blue-grouse disappear, and it is unusual to see a single
specimen in places where they have been abundant
until the following spring. This disappearance is as
mysterious as the disappearance of the woodcock in
the East. The bears which roam the blue-grouse
woods also disappear in the winter, it is well known,
and are not seen again until spring. Their where-
abouts are known in a general way, but there is the
greatest difference of opinion as to what becomes of the
grouse. Some insist that they are migratory and go
south. Many believe that they retire to the tops of
the highest evergreens and pass the cold season as
the bears do, in a state of torpor. As the birds subsist
well on the leaves of the coniferze, and can always ob-
tain sufficient water from the snow and raindrops on
the leaves to supply their necessities, Dr. Suckley was
of the opinion that the latter is the correct explanation,
or that if migratory they are only partially so. The
torpor is supposed to be but partial by those who ad-
vance the torpor theory.

There are places in Oregon where the blue-grouse,
the pheasants, the ruffed-grouse, and the sharp-tailed
grouse may be found close enough together to be shot
in a single day from one camp. But the daily bag to-
day must beasmalione. The limit there is ten birds.
This is the law for upland game. The wild-fowl limit
is fifty ducks.

The gun for shooting blue-grouse is the 12-bore. The
shot should be somewhat larger than that used on
ruffed-grouse. I prefer No. 6 ors in the order named.
No. 7 will do very well early in the season, when the
birds are not wild and when most of them are young.

bof G.

XIII

THE CANADA-GROUSE, SPRUCE-GROUSE, OR
BLACK-GROUSE

HE Canada-grouse and the Rocky Mountain

species, known as the Franklin’s grouse, are

the same from the sportsman’s point of view. They

are the smallest of all the grouse excepting the ptar-

migan, and, like the latter, they are seldom taken by
sportsmen in the United States.

The Canada-grouse is a bird of the Northern woods
and inhabits the spruce forests of Maine, the Northern
States, and the Canadian provinces, north to the
Arctic region as far as the woods extend. The
general color of the spruce-grouse is black. It is
effectively marked below with white, and is a very
handsome bird. It is often called the black-grouse on
account of its color, but this name is more often ap-
plied to a larger foreign bird. The female is lighter
and brown in color.

The Canada-grouse is more often seen by sportsmen
who are in pursuit of big game, such as the moose, elk,
and deer. They are not much molested and are quite
tame, too tame to be interesting in most places. John
Burroughs, describing a trip into Canada, says: “‘ We
came upon two or three broods of spruce-grouse in
the road, so tame that one could have knocked them

over with poles.” .The same writer found them
100

THE CANADA-GROUSE 101

common in the Adirondacks, and once shot eight in
less than an hour, the eighth one, which was an old
male, was killed with smooth pebble stones, his shot
having given out.

I have referred to the shooting of the entire flock of
ruffed-grouse from a tree. There is a recent story in
Field and Stream of the shooting in Nova Scotia of an
entire flock of spruce-grouse which perched upon the
nearest limbs of the hemlocks and never “stirred”’
until the covey was exterminated. “I am ashamed,”
says the writer, “ when I think how soon that whole
covey lay in a heap, tossed together in the path.
But it was the sad penalty that the spruce-partridge
always pays for its stupidity and too confiding dis-
position when lumbermen or hunters are in need of
meat.” I have referred to these birds being taken
with a looped string on the end of a fishing-pole. The
reader will find this method of pursuit described and
pictured in Scribner's Monthly for August, 1877.

The Rocky Mountain species differs but little, the
chief difference is in the tail markings, and the reader
who cares for such differences may find an illustration
of the two tails in “ North American Birds,” by Baird
Brewer and Ridgway. I do not care enough for such
matters to try and remember the slight differences in
the tail markings. They are both small black-grouse,
beautifully marked with bars and dots of white below.
They are equally tame and confiding and entitled to
share with the blue-grouse the title of “fool-hen.”
As the larger game becomes scarce in the Western
mountains they will receive more of the sportsman’s
attention, no doubt, and will soon become as wild as

102 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

the ruffed-grouse of New England, when they may be
regarded as desirable game.

Audubon and Forester differ as to the table qualities
of this bird. Audubon regards the flesh as edible only
when the birds have fed on berries, and says in winter,
when it feeds on the leaves of trees and other plants,
the flesh is quite bitter and disagreeable. Forester
says he has eaten it only in winter, and while he
admits the almost resinous aromatic bitterness he
pronounces it delicious in the extreme. The con-
troversy on this point is similar to that over the sage-
cock and other birds whose flesh is affected to a marked
degree by their food. No doubt, late in the winter,
when he has subsisted solely on spruce buds, the flesh
of this grouse will prove unpleasant and unpalatable.
When the spruce is but a part of his diet, the flavor, I
can well imagine, is not objectionable, since I can stand
a decided trace of the sage in the flesh of the sage-
grouse, provided always he be young and tender.

XIV
THE PTARMIGAN

HE ptarmigan is the smallest of all the grouse and

is only found in the Arctic regions and high up
in our Western mountains. It is fond of the snow, and,
like the Northern hare andsome other birds and animals,
it turns white in winter for protection. The variety
makers have been especially industrious with this race
and have given us a long line of sub-species, but they
are all small birds, gray and brown in summer and
pure white in winter, excepting the tail, which contains
black feathers in most of the varieties. The white-tailed
ptarmigan is the bird seen on the alpine summits of
the mountains of Western North America, from Mex-
ico to British America. This bird was some years
ago fairly abundant in the mountains of Colorado, but
it is now rare in most places. A friend who had some
mines well up in the mountains told me that the birds
came down to their camps in winter and that his miners
killed many of them. They were not very wild and
not difficult marks. Many no doubt were shot sitting,
and it is no wonder that as the number of shot-guns
increased, these handsome birds diminished.

Although I went several times to the mountain tops
in the Rocky Mountains to look for these birds, I never
was fortunate enough to see one alive.

In Alaska they are quite abundant, and the Indians

103

106 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—GROUSE

capture many of them with snares. They are there
found on the level plains and are shot like prairie-grouse.
Lieutenant McConnell, of the revenue cutter Bear, wrote
an excellent account of this sport for a magazine now
out of print; this is quoted at length in “ True Game
Birds.” The shooting was done in company with
some Esquimaux, who “pointed and retrieved,” the
lieutenant says, “in a way that would have put many
a good bird-dog to shame.”

The ptarmigan is almost invisible in winter when it
sits motionless on the snow; but the great snowy owl
is said to find many of them, and the foxes are here, as
elsewhere, the natural enemies of the grouse.

The ptarmigans pack as soon as the young are full
grown, and Mr. Tripp records seeing flocks containing
one hundred or more in the mountains of Colorado.
Their flight is well sustained and rapid, and they are
able to fly great distances, but, like the prairie-grouse,
when not much pressed they do not fly far. Mr. Tripp
says that when seldom molested they arevery tame,
but when persistently pursued they become wild and
leave the range of a shot-gun with surprising quickness.
After several large flocks had been hunted for three or
four days they grew so shy that it was difficult to ap-
proach within gunshot, although at first they had been
comparatively tame. Nimble of foot, the ptarmigan
frequently prefers to run away on the approach of
danger rather than take wing, running over the rocks
and leaping from point to point with great agility,
stopping every little while to look at the object of
alarm. ‘I sometimes chased them,” Mr. Tripp says,
‘“halfa mile or more over the rocky, craggy ridges

THE PLARMIGAN 105

of the main range without being able to get within
gunshot, or force them to take wing.”

The ptarmigan known as Welch’s ptarmigan inhabits
Newfoundland. It is described as a dark-grayish bird,
with a bluish tinge on the plumage, which has been
likened to the color of the sooty-grouse (the blue-
grouse), while all the feathers are dotted with blackish
white.

Like all the others it is white in winter. At the
time the check list of the American Ornithological
Union was published there were listed no fewer than
eight species and sub-species of the ptarmigan. Elliot
in his recent book mentions two more, and “still they
come” no doubt, or will come, as the various Aleutian
islands are explored by ornithologists who delight in
making new varieties. They might all belong to one
flock, however, in winter, except the one called the
white-tail ; and the summer dresschanges so rapidly in
all the species when they begin to turn white, that the
various piebald specimens of a single species might
well delight the ornithologist looking always for the
new.

It does not require the imagination of a Jules Verne
to picture a game preserve occupying an Alaskan
island, where the great Northern bears, both grizzly
and polar, may be shot the same day with the small
white grouse by the sportsman who has come from
San Francisco on his yacht.

XV
THE PARTRIDGES

ARTRIDGES are distinguished from the grouse by
their size being smaller and by their naked legs ;
they are larger than the European quails and distin-
guished from the smaller birds in many ways. The
foreign quails are migratory, fly in large flocks and go
long distances, even crossing the Mediterranean. The
American partridges are none of them migratory ;
although they have been known to move short dis-
tances, usually for food or water, they are found more
often year after year inthe same field, or at least on the
same farm. The European quail are smaller than the
partridges. There is some difference in the shape ot
the wings, the size and strength of the bill and the
number of feathers in and the length of the tails. The
birds now listed in the check list among the par-
tridges, the Bob-whites, have always been partridges
in Virginia and the South, but in the North and West
they are more often spoken of as quail.

As I recently said in writing for a magazine, we live
truly in an iconoclastic age when that idol of the
gourmand “ Quail on Toast” is shattered.

The discussion as to name, however, which begun
long before “ Field Sports” was written, has at last
been settled. The Ornithological Union has made the

list complete of all American birds. There are no
106

THE PARTRIDGES 107

quails in the list. I have at another place suggested
that we drop the term quail and “ quail shooting.”

The partridge most familiar to sportsmen is the
Bob-white. Thisis the bird most widely distributed,
being found from New England to the Gulf and west-
ward to the great plains, following civilization to the
Northwest as far as it can stand the winters, and thriv-
ing in California and many Western States where it has
been introduced.

Two partridges live in California and the Pacific
Coast region, known as the California valley partridge
and the mountain partridge. The former is smaller
than Bob-white, the latter larger. The other par-
tridges are all Southwestern birds, have limited
ranges, and are found from the Rio Grande country in
Texas to Lower California and Mexico. The scaled
partridge is most abundant in Texas and New Mexico,
the Gambels partridge in New Mexico and Arizona.
The Massena is nowhere very abundant, but is found in
Mexico and the adjacent States and Territories, east as
far as San Antonio, Texas. The range of all the birds
will be found stated with accuracy in the appendix.

The Florida Bob-white and the Texas Bob-white
are the same as the Northern bird, save as to slight
difference of color. They are, too, a little smaller
than the Northern birds. The differences, however,
I regard as purely local or climatic.

All the Western and Southwestern birds are noted
for their beautitul plumage and piumes or crests.
Bob-white, of course, is brown and gray.

Bob-white is the best of all the partridges both in
the field and on the table.

108 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

The variety makers have given us about as many
Bob-whites as ptarmigans: Pueblo Bob-white, black
breasted Bob-white, Godman’s Bob-white, Coyolco’s
Bob-white, black-headed Bob-white, Salvin’s Bob-
white, Guatemala Bob-white, and Yucatan Bob-
white. As their names indicate they have the same
whistle, they are no doubt one and the same bird, the
slight differences being climatic or geographical.

XVI
BOB-WHITE

eae is a trim and handsome partridge,
intermediate in size between the quails and par-
tridges of the old world. He is conceded to be the
best game bird in America. In my opinion he has not
his equal in the world. He lies well to the dog, as I
have said before, tests to the utmost the sportsman’s
skill in the open, and in cover seldom takes to the
trees, is of convenient size for the game pocket, and is
excellent for the table. He is certainly a better game
bird than any of the grouse, since over dogs they are
too easy marks, or fly too often to the trees. He is
better than the imported pheasants or the partridges
of Europe, since he lies better to the dogs; and birds
shot over dogs are superior as game to those shot from
ambush—the ducks and shore-birds or waders.

After a long controversy the ornithologists are
agreed that he is a partridge, zot a quail, and have
given him the name Bob-white; by which he was
known to country folk long before.

During the mating and nesting season he whistles
the notes loud and clear which are supposed to resem-
ble the words “ah Bob-white,” and so he may be said
to have whistled for himself a name.

Early in the spring this partridge seeks a mate. The

nest is built upon the ground, usually well concealed
109

110 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

in grass or weeds. There are from twelve to fifteen
eggs, sometimes more, and while the hen is sitting on
the nest, the male bird from near-by fence or stump
whistles his familiar notes. The young are precocious
in the extreme, and run and pick at food as soon as
they leave the shell. They have wonderful ability to
hide, and when danger comes, the hen sounds a warn-
ing note, and the little birds disappear as if by magic.
Often the old bird flutters away as if badly injured
and unable to fly, and so attempts to lead her enemy
away.

Some say this partridge will rear two broods ina
year. I believe they sometimes do. Certain it is that
if the first young birds are destroyed, the hen will nest
again. Such nests are often found late in the summer.
A nest was discovered last year in New Jersey contain-
ing fourteen eggs, which were hatched as late as the
middle of October, and every sportsman has seen very
small birds as late as the beginning of that month.

The food of this partridge consists largely of seeds,
berries, and grain. It is distinctly a bird of the farm,
and thrives best in civilization. In the summer it be-
comes tame, but as the fall approaches is quite wild
again, and it seems impossible to domesticate it. Bob-
white is said to be partially migratory. I had always
doubted this until a few years ago when I found a
number of coveys just before the season opened, which
were gone before that date. They were quite near my
house, and the birds had not been shot at, so I was con.
vinced when good dogs failed to find them that they
at least were gone. In dry seasons, or when the food
gives out, partridges are compelled to move, since they

BOB-W HITE 11!

must have food and water. In Southern Illinois one
very dry season | found no birds in the fields where
they should have been, and later found many coveys
about a ditch which had water standing in it.

At night the covey takes a short flight to break the
scent. The birds sit closely together in a concen-
tric huddle, with their heads out, so that they have a
lookout in every direction and it is difficult to ap-
proach without alarming them. The chalk-like drop-
pings in a circle indicate the presence of the birds ina
field, and often show that they are in the habit of roost-
ing in the same field every night. Work the dogs
thoroughly when you see such signs. Be sure the
covey is not far away.

In winter the partridges again become quite tame, and
often come into the barn-yards insearch of food. Itpays
well to feed them at such time, especially if the winter
is quite severe. At the clubs, food is liberally supplied,
and often patches of grain are planted and left stand-
ing especially for the birds. Farmers and sportsmen
often feed the birds.

When a heavy snow falls the partridges sit quite
still until they are buried in it, and then if a crust is
frozen on the top they all are imprisoned and surely
perish. A few corn-shocks left standing and a few
brush-heaps, where the food is scattered, will save the
lives of many birds.

In some severe winters partridges are almost exter-
minated. It is then necessary to pass a law prohibit-
ing shooting for a term of years, when the birds will
again be found abundant.

In Northwestern Ohio some years ago after such a

112 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

storm, it turned very cold and a thick crust of ice was
formed on top of the deep snow. Many coveys on one
of my favorite shooting grounds were imprisoned and
the birds perished. Where f had shot scores of birds
in a day one year, the next autumn I found but one
small covey of eight or ten birds in two days of indus-
trious tramping behind good dogs. The Legislature
was appealed to, and a law providing a close season of
several years’ duration was passed, and to the credit
of the sportsmen of the State it was obeyed, with the
result that the birds were again abundant at the end
of the close time and have been fairly abundant in
Ohio ever since.

After a severe snow, but a few years ago, which pre-
vented the partridges from obtaining food, the Lou-
donville Gun Club (in Ohio) requested the farmers to
clear a protected spot on their farms and agreed to
scatter the necessary food on such places, whether
they were permitted to hunt on the premises or not,
and Mr. Pond, the editor of the Sportsman’s Review,
well says, the example is one which should be fol-
lowed by all gun clubs in localities where such con-
ditions may exist.

The partridge is distributed from New England and
Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and west to South Da-
kota, Kansas, and Texas. As civilization has moved
westward this bird has gone with it, and is now
found over a larger area in the Western States than
formerly. It has been introduced into California and
the Salt Lake valley, and should do well in these
places. These partridges are most abundant to-day in
the Southern States from North Carolina and Georgia

BOB-WHITE 113

to Texas, and in Southern Illinois, parts of Missouri, and
Kansas. They were extremely abundant in Oklahoma,
but recent reports state that there has been entirely
too much shooting, with the usual result.

The report of Governor Brodie to the Secretary
of the Interior contains a statement that the efforts
to introduce Bob-whites and imported pheasants into
Arizona have so far not been very successful.

This partridge is by far the best bird for the upland
game preserve. Asarule it does not wander far, and
when food is supplied it will survive the severest win-
ter. It is not difficult to stock a preserve, provided
care is used in putting down the birds. Some clubs,
when the shooting is excessive, restock the grounds
every year. The birds should be put out early in the
spring and food scattered about the place of their re-
lease.

I once purchased a crate of ten birds which I saw in
the Cincinnati market and gave them to a friend who
had a large country place. Early in the year the crate
was placed not far from the house, and after the birds
had become accustomed to their surroundings we re-
moved one of the slats at evening and in the morning
the birds came out and were soon feeding in the grass.
Before long they separated, and one pair nested on
the lawn, quite near the house, another in the garden
and the others not faraway. The natural enemies of
the partridge, the foxes, hawks and domestic cats and
dogs, should be kept down, of course, and if too many
birds are not shot in the autumn they will increase
from year to year.

The modern farm implements, the mowers and reap-

114 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

ers, do much damage to the nesting quail, and when it
is desired to preserve them it is best to leave a stump
or two in the fields surrounded by long grass and
briers, and these will save many birds. The game-
keeper on a preserve should, of course, know where
each bird has its nest, and if in a field of grass or grain,
the farm implements may be driven around it, not too
close to disturb the mother bird. It is not difficult to
find the nests, since the cock-bird whistles daily from
a place quite near it. Partridges are especially fond of
buckwheat, and a small area of this grain planted and
left standing for their use will attract them to the
place. An old tree-top or open brush-heap, left in a
field, will afford shelter in the winter and a nesting-
place besides. But a few years ago no attention was
paid to these matters. They are not mentioned in our
books, but with the growth of game-preserving many
individuals and clubs are giving their attention to the
proper propagation of the game and its protection in
the winter. Hedges and the old rail fences are far
better for the partridges than the modern wire fences,
since they afford cover and protection on every side of
the field. Tall grasses, weeds, and briers allowed to
grow about the fences furnish not only protection to
the birds from their enemies the hawks, but afford
them food, both seeds and berries. An appie-tree here
and there, when the apples are allowed to remain upon
the ground, proyes an additional attraction to the
birds, and there are many places now where the birds
are worth more than the fruit.

Many partridges were formerly taken by traps and
nets. | have destroyed many of these when shooting

BOB-W HITE 115

in the fields. So long as the open sale of birds was
legal the temptation to so take them remained. The
use of traps and the sale of game is now prohibited in
most of the States, and many farmers now rent the
shooting on the farms,and are prepared to aid the
execution of the law.

Partridges, as sportsmen know, prefer the open
fields—stubble and corn in the order named. They
are seldom seen far within large woods. When
alarmed they fly at once to the woods or thickets,
there to remain until the danger passes. Small woods
and thickets with much underbrush and briers are
better than large woodland tracts and furnish all the
cover which the birds require. Small streams and
ponds and springs furnish water for the birds and
seem necessary for their existence. The birds are
partial to a railway passing through a farm and there
find gravel, sand, and often grain dropped from a
passing freight-train.

The open season for partridge shooting a few years
ago was much too long. Beginning as early as Octo-
ber, or even September in some States, it lasted until
March or April, long after the birds had sought
their mates. Coveys are more easily seen and potted
on the snow. A shorter season is now provided in
many States. A uniform law providing for an open
season beginning November ist and ending with the
year would be exactly right.

The gun for partridge shooting should be a light 12
or 16 gauge, the barrels open or but slightly choked,
since the shots are at short range. A shooting-coat with
many pockets, leggins, and stout shoes are best. Set-

116 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

ters and pointers of field-trial parentage, but trained
to hunt before the gun and not to range too far, will
furnish better shooting than the wider ranging dogs.
They should go fast, but not too far, and should cover
all the ground.

A few years ago there was no limit to the bag.
The birds were killed by hundreds in a day. The
legal limit now is often small. In one State (Ver-
mont) it is but five birds of any kind in a day. A
limit of two or three dozen birds a day would, in my
opinion, be just right. On many days this bag cannot
be made, and whena good day comes, I see no reason
why the limit should not be at least two dozen birds.
On preserves the limit is often fixed by a club rule,
which should, of course, limit the killing sufficiently
to save enough birds to restock the grounds. On the
English stubbles and Scottish moors, the bags are
often large, but care is taken that enough remain.

In the morning the partridges start out afoot to feed
upon the fields. When the day is fine they move early,
and the sportsman may also make an early start and
take the field as soon as the sun is up. On cold and
stormy days the birds will not move so early, and
when it rains and the wind is high they may not move
at all. Asa general rule, however, I would advise an
earlier start than that proposed by Forester. Cast off
the dogs, a pair, not more, in the stubble or field of
corn, and see that they look well to the sides of the
field before leaving it. Experienced dogs will seek the
likely places first, the little knolls or depressions where
the cover seems to be the best. Give good dogs few
orders, or better none at all, and they will soon find

BOB-WHITE 117

and point the covey. Approaching without haste,
walk in and flush the birds. By no means shoot them
on the ground, and refuse at once to shoot with one
who would suggest it. As the birds arise with noisy
wings, select one far out on your own side and having
killed or missed it, shoot again. Do not, like Mr. Tup-
man, shoot vaguely at the flock with both eyes shut.
Such shooting may possibly wound some birds but
more likely will hit them not at all. Mark well the
birds which cross the woodland fence. They will not
go far beyond it. And here the sportsmen differ in
their methods of pursuit. Some say do not follow the
scattered birds at once but seek another covey first.
This is the rule of action laid down by Forester, Lewis,
and some other writers. Many sportsmen of much ex-
perience, however, will lose no time in getting to the
woods.

It is certain that often the birds will not be found
even by the best of dogs, and many say they have the
power of withholding their scent. I have often marked
the birds to a small thicket, or even patch of briers,
where they certainly went down, once between me
and a horse within the field, and with the best of dogs
I could make but one of them take wing. On one
occasion I even saw a partridge on the ground and
two dogs as good as any passed each side of it, and
but a few feet away. They even failed to take notice
of it when I again brought them where it was, and
finally | moved it with my foot, when up it went.
There were at least fifteen birds in the covey, and all
were on the ground, but not one more was moved,
although the dogs were worked closely back and

118 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

forth. An hour later I returned to the same place
and the birds were pointed one by one. Whether the
birds actually have the power of withholding the
scent we do not know. They certainly are often safe
from the noses of good dogs. The best opinion seems
to me to be that the scent is dissipated by the birds’
rapid passage through the air, and when they first
alight they press their wings closely to their bodies,
and do not give forth any scent until they move again.

Since the birds do not always act in this manner,
however, I believe it is well to follow them at once,
especially if the beat will take one far from the place. It
may be the birds have moved or for other reason give
forth some scent, and the dogs will at once point them
one by one. The matter is, however, easily ascer-
tained. If the birds are not found at once, it is well
to leave them and return later.

Partridges fly rapidly. They seem to be under full
headway as they leave the ground. It is absolutely
necessary, as I have repeatedly said, to shoot well over
rising birds, and well ahead of those which go off to
right or left. An old English game-keeper, quoted by
Stuart-Wortley, well said, “ You will surely miss them
if you shoot where they are.” It is important that the
shot should be so placed that the bird will fly into the
centre of the charge. The effective killing-area is in
the centre of the pattern. Straggling shot at the
sides will often wound or miss the bird, and the same
writer says “ wounded birds will distress a first-rate
man, so that he would almost as soon have missed
them altogether.” By shooting at the centre of the
flock several birds may possibly be killed at one shot,

BOB-WHITE 119

but more are often wounded. Remember, therefore,
to shoot at a single bird, and aim well forward and
high. Of course, if the covey be flushed on a hill-side,
and the birds fly down, the aim should be well under
instead of over them. Beginners shoot under and
behind the birds. Mayer says: “The velocity of an
ounce of No. 8 shot, driven with three drams of pow-
der, is near to nine hundred feet per second. In that
second a Bob-white, if under full headway, will go
eighty-eight feet, if we estimate the velocity of his
flight so low only asa mile a minute. If he is flying
directly across your line of sight and thirty yards off,
the shot will take one-tenth of a second to reach that
distance, and in one-tenth of a second the bird has
gone over eight and eight-tenths feet.’ It is a most
difficult point for a beginner, and he continues to miss
until he can bring himself to shoot well ahead of cross-
flying shots and well over rising birds. In shooting at
ducks when several are flying in a line, one behind the
other, he will be surprised to see a bird far behind the
one he shot at fall dead. The reader will find exam-
ples of this in the chapters on the water-fowl. Par-
tridges require hard hitting to bring them down. It
is therefore all-important that the aim be true. As for
the shot, No. 9 will do early in the season, but a little
later No. 8 will be found more effective.

Two sportsmen are the proper number in partridge
shooting. If there are more in the party they should
take separate beats. I shot many seasons with a friend
in Northern Ohio and we were often joined by local
sportsmen who knew the grounds, but we always
divided up, coming together at the noon hour to dis-

1200 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

cuss the fortunes of the day, and again at night, at a
point where our wagon picked us up. The dogs should
be two in number and owned and handled by one per-
son without the slightest interference. When both
sportsmen own dogs, they can be handled alternately
on different days to advantage. Dogs that are accus-
tomed to hunting together will do the best work.
Strangers are often jealous of each other and work
badly.

Partridges are often found in the vicinity of old
deserted cabins and houses. They find much food in
the garden or orchard, and such places are almost cer-
tain to harbor a covey. I always go out of my way to
run the dogs over such places, and many sportsmen of
my acquaintance do the same. Mr. King, an accom-
plished sportsman of Pittsburgh, recently told me that
he once flushed a covey which flew directly toward a
house some distance away, when he lost sight of them,
flying low. He approached the house, thinking that
he would ask the owner’s permission to shoot, but dis-
covered that it was abandoned, both doors and windows
were out. Knowing well the fondness of partridges
for such places, he proceeded to run his dogs over the
ground on all sides of the house, but failed to move a
bird and gave them up. Just before going away, how-
ever, he decided, out of an idle curiosity, to enter the
house, when with a loud whirring the whole covey
went out through the windows, and as my friend ex-
pressed it, he was too astonished to fire a shot.

I have known the wood-grouse also to enter aban-
doned houses, and the reader will do well, especially
when hunting partridges, not to pass one by.

BOB-WHITE 121

In a bulletin issued (1885) by the Agricultural Depart-
ment of the national Government, | find the following :
“The question is often asked whether the habit quail
(partridges) have of lying to the dog is natural or
acquired. To get a satisfactory answer one has only
to hunt in different parts of Indian Territory. In the
region west of Fort Sill the quail never think of stop-
ping when they see a dog, but run as fast as possible,
and upon his near approach they flush immediately,
just as one may suppose they do on the approach of a
coyote. In the eastern part of the Territory, near the
railroad, the quail lie quite well to a dog and, as they
are exceedingly abundant, excellent sport may be had
from November until March.”

This brings to mind an opinion expressed by that
distinguished ornithologist, Dr. Coues: “I am inclined
to think indeed,” he says, “that the lying of quail
[partridges],* an essential feature for the chase in its
perfection, is almost as much a result of education as
the ‘pointing’ that the intelligent brute who helps us
kill them has learned. Ina primitive and strictly nat-
ural condition, quail as a general rule rather use their
legs to escape pursuit, than squat and attempt to hide.
That the reverse is the case with the Virginia quail
[the Bob-white], I am perfectly aware, but this proves
nothing to the contrary, and I am inclined to think its
crouching until almost trodden upon, to be an acquired
trick. This would surely be a poor way to escape
from any of its natural enemies—any carnivorous bird

* This was written before the Ornithological Union, of which Dr. Coues
was a member, decided that the birds are partridges. The brackets are

mine.

122 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

or mammal; yet they found it to succeed so well against
their chief persecutor, that he has had to call in the aid
of a sharper sighted, sharper-nosed brute than himself,
else he might stumble over stubble-fields all day with-
out seeing a bird except by accident. I presume that
Virginia quail in the days of Captain Smith and Poca-
hontas were very much in the social status of the
Oregonians to-day; and those certainly trust to their
legs and wings rather than to the artifice of thrusting
their heads in a tussock of grass and then fancying
they are safe.” . . . “It will probably require sev-
eral generations in training before the blue or scaled
partridge of the Southwest, which now trusts to its
legs rather than its wings, and glides along with mar-
vellous celerity, can be taught to lie well to the dog.”

A mixed bag is attractive, and an opportunity is here
presented to some of the Southern clubs and to gentle-
men owning private preserves, to give not only the
blue partridge, but the California and Gambel’s par-
tridge also, some lessons in lying to the dogs. Having
seen those birds go, afoot, | am prepared to say the
lessons, if successful, would make them better birds.

As I have said, efforts to introduce Bob-white into
Arizona have not been so far very successful. A few
hogs introduced at the same time with Bob-white
would aid the birds, in my opinion, in that land of
snakes and reptiles. The habit of “lying close”
would certainly not work well with snakes.

Partridges when disturbed, as I have observed, at
once fly to the nearest cover, and there, though well
scattered, the dogs point them one by one. The
shooting at scattered birds in the woods is in my opin-

BOB-W HITE 123

ion, the best sport offered to the sportsmen of America.
Here the swiftly flying marks test his skill to the ut-
most. Here his dogs appear to the best advantage.
Often the shooting is quite rapid, many double shots
are offered and the background is the most beautiful in
the world. The brilliant colors of the trees, the fallen
logs, moss and lichen covered, the carpet of bright
leaves, the grass and the vines, are blended with many
tones of gray and the blue mist of the Indian summer.
“Whirr! Whirr!” go the birds, “Bang! Bang!” go
the guns. Here, to my mind, is the acme of sports
afield.

The average number of birds killed from each
covey is small. Alfred Mayer, quoting Mr. H. H. B.
Davis, says the average is a little over three birds
brought to bag from each covey flushed. Mr. Starr,
after taking the opinion of nearly three hundred
sportsmen who replied to his inquiry, places the aver-
age at a smaller number. An average shot ina good
average day (finding nine coveys), he says, will bag
twenty birds, killing 53 per cent. of his shots. The
reader who will keep a record of the number of coveys
which he shoots at in a season and the number of
birds brought to bag will find these figures not far
wrong.

On stormy days and on days when the snow covers
the fields so as to render the partridges conspicuous
they will always be found in the woods. The sports-
man who is familiar with his ground and knows the
fields where the partridges usually are, will seek them
in the adjoining cover and not very far from the
fence. I have often put up the covey from an angle

124 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

in a rail fence, especially when it was overgrown with
briers.

There are a number of varieties (the sub-species of
the ornithologists) given in the books, and many at-
tempts are made to extend the list. We now have no
less than three species: the Bob-white, the Grayson’s
Bob-white, and the masked Bob-white. Bob-white
has two sub-species, the Florida Bob-white and the
Texas Bob-white. There are nine additional Bob-
whites named and reported in the Aw, for April,
1898, and no doubt, as the politicians say, there are
several counties yet to hear from. The sportsmen
have little interest in what I have been pleased to call
fractional species of birds, and I think they agree with
what I said in “ The True Game Birds”: “ Until the
variety-makers find a bird which does not whistle
‘Bob-white,’ which has not the same pattern or mark-
ings, which does in fact differ in some material habit
of nesting, rearing its young, feeding, flying, lying
well to the dog, or equally well on the plate, the
sportsman may well consider the species and sub-
species of Bob-white as one and the same.”

White partridges, albinos, have been shot in many
places, and mounted specimens may be seen in the
museums. They are uncommon. I have never seen
one alive.

XVII
THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES

HESE are two remarkably beautiful birds, gener-
ally known as the California partridges. Both
of these birds are of a slate-blue color, handsomely
marked. Both are found on the Pacific Coast. The
mountain partridge is the larger bird, and is somewhat
larger than Bob-white. The California partridge, more
often called the valley-quail or partridge, is smaller
than the Bob-white. These birds have handsome
black plumes on their heads, and are often designated
as plumed partridges. There are two sub-species of
the mountain partridge and one of the valley bird, but
these are of the same general color and markings, and
have the same habits, and the differences are so slight
that they do not appear when the birds are pictured
in black and white.

The inhabitants of California, outside of technical
ornithologists, only know two birds—the mountain and
the valley partridge. These birds trust to their legs
more than their wings, and are remarkably expert
runners. On that account they are not very desirable
game birds. The flesh of both is excellent, they fly
swiftly with the whirring noise common to all gallina-
ceous birds, are excellent marks, and the California

sportsmen are much given to their pursuit. Dogs are
125

126 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

used, and sometimes the birds lie fairly well to them,
but such conduct is exceptional.

Many of the birds were formerly taken in traps, and
some years ago, when they were extremely abundant,
they were shot by market gunners on the ground and
sold in large numbers in the San Francisco markets.
The Indians use the plumes plucked from the head to
decorate their baskets.

The smaller birds are always the most abundant.
The flocks are often large. The larger birds are never
seen in large flocks, and are found, as their name would
indicate, in the hills and mountains.

The crest or plume of the mountain partridge con-
sists of two straight black feathers much longer than
the bill and head. The crest of the valley-bird is also
black, but short and narrow at the base, widening out
and curving forward at the tip.

THE MOUNTAIN PARTRIDGE

The mountain partridge and the sub-species known
as the plumed partridge and the San Pedro partridge,
are, to sportsmen, the same. The range of these birds
is from Southern California north to Washington ;
the mountain partridge being assigned by the ornithol-
ogists to the region north of San Francisco Bay,
the plumed and San Pedro partridges to regions
south of the bay. The mountain partridge has been
introduced on Vancouver Island. I first observed
these birds many years ago when they were quite
tame. They were in small flocks and took to their
legs, or flew away on whirring wings.

THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES 127

I scattered a flock one day, when a cock-bird lit
upon a rock quite near, and standing where the sun-
light fell upon his shining feathers, I was able to ob-
serve him closely for some time. He had the same
trim outline and jaunty pose as our own Bob-white,
but his gay plumage and long, black plume caused me
to regard him as more beautiful. I had no desire to
shoot him and presently he flew away. Large game
of all sorts was abundant. I had been shooting for
some weeks in the Rocky Mountains and on the
plains. Even the large blue- or dusky-grouse was not
inviting as a mark.

The birds are much wilder now than formerly and
far less abundant. There are few places where a large
bag could be secured, but their pursuit leads the
sportsman into wild and picturesque localities, into
forests of gigantic trees, on mountain sides, beside the
streams of pure water, and beautiful cascades. While
rambling on a pony in the woods one is inclined to
forgive the ungamelike habit of the birds, which, as
Bendire has said, is very trying to the human and
perfectly exasperating and bewildering to the dog.

THE VALLEY PARTRIDGE

Upon a journey to far-famed Yosemite I first saw
the smaller California partridges, known throughout
the State as the valley partridges.

They were extremely abundant along the road and
in large flocks ran before the horses upon a near ap-
proach, and sometimes took wing and whirred away
into the chapparal. The flight of these birds is swift

128 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

when once they are on the wing and when I first
observed them they were so tame as easily to be ap-
proached within short range, but the difficulty was to
make them take wing, for no one cares to pot a covey
on the ground. Their speed afoot was most remark-
able. They were often in sight in the open brush or
on the roads racing on ahead. I am quite sure we
saw as many as fifty flocks in a day without leaving
the wagon, and it may be many more. When on the
wing they flew but a short distance, and as I have said
in writing of these birds, their feet began to go before
they fairly touched the ground, and as they sailed
along the surface it was difficult to tell just when the
flying ceased and the running began. Their speed
afoot seemed quite equal to their speed in air.

Sportsmen who have had much experience with
these birds informed me that by persistently chasing
them about until they were well scattered they some-
times could be made to le to the dog, but as a game
bird they are in no way to be compared to the par-
tridges of the Eastern States.

The California valley partridge was formerly dis-
tributed throughout the coast and interior valleys and
on the foot-hills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
They have been introduced into Oregon, Washington,
and British Columbia.

In the southern parts of California the birds are
often found on grounds overgrown with cactus, which
presents another serious difficulty for the dogs. A
friend who has shot much on such ground informs me
that on one plantation the owner had paths cut through
a large field of cactus, which was a harbor of refuge

THE CALIFORNIA PARTRIDGES _ 129

for the birds, and having driven a large number of
flocks to this place they went in with the dogs, work-
ing along the paths, and often made large bags, on one
occasion no fewer than ten dozen birds. I have heard
of much larger bags, numbering hundreds of birds,
being made in the earlier days when the game was
extremely abundant, but no doubt much of the shoot-
ing was at birds on the ground, when a dozen or more
might be killed at a single shot.

Mr. T. S. Van Dyke, writing recently for the West-
ern Field, the Pacific Coast magazine, says he has writ-
ten so often of this bird that he feels positively ashamed
every time he looks at one. He said that when he
first came to California, in 1875, quail in flocks now
quite incredible soared out of almost every cactus
patch, shook almost every hillside with the thunder of
a thousand wings, trotted in strings along the roads,
wheeled in platoons over the grassy slopes and burst
from around almost every spring in a thousand curling
lines. The same writer says that the partridges have
already deserted many of the valleys and are now
more often found in the hills, ready always to run
and fly from one hillside to another, and “their leg
power, always respectable enough to relieve you from
any question of propriety about shooting at one run-
ning, they have cultivated to such a fine point that
sometimes they never rise at all, and you may chase
and chase and chase them and get never a rise.”
Writing at another time Mr. Van Dyke advises the
shooter not to attempt to bag anything at first, but to
spend all the time in breaking and scattering the
coveys, racing and chasing after them and firing broad-

130 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

sides over their heads and in front of them, until they
are in “a state of such alarm that they will trust to
hiding.” He then advises that the dog (which I pre-
sume has been used in coursing the birds) be tied to a
shady bush and that the coat be laid aside, that the
sportsman may travel fast after the scattered birds.

The dogs which have had experience with these
birds are of course better than dogs which have been
trained on the Eastern partridge, Bob-white. There
are now many fine dogs owned in California, and these,
no doubt, have learned to point the running birds at
long range, and do good work with them whenever
they consent to lie to them. Fast, wide-ranging dogs,
such as are good on snipe on the vast Western marshes,
dogs with excellent noses, that can point the game
when it is along way off and keep after it, always care-
ful not to flush the birds, are no doubt the dogs the
sportsmen of California must rely on.

The birds to-day are described as much more wild
than those of former years, and do not show progress
toward that happy day when their education will be
complete, and they will cease to trust to their legs and
lie well to the dogs. I fear the opinion of the famous
ornithologist, the late Dr. Coues, which I have given
in the chapter on Bob-whites, may not prove to be
correct. ‘

The valley partridge nests upon the ground. There
are usually twelve or fifteen eggs. The food consists
of seeds, insects, and leaves; the birds are very fond of
grapes.

Although known everywhere as the valley-partridge,
these birds are often found at an elevation of several

THE CALIB@RAIA PARTRIDGES — 131

thousand feet. They are more abundant near sea
levels, however, than higher.

Although the coveys seldom contain more than twelve
or fifteen birds, large flocks are often seen in the fall
and winter, which would indicate that these partridges
pack like the grouse of the open country.

XVIII
THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES

HE three remaining partridges, known as the

Gambel’s partridge, the scaled-partridge, and

the Massena partridge, may be termed the Southwest-

ern partridges, since they are found ina limited area

of which New Mexico or Western Texas may be said
tovbe the eemtre.

The scaled-partridge, with its sub-species, the chest-
nut-bellied scaled-partridge, inhabits the table-lands of
Mexico, and is found from the valley of Mexico north
to Central and Western Texas, Santa Fé, New Mexico,
and Southern Arizona. Gambel’s partridge, which
enjoys the proud distinction of having no sub-species,
is distributed throughout Western Texas, New Mex-
ico, Arizona, Southern Utah, Southern Nevada, South-
ern California, in the Colorado valley, and southward
into Northwestern Mexico. The Massena partridge
is found from the City of Mexico north to West-
ern Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Gambel’s par-
tridge and the scaled-partridge have much the same
habits as the valley-partridge of California, and run
equally as well; much that has been said about that
bird applies to these.

There is much diversity of opinion as to the per-
formance of the Massena before dogs. It is the least

abundant of the Southwestern partridges.
132

THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES 133

GAMBEL’S PARTRIDGE

Gambel’s partridge is the same size and has much
the same appearance as the valley-bird of California.
It has a similar plume of black feathers on the head,
but the golden-brown area on the belly of the Cali-
fornia bird is replaced by black in Gambel’s partridge.
The Gambel’s partridge is the handsomer bird.

Dr. Coues referred to the valleys of the Gila and
Colorado rivers as centres of abundance, and says,
‘About Fort Yuma there were more quails to the
square mile than I ever saw elsewhere, and indeed I
could scarcely see how many more could well have
been accommodated with food and hiding places.”

The young of this partridge are hatched in May,
and like those of other partridges they are extremely
precocious. The cock-bird utters a loud whistle dur-
ing the mating season entirely different, however, from
the notes of Bob-white.

The coveys usually contain a dozen or more birds.
Coues says he never saw a covey containing more than
twenty birds, but larger coveys of fifty or more young
birds are reported, which may be accounted for either
by the fact that the birds are polygamous or possibly
several coveys have associated. These birds pack, like
the California partridge, into very large flocks late in
the year.

Gambel’s partridge flies with the usual loud whirring
noise, and when it takes wing within range presents
a similar mark to that of Bob-white; a 12-gauge is
the proper gun; No.8 the proper shot. Elliot says
this bird possesses the same disagreeable traits as the

134 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

California partridge, when he is regarded as a game
bird.

A few years ago it was customary to trap these
birds, and thousands of dozens were sent to the San
Francisco markets. At one station the express agent
shipped no fewer than three thousand dozens in a
season (1889-90). The price was as low as 60 cents a
dozen. It is no wonder that the birds rapidly de-
creased in numbers and were threatened with exter-
mination. Arizona now has good game laws, and
these are executed. Trapping is prohibited at all
times, as it should be, and it is a misdemeanor to ship
these birds from the Territory.

The Indians snare many of these partridges, and use
the plumes as ornaments, but they do not kill the
birds, but release most of them, having deprived them
of the plumes.

Dr. Coues tells of killing with mustard-seed shot a
wolf which he found hunting a covey of these birds.
I once made a similar shot at a fox which was pointed
by my dog at the same time with a covey of par-
tridges (the Bob-whites).

THE SCALED-PARTRIDGE

I once had a covey of these beautiful birds, often
called the blue-quails or partridges, in captivity, and
had an opportunity of observing their speed, as they
ran about the sides of the room, close to the wall. I
was prepared to bet on my birds in a race against all
comers. I doubt if any of the Californians or Mr.
Gambel’s birds could beat them. Their leg power was

THE SOUTHWESTERN PARTRIDGES 135

tremendous. The scaled-partridge is of a slate-blue
color, but it has peculiar markings, which resemble
imbricated scales, and which, of course, suggested the
name. It is a handsome bird, and has a crest which it
can elevate. The crest-feathers are tipped with white,
and the bird is sometimes called white-crested quail.

The scaled-partridge is most abundant in the valley
ot the Rio Grande. It flies like the other partridges,
and presents similar shots when one can get within
range of it. The ground where it lives is covered for
the most part with many varieties of cactus, and every
living thing in the vegetation line seems to have a
thousand spines attached to it, which would render
the dog useless if the birds were willing, which they
are not, to allow him to approach.

They are often seen in the roads, and by driving or
riding along with a horse that will stand fire some
shots may be obtained; but the sportsman who goes in
to retrieve his birds may spend the rest of the day
picking spines out of his legs, so that the sport is for
several reasons not very attractive. The precise range
and description of the bird are fully given in the notes.

THE MASSENA PARTRIDGE

The Massena partridge is one of the few game birds
that I have never had the pleasure of meeting, but I
have always taken an especial interest in it, not only
on account of its peculiar bizarre appearance, but for
the reason that my information led me to believe that
this partridge was more like Bob-white than any of
the other American partridges—in other words, that

136 GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—PARTRIDGES

it stood for all that was good ina game bird. The
mountain and valley partridges of California, the
Gambel’s and the scaled-partridge of the Southwest
are, as we have seen, great runners and most exaspera-
ting to well-trained dogs. Unless the Massena proves
to be of some account we have only one real good
partridge in America.

Our early information as to the Massena came from
officers of the army who were stationed in the South-
west. Colonel McCall first reported it in 1851 as fair-
ly abundant from the San Pedro to the Rio Pecos, and
says it was always quite confiding, and he was inclined
to think that with little difficulty it might be domesti-
cated.

Kennerly says he has often known Mexican soldiers
to kill them with their lances. Elliot says it is often
called a fool quail, on account of its confiding dispo-
sition.

All the writers I am familiar with, excepting a re-
cent correspondent of the Sportsman’s Review, describe
the bird as very tame and confiding and not inclined
to run like the other Western birds, but their opin-
ions are at variance with this recent correspondent. I
do not know his name and the editor of the Review
writes that he cannot now give it to me.

The Massena is about the same in size as the other
partridges, but it is easily distinguished by the white
spots which cause it to resemble a small guinea-hen.

It is nowhere found in any numbers, and a natural-
ist of my acquaintance, who visited its habitat in the
hopes of securing specimens, returned without a bird.

BOOK II
WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS

lo @ ?— SAR iia hs

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nt ic

XIX
THE WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS

HE wild-fowl of the sportsmen are the swimmers
(anatide) of the ornithologists. There are two
hundred species of these birds in the world and about
sixty of them in North America. The swimmers are
second only inimportance to the gallinaceous birds. It
is possible that a majority of sportsmen would reverse
the order and place the swimmers first. Elliot is of
the opinion that the duck-shooters are in the majority.
The order of swimmers contains a greater number of
large, fine game birds than the order gallinz, and many
of these are noted for their handsome plumage; one
of them, the wood-duck, is the handsomest water-fowl
in the world. The pursuit of these birds takes the
sportsman to the bays, lagoons, and marshes about the
coast, and to the lakes, ponds, and rivers of the interior.
The pleasures derived from sailing and boating are
added to the shooting, and the vast marshes over-
grown with tall reeds and rushes and many wild
grasses and aquatic plants are charmingly pictu-
resque. Much skill is required in approaching and
shooting the game.

There are five families of swimmers—the swans, the
geese, the sea-ducks, the river-ducks, and the mergan-
sers. To these Elliot adds two sub-families, one to
include the wood-duck and the other the spine-tailed
ducks; but from the sportsman’s point of view the

139

140 WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS

classification I have given, which is that of the
American Ornithological Union, is sufficient. The
wood-duck is a shoal-water duck, and is often found
feeding with other dabblers, such as mallards and
spoonbills. The sportsman does not care to follow
ornithological refinements too far. The sea-ducks, or
divers, escape more often when wounded, by diving,
but the shoal-water dabblers are extremely expert at
hiding in the reeds.

The wild-fowl are migrants. They go north to build
their nests and rear their young. Many of them go
within the arctic circle. In the West many ducks and
some geese nest within the northern boundary of the
United States. But in a few years at most not one
will remain to nest, and it will not be long before the
Western lakes, which are now crowded every spring
and fall with fowls, will be as desolate as the New
England ponds.

With their young, the wild-fowl return to the United
States early in the autumn, and as the waters freeze in
the Northern States they proceed southward. With
the first signs of spring, often as early as February,
they move north again, and so soon as the ice disap-
pears they may be looked for on the bays and marshes.
The hardier varieties, such as the canvas-backs, red
heads, and the scaups, or black-heads, are the last to
go south in the autumn. Some of them winter in the
vicinity of New York, many more at Chesapeake and
Currituck Sound.

The swans are large birds, and now in many places
extremely rare. They are probably more abundant
on the Pacific Coast than elsewhere.

WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 141

The geese and brant also come each year in greatly
diminished numbers. The brant are often called
brant- or brent-geese, since they resemble the com-
mon wild-goose, being smaller. The sea-ducks and
the river-ducks are not easily approached,. but most
of them come to decoys, and their numbers are an-
nually reduced at an alarming rate. The sea-ducks
have larger feet, and the legs are further back than those
of the river-ducks. They are therefore better swim-
mers and divers, but their progression on land is more
difficult. The terms sea-ducks and river-ducks used by
the ornithologists are somewhat misleading, since the
sea-ducks, such as canvas-backs, red-heads, and scaups,
and most of the others, are found often on the rivers
and lakes far from the sea, and thousands annually
travel the great valleys of the Missouri and Mississippi
rivers upon their spring and fall migration. The
terms deep-water ducks, or divers, and shoal-water
ducks or dabblers, are more accurate, since the can-
vas-backs and other sea-ducks prefer the deep-water,
and dive long distances under it in their search for
food, while the shoal-water ducks feed by dabbling or
tipping like the common barn-yard ducks.

The number of wild-fowl which came formerly to the
bays and lagoons along the Eastern coasts, was almost
beyond belief. Flocks were often in sight following
each other in quick succession for days at a time.
There were acres of ducks on the water. In the far
West I have seen such sights, and can readily believe
the accounts of the former abundance of these birds
about the coast.

Persistent shooting, especially for the markets, has

142 WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS

much reduced the ranks of those which travel over the
Eastern course, but the birds still move from Dakota
to the Gulf in immense numbers. There isa record
of three guns killing one thousand three hundred and
seventy-two ducks in forty-eight hours at Lake Bisti-
neau, Louisania (March g, 1902), and only the birds
actually bagged were counted.

I know of a bag of over one hundred ducks made one
morning by a gun in Ohio, in the fall of the preceding
year. These recordsindicate that the ducks still come
in goodly numbers.

Such killings as those referred to by men who shoot
for sport, added to the tremendous execution of the
market gunners, will, if continued, soon make the duck
a rare bird on our Western waters. I recently saw a
gun at one of the Ohio clubs, which, in the hands of a
market gunner of Sandusky, killed one hundred and
eighteen ducks at one shot. Not satisfied with shoot-
ing from the shore, the market gunners and sportsmen
stationed themselves in floating batteries on the feed-
ing grounds, thus preventing the ducks from feeding.
A few years ago, before there were game laws or pre-
serves, the booming of the guns in the marshes
sounded like the skirmish fire of an army. The shoot-
ing begins in the Northern States with the arrival
of the first ducks and is kept up until the freezing of
the waters ends the slaughter. As the ducks pro-
ceed southward, new guns are ready for them, and in
Southern waters, their winter quarters, they are perse-
cuted until their departure in the spring. Not satis-
fied with the results obtained with the cannon used
by market gunners, the Mexicans have a method of

WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS 143

slaughtering the birds even more destructive. The
ducks are baited with barley and corn on the lakes
and ponds, and carefully guarded and fed by men on
horseback, who often ride among them slowly and ac-
custom them to their appearance until the time for the
“armada” arrives, when the ducks are driven slowly
to the place of slaughter.

Dr. W. H. Howe, of Mexico City, says:* ‘“ An ar-
mada is built in a half circle, just above the water-
line, where are placed from two to three hundred
barrels; one half set to rake the water, the other half
to catch them just as they rise. The destruction is
tremendous. I was at one armada some years ago,
on the Hacienda Grande at the north end of Lake
Texcoco. After the gathering was completed, I asked
the overseer how many ducks were secured and he
told me he did not know, as they count sixteen and
then make a tally mark for a dollar; but it amounted
to $256, at sixteen to the dollar, which made it count
up four thousand and ninety-six ducks at this one kill-
ing. During the following spring, perhaps in April,
Signora Cervantes de Rivas, of one of the oldest
families of aristocratic Mexicans, owner of the Ha-
cienda Grande, told me that the net profits on ducks
that winter was a little over $13,000 on her hacienda.
This would represent two hundred and eight thousand
ducks for this one hacienda, and there are hundreds of
other haciendas doing the same business with weekly
or bi-weekly shoots. The number of ducks slaugh-
tered is almost incalculable.’ The feathers, he was in-
formed, are sent to Germany. It is not to be won-

* In Field and Stream.

144 WILD-FOWL, OR SWIMMERS

dered at that the ducks which run the gauntlet of the
guns twice each year as they cross the United States,
and accept the invitation to winter at the haciendas
are diminishing.

It is the fashion to shoot wild-fowl in the spring.
One or two States have already, to their credit, pro-
hibited shooting at this season, and the sportsmen are
more and more convinced that spring shooting should
be prohibited everywhere. The laws which have been
most beneficial to the ducks are those which prohib-
ited shooting for the market, the sale of game, the
use of the big guns and the shooting on the feeding
grounds and night shooting.

We proceed to the marshes to pursue the swans,
the geese, the brant, and the ducks. _

XX
THE WILD SWANS

HERE are two swans indigenous to North Amer-

ica. Both are white birds, but they are easily
distinguished by their size. The trumpeter swan is
the larger and weighs from twenty to thirty pounds.
The smaller bird, known as the whistling swan,
weighs from twelve to twenty pounds.

These birds are extremely wild and shy, and but
few sportsmen have shot them.

The smaller bird is found throughout America, and
is still fairly abundant in the winter on the Currituck
Sound, where Elliot says they do great damage to the
feeding grounds, destroying very much more grass
than they consume, and for this reason they are not
altogether regarded with favor by sportsmen, as they
soon render useless large tracts of grass-covered bot-
tom to which ducks and geese would resort for a long
time, but which they are forced to desert on account
of the wasteful destruction.

The swans fly in long lines like the geese, and are
very beautiful in the air, as well as on the water
when the sun shines on their white feathers. The
smaller birds are said to be gaining in numbers in the
Southern sounds and are common in Texas in the

winter. They are more often shot as they fly over.
145

146 WILD-FOWL

Formerly it was the practice to sail down on the birds,
going with the wind. Since the heavy birds are com-
pelled to rise against the wind and do so with diffh-
culty they were often taken in this way, but shooting
from sailing boats and all motor boats is now prohib-
ited by law, and this protection, no doubt, is one of
the causes of the increase of the swans on the club
preserves.

Swans when flying about are often so high as to be
out of range and always on the lookout for danger.
It is, of course, impossible to get near them with a
boat propelled by oars.

The young swans are fairly good to eat, but the old
birds are tough and not desirable as food. The young
are gray and easily distinguished from the old birds.

I saw many swans in the Devil’s Lake region, North
Dakota, some years ago, but they are not nearly so
abundant there or on the Pacific Coast as formerly.

The trumpeter swan is named from its loud voice,
which is said to resemble the notes of a French horn.
This bird is found in the Mississippi valley and on
the Pacific Coast, but never appears on the Atlantic
Coast.

Although the swans do not seem to be going: fast,
on account of their labored flight, they in fact go one
hundred miles an hour; and anyone who will time the
birds as they fly out of sight will be convinced that
they are travelling rapidly. It is necessary to shoot
well ahead of them, and large charges of powder and
heavy shot are required to bring them down.

The swans are so well able to get out of danger and
so careful not to come near it that a wild-swan chase

THE WILD SWANS 147

is far more ditficult than that of the far-famed wild
goose. The latter come readily to decoys, but swans
do not do so often enough to make it worth while to
go out for them.

Swans are often taken by stalking them when they
are seen sitting on the shore. Upon a recent visit to
Currituck I learned that the swans still winter there
in large numbers, and found in the game-register of
the Princess Anne Club records of bags containing
7, 8, and even 12 swans killed by club-men in the past
few years.

Some swans were seen in a pond near one of our
camps near the Cheyenne River, and a friend of mine
spent several days trying to stalk them, without suc-
cess, however. Meantime I had fair sport with the
geese, canvas-backs, red-heads, scaups, mallards,
spoonbills, teal, gadwalls, and shot many other ducks.

I have the same objection to swans that I have to
wild turkeys. It is entirely too long between shots,
and in fact there is usually no shooting at all.

Elliot, in his popular Ornithology, describes the pe-
culiar musical notes of a wounded swan which he shot
at Currituck Sound. He had never heard them before,
and as the wounded bird floated down to the water,
singing as it went, he was filled with astonishment and
could only exclaim: “I have heard the song of the
dying swan.”

I had always supposed, as Elliot did, that the death
song existed alone in poetical fiction.

XXI
WILD GEESE

HE common wild-geese known as the Canada
geese are familiar to everyone who observes

wild birds at all. They fly high in the air in long
lines converging to a point in front, where an old ex-
perienced gander takes the lead and sounds the honk,
which can be heard for a long distance, and which is
taken up by those behind. The geese come to the
United States from the north, usually late in October
and during November, moving south as the waters
freeze over. They are common on both coasts and in
the interior. I have seen them in great numbers in
the Missouri valley, and fairly abundant in the spring
and autumn on the Long Island bays. They are eas-
ily domesticated, and in Dakota I often saw birds
which had been wounded and which were kept as de-
coys. Geese are shot over wooden decoys and metal
profiles, but the live birds are used wherever the geese
come in any numbers, and, of course, are the best
ones. It is impossible to distinguish the domesticated
birds from the wild ones. I was once shooting over
live birds in the West when I saw a Sioux Indian
approach my stand, and when he discovered the geese
he left his pony far out on the plain and carefully pro-
ceeded to stalk them. I was perfectly concealed and

enjoyed the performance, but stopped him just as he
148

HIM

BEHIND

SHOT

WILD GEESE 149

was about to shoot, since I was afraid he would bag
me with the geese.

When the geese come in to the decoys it is possible
to get several with one shot on the water, shooting at
the heads which are close together, or nearly in line,
and another bird with the second barrel as they take
wing. I was once shooting ducks from a shore blind
on one of the Long Island bays, anda market gunner
was out on the open water in a battery with a flock of
live wild geese as his decoys. A flock of seven geese
appeared far out over the beach, honking as they
came, and the decoys soon answered them from the
water, when they turned and sailed gently down to
join their friends. The market gunner waited for
some time after the birds were on the water, and then
fired two shots from one gun and two more from an-
other before they were out of range and only one bird
flew away. This went off a mile or more and then
circled about and returned again to the decoys and
was shot as he approached.

The geese have apparently a slow flight, but as a
matter of fact they move with great rapidity, and it is
therefore necessary to shoot far ahead of them when
passing. They are fond of sandy bars and beaches,
and when they are discovered using such places a
blind is made by sinking a box or barrel in the sand,
and when the birds return they are attracted by de-
coys and often come within easy range.

They have a habit of resorting to the fields to feed
in the morning and evening, returning in the middle
of the day and at night to the lake or river, and they
are often shot from a blind placed on their line of

150 WILD-FOWL

flight. Great bags were made a few years ago, but
the heavy shooting has sadly diminished their num-
bers in Nebraska and throughout the Mississippi
valley.

I once saw a flock alight on the parade ground at
Fort Buford, at the mouth of the Yellowstone, and so
long as the Sioux were a menace to the shooters the
geese, and in fact the buffalo, elk, deer, and grouse
were extremely abundant in that region. The num-
ber of the ducks and geese was beyond belief.

Geese and brant are still very abundant on the
Pacific Coast. The San Francisco Evening Post con-
tained a short article last September, stating that two
shooters, W. E. Newbert and W. H. Young, of Sacra-
mento, had recently killed one hundred and seventy-
three geese or brant in Glenn County, California.

The editor of Recreation, seeking material for the
““Game hog” department of that excellent little maga-
zine, wrote and asked if the fact was correctly stated.
Mr. Young replied, stating that they did kill one hun-
dred and seventy-three geese or brant in one day’s
shoot, that is in two hours one evening and in five
hours the following morning, but he says the geese in
that neighborhood are very destructive to the newly
sprouted grain and the farmers are compelled to hire
men to keep them off their grain night and day. One
hardware firm shipped to the Glenn ranch thousands
of rifle cartridges each week to be used in driving
geese off the fields.

A heavy fog causes the geese to fly low and often to
alight. They seem to become confused and unable to
proceed on their journey to the north or south.

WILD GEESE 151

It is most important for the sportsman to know
what the birds are doing—what points they are flying
over when they go out to the fields to feed, what
course they take in returning to the water, what fields
they are using, and in what particular part of a field
they are feeding, and what sand-bar in the river or
what part of the beach they frequent. Time spent
in finding out what the birds are doing is well spent,
since a blind or ambush placed where there are no
birds is, of course, useless. When the shooting is to
be done in a field, it is well to seek a place where the
birds are feeding and after they have left, dig the holes
in the ground and carefully remove the dirt, scatter it
so it will not be noticeable and arrange the grass or
stubble about the aperture, so as to make it resemble
that adjoining. Remember that geese have very sharp
eyes, and are quick to discover any change in the
appearance of a field or sand-bar. When they are
feeding some are always on the lookout and act as
sentinels, and it is impossible to approach them within
range. An ox trained to walk slowly along as though
feeding has been used asa blind behind which to ap-
proach the birds.

Geese, like swans, are compelled to arise against the
wind, and in California, Mr. Van Dyke says, a wagon
may be driven down wind rapidly so as to carry the
shooter within range, but the shots must be fired as
the vehicle goes tearing along, since there is no time
to stop it before the birds are out of range.

Professional gunners can imitate the call of the
geese and often turn them to the decoys by “ honking’”’
to them when the birds are passing at long range or

152 WILD-FOWL

high in the air. Live decoys will also call the passing
flocks.

A local law in New York State, but three lines long,
which reads: ‘ Web-footed wild-fowl shall not be
taken in the county of Jefferson from February Ist to
August 31st, both inclusive; or taken in the night from
sunset until sunrise,” caused the Canada goose and
many ducks to become quite tame so that boats could
approach them closely. Herbert Job recently found
and photographed the nest of the Canada goose in
North Dakota.

At many of the duck clubs there are excellent
punters, who know the grounds and where the
geese are likely to be. The sportsman who handles
his own boat must have a knowledge of what the
birds are doing in order to be successful at this
sport.

Grinnell thinks the geese as well as the swans are
increasing on the club preserves at Currituck. The
laws prohibiting the shooting from sailing and motor
boats and the club rules at two clubs forbidding
spring shooting have had no doubt much to do with
this.

XXII

OTHER WILD GEESE

THE HUTCHINS GOOSE

HE Hutchins goose might readily be mistaken by

a sportsman not much familiar with wild-geese

for the Canadian or common wild-goose, with which it

is often seen associating. It is sometimes called the

lesser Canada goose. It is shot in the same manner

as other geese, and its flesh is excellent. It is found in
the western portions of the United States.

THE CACKLING GOOSE

Ornithologists designate this goose as Branta Cana-
densis minima. As the name would indicate it is a
small Canada goose. It is a Western bird, abundant
in California and at times seen in the Mississippi
valley. A picture of this bird would be the same as
that of the common wild-goose, the Branta Canadensis,
and indistinguishable from that bird unless the size
were given.

The Emperor goose is very rare, more often seen in
Alaska, I believe, than elsewhere.

The Bean goose is given as an old-world species,
which occasionally comes to our shores.

153

154 WILD-FOWL

THE BLUE-GOOSE.

One of the handsomest of the geese, the blue-goose,
is but little known. It is more often seen migrating
in the Mississippi valley. Its head and neck are white;
its breast, back, and wings are grayish-brown, and the
under parts are white. I have never shot this goose,
and in fact have never seen one near enough to recog-
nize it. It was supposed to be the young of the
snow-goose, but the ornithologists now say that it is a
separate species. The sportsman who may be fortu-
nate enough to bag one can readily identify it from
the description. It does not frequent the Pacific Coast.

THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE.

The white-fronted goose is abundant on the Pacific
Coast, and is also found in the Mississippi valley, and
is said to be common in Texas. Elliot says the white-
fronted geese are often seen associating with other
geese, especially the snow-geese. I have seen thou-
sands of snow-geese, but do not remember to have
ever seen them associating with other geese. Other
geese are often seen on the same lake or pond, but
usually, I believe, by themselves.

The geese are all shot in the sam2 manner, over
decoys or from ambush, as they fly from one feeding
ground to another, or from the lakes to the fields.
They will, when not too much shot, follow the same
line of flight, and the observant sportsman will have no
difficulty in getting under them; but he must be per-
fectly concealed and remain motionless until they are

OTHER WILD GEESE 155

within range and then shoot quickly and well for-
ward.

I was once shooting geese and ducks in the West
and had a soldier from the garrison who assisted in
carrying the game, when two geese came flapping
along and did not appear to be going fast. I saw them
when they were some distance off, and was ready for
them when they came within range, and expected fully
to make a nice double. Aiming but a short distance
ahead, I fired two shots in quick succession, but was
not rewarded with a feather. The geese kept on their
course, honking a farewell, and in about a minute had
crossed a wide lake which was spread out behind me.
I was aware that I had shot behind them both, and as
they quickly disappeared from view realized how fast
they were going. There is no bird whose flight is
more deceptive. They are always going much faster
than they seem to be.

XXIII
THE. SNOW-GEESE, BRANT, ETC.

HE snow-geese are smaller than the Canada or
common wild-geese, and are near the size of the
brant, familiar to those who shoot on the bays of Long
Island. There are three varieties, all white, as their
name would indicate, and one of them, Ross’s snow-
goose, is one of the smallest geese known, adults of
this species weighing only two and one-half to three
pounds.

The snow-goose and the lesser snow-goose are so
much alike as to make it necessary to measure them
carefully in order to distinguish them.

The lesser snow-goose is the Western variety, and is
found from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of Mexico.
The greater snow-goose is the one found east of the
Mississippi River, and was formerly very abundant at
Hudson’s Bay, where a single hand has killed as many
as a thousand in a season.

The snow-geese were extremely abundant in Dakota
a few years ago, and I have seen them when they cov-
ered the ground in tremendous flocks, which resem-
bled at a distance snow on the ground. They are
extremely shy, but many are shot from a blind in the
stubble-fields, or as they fly to and from their feeding-

grounds.
156

THE SNOW-GEESE, BRANT, ETC. 157

They are very abundant on the Pacific Coast, and in
the Mississippi valley and in parts of Texas in the
winter. The shooting of these geese is similar to that
of the common wild-geese already discribed. They
do not, I believe, come as readily to decoys.

We occasionally took a long shot with a rifle ata
flock of these birds which covered a large area of
ground so closely that it seemed impossible to miss
them, but such shots were usually not effective. As
the ball struck among them, however, it was an amaz-
ing sight to see them arise from the ground like great
white clouds.

An army officer with whom I was shooting on the
ponds about the Cheyenne River one day wounded a
snow-goose slightly in the wing, and after a long chase
we captured it. It soon became quite tame, and ap-
pears in a number of photographs of our camps, stand-
ing like a domestic fowl, quite unconcerned by the
presence of its enemies.

Some one named it Genevieve, and when we moved
our camp it usually had a seat in the ambulance, often
in the lap of an officer, and became quite tame. When
we returned to Fort Totten it was turned loose in a
yard with some chickens and appeared perfectly at
home, but when it recovered of its wound it took wing
one day and joined one of the flocks which were con-
tinually seen in the sky passing over.

Ross’s snow-goose is not uncommon in California,
but is never found on the Atlantic Coast. But little is
known of its habits, since it isa rare bird. It associ-
ates with the lesser snow-goose. Hearne is quoted by
Elliot as saying that its flesh is extremely delicate, and

158 WILD-FOWL

as a proof of it he ate two one night for supper, which
was doing quite well, even for an arctic appetite.

THE BRANT

There are two brant often called brant-geese which
resemble the Canada goose, but are much smaller.

The common brant of the Eastern coasts is some-
times met with in the interior, but it prefers the salt
water and is common on the brackish bays of the At-
lantic Coast. It may be described as a diminutive
wild goose, being very similar to that bird. On the
Pacific Coast this bird is replaced by a bird similar in
size, known as the black brant.

The common brant were formerly very abundant
along the Eastern coast. I have seen many large flocks
on the bays of Long Island, but the persistent shoot-
ing, especially from batteries and sail-boats, has di-
minished their numbers. Sailing after brant was an
exciting and profitable sport, some years ago, but
many of the States have now forbidden the use of sail-
boats and all motor-boats in the pursuit of brant,
geese, and ducks. It is to be hoped that New York
will have better laws regulating the shooting of wild-
fowl, and that these methods of pursuit and spring
shooting may be abolished at the same time.

The brant come to the North Atlantic Coast in Oc-
tober, and are seen in large flocks. They do not fly in
long lines or in the V-shaped formation, as the com-
mon wild-geese do, but ina bunch, or in masses, with-
out any orderly arrangement, and without a leader.

They decoy readily, and respond to an imitation of

THE SNOW-GEESE, BRANT, ETC. 159

their note, and their attention may be attracted to
the decoys by raising and lowering a foot from the
battery.

Like the geese they are fond of sand, and may be
shot as they travel to and from the bars, or from am-
bush, when the place they are using is discovered.

Brant do not fly very rapidly, and are not very diff-
cult marks; in fact they are quite easy when they
come to the decoys.

Their flesh is excellent, much better than that of the
geese, and they are eagerly sought for in the markets.
Their sale should be at all times prohibited, since this —
would end the shooting of pot-hunters and market
gunners who annually destroy large numbers of brant.

The black brant is, as the name would indicate,
darker than the Eastern variety, but in other respects
much like it. They are excellent table birds, and
large numbers are shot every winter in California.
They were extremely abundant on the bay at San
Diego, but my stay in Southern California was of
short duration, and I did not go in pursuit of them.

The black brant fly usually strung out in long lines.
They are wild, shy birds, and more easily taken over
decoys than in any other manner.

This bird, like the cinnamon teal, is seen as an occa-
sional visitor to the Atlantic coasts, having no doubt
missed its way when starting on the northern migra-
tion. I have never seen them excepting in California.

It was not unusual, some years ago, for California
sportsmen and market-gunners to make immense bags
of these birds, but over-shooting here, as elsewhere,
has been followed by the usual result.

XXIV
TREE-DUCKS

REVIEW of the game-birds of North America
would be incomplete without some mention of
two peculiar birds known as the tree-ducks. But few
sportsmen, excepting those who have shot in the
States which adjoin Mexico, are aware of the exist-
ence of these birds. They are, however, shot and are
good to eat, and the sportsman who goes to the Cali-
fornia marshes or to Southern Texas may add them to
his bag.

Both these birds nest in trees. They are reported
as not very wild or shy and as having been easily do-
mesticated, when they associate with barn-yard fowls.

The black-bellied tree-duck feeds in corn-fields and
is said to do much damage to the crop.

The fulvous tree-duck is found in Louisiana and
Texas and breeds in the California marshes.

These birds run well and dive well and are difficult
to secure when wounded. They are described in the
appendix sufficiently for the sportsman who may shoot
one to identify it.

XXV
SEA-DUCK SHOOTING

HE sea-ducks and the geese and brant, which are
shot often from the same blind, are well pro-
tected by heavy plumage. The sportsman who has
several guns may use the 10-gauge to advantage on
these birds, but when the birds come to the decoys
they are within the range of a 12-gauge, and when
they do not come to the decoys they are more often
out of range of any gun. At some of the clubs on the
Chesapeake the 8-gauge is used to shoot at high-flying
birds, but the use of guns larger than the 1o-gauge is
prohibited now in many States, and many others have
laws prohibiting the use of all guns “ excepting those
fired from the shoulder in the ordinary manner,” The
laws prohibiting the use of guns larger than the 1o are
more accurate, since the strength of men varies and an
athletic sportsman might swing a much larger gun
than the 8, provided it be a single barrel. A uniform
law prohibiting the use of all guns larger than 10
would be satisfactory. I would be willing to see all
guns larger than 12 prohibited, since a strong-shooting
12 will kill enough ducks in a day to exceed the bag
limit allowed on many preserves and provided by law
in many States.

It was formerly the fashion to shoot very large shot
161

162 WILD-FOWL

at ducks and geese, but the shot used to-day is smaller.
Nos. 6 to 4 for ducks and 4 to 2 for brant and geese are
best. The smaller shot makes a better pattern and the
chances for striking the game in a vital place are in-
creased. From 34% to 3% drams of powder is used in
the 12 gauge, and as much more as the gun will burn
to advantage in the 10. This may be ascertained by
firing the gun over snow, when the unburned powder
can be seen after the discharge. I prefer No.5 or 6
shot to No. 4 for sea-ducks and often shoot No. 7 at
the river ducks, and have done good work with 8 early
in the autumn when the shots were at close range.

Sea-duck shooting calls for warm flannels, heavy
corduroy, and water-proofs, since the weather is often
extremely cold and windy and the sportsman must face
the storms of snow and sleet. Both clothes and hat
must resemble the marsh grass in color. By no means
wear a black hat or coat. Suits are for sale in the
stores made entirely of the marsh grass.

There are four principal methods of capturing sea-
fowl: (1) shooting over decoys from the shore; (2)
shooting over decoys from batteries or sink-boxes on
the water; (3) point shooting or flight shooting at ,
passing birds, and (4) shooting in a line of boats on
the open water. To these may be added the tolling
of the birds with small dogs, an interesting method of
pursuit practised on the Chesapeake and perhaps else-
where.

Sailing after brant and ducks is another method
used on some of the bays of Long Island and else-
where, but this has been found to drive the birds
away.

SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 163

In shooting over decoys the start is made quite early
in the morning, often long before daylight. The
sportsman, accompanied by a local gunner or bay-man,
sails away in the dark to the point selected for his
ambush. Many decoys (each attached by a long string
to a weight, often a half brick or scrap of iron) are
stowed away in the boat. These wooden counterfeits
are painted to represent the varieties which frequent
the bay—canvas-backs, red-heads, scaups or black-
heads, ruddy-ducks, widgeons, buffle-heads and others,
and often mergansers. A few geese and brant decoys
are in the outfit to be used to allure the passing geese
or brant. When the objects of pursuit are geese or
brant only, a larger flock of these decoys is carried,
and often a lot of live birds, both ducks and geese, are
used as decoys.

It is always a cold and often a stormy voyage down
the bay, and the heaviest coat and a rain-coat over
all will be found necessary to keep out the wind and
cold. As the boat proceeds flocks of water-fowl may
be heard arising from the water or passing overhead on
rushing, whistling wings. When the place selected for
a blind (usually a point or bar where the ducks are
feeding) is reached, the blind is hastily constructed,
provided it has not been made before, and the decoys
are set out on the water, within easy range of the guns.
The best blind is a box sunk in the sand or mud,
with some seaweed or sedge, or whatever is near, scat-
tered about, and even over the sportsman after he has
extended himself in the box. Blinds are often made of
seaweeds, grass, rushes, reeds, and bushes, and when
they are so erected above the ground, it is well to

164 WILD-FOWL

make them some days before the shooting begins, in
order that the birds may become accustomed to them.

When sea-duck shooting it is most important to
know what the birds are doing, or more accurately
(since the decision as to where the blind is to be
placed is often made in the dark) to know what
the birds will be doing when daylight comes. The
old salts who have spent their lives on the bay
are not only good weather prophets, but good duck
prophets as well. First of all the wind must be con-
sidered and a decision reached as to what the wind
will be during the morning flight. Ducks, it must be
remembered, do not frequent a windward shore. It
having been determined that the wind will be in a
certain direction, the various desirable points for a
blind are considered, and the one most likely is
selected. The ducks, for reasons of their own, will
be seen “using,” as it is termed, certain points or
waters in preference to others which appear equally
as good, and it is to the point where the bay-man has
seen the birds (when the wind is off shore) that he
will turn his prow.

The city sportsman who places himself in the hands
of a local bay-man will hardly fail to have good shoot-
ing. It is well, however, for him to know the “whys
and wherefores,” to be able to sail his own boat and to
estimate for himself what the ducks will be doing, for
the knowledge of such things contributes largely to the
making of a duck-shooter. The sportsman who knows
where to place his decoys will often enjoy very good
shooting and return to the cabin, hotel, or club to meet
another who has not shot a bird, for the simple reason

SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 165

that the latter did not know where to place his blind.
A place which affords excellent shooting to-day may be
worthless to-morrow, the wind having shifted. Ducks,
too, are easily driven away from a given point by much
shooting, and the place where many ducks are killed
for several days in succession will be readily surren-
dered by an old hand to a novice. Itismore important
to know what the ducks are doing than it is to shoot
well, for without the ducks one cannot shoot at all.
A bay-man or an old duck shooter will often take a run
about the bay to see what places the birds are using
and to “locate’’ them, as it is termed, and time so con-
sumed is well spent. An amusing reference to this
practice appears in a law prohibiting Sunday shooting
in North Carolina, which provides that “it shall be
unlawful to sail, row, or propel a boat over Currituck
Sound on the Lord’s day for the purpose of docating
wild fowl for a future day.” This law, as I said, writ-
ing recently for The Century, may be regarded as the
high-water mark of game legislation. It would seem
necessary for the sportsman sailing the waters of Cur-
rituck on the Lord’s day to close his eyes.

In many of the States it is now unlawful to shoot at
ducks in the night season before “sunrise or after sun-
down” as the statutes read. This is as it should be,
and the shooting of ducks on Sunday is also prohibited.
In North Carolina, where by the way are to be found
the finest grounds on the Eastern Coast for sea-ducks,
it is unlawful for any person to leave any landing or
anchorage before sunrise in the morning for the pur-
pose of hunting wild-fowl or to put decoys into the
water before sunrise. This law in many places would

166 WILD-FOWL

sadly interfere with a good morning’s shooting, since
the shooting is best in the hour just after sunrise, and,
when the blind is some distance from the house, the
time consumed in going to it is the time when the
shooting should be done. The first few hours of the
morning and the last few hours of daylight are the
best for duck shooting. The birds are then flying
about and feeding and are allured by the decoys.
The flight will continue longer on wild, windy, stormy
days. On still warm days there is often a poor flight
in the morning, which ceases at an early hour, and
throughout the rest of the day until just before sun-
down not a bird will be seen in the air. At such times
the sportsmen may be observed standing up in their
blinds and looking at the rafts of ducks which float
quietly on the water far out of reach of the guns.

When a flock of ducks observes the decoys they will
often turn and head straight toward them, but usually
circle about before alighting. As the birds come near
it is of the utmost importance to remain absolutely
motionless. The ducks have sharp eyesand will surely
see the slightest move on the part of the sportsman
and instantly be gone. Should the concealment be
only partial when the birds are discovered approach-
ing the blinds do not try to better it, but remain ab-
solutely still. The fact that the ducks have headed
toward the decoys indicates they have not seen the
shooter, but if he lower his head or make any other
move in the endeavor to better his concealment the
birds will certainly escape.

When the ducks are well up to the decoys, and not
before, it is time to shoot. The first shot is an easy

SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 167

one since the birds are flying slowly and have spread
their tails as a brake, and with lowered feet are flap-
ping to alight. At the report of the gun, however, the
ducks spring high in the air and are soon under full
headway. The second shot is often missed by reason
of under shooting. The gun should be aimed well
over the rising birds, and far in advance of them, if
they are going off to right or left. It was formerly
the practice to aim at the flock when the birds were
closely huddled together, in the hope of killing a num-
ber at a shot, but such is not the better way. The
sportsman should select a bird for each barrel and try
to kill it instantly—‘“clean,” the gunners say. The
dead birds are easily recovered, the wounded, unfortu-
nately, often get away. In shooting into the flock
many birds besides those killed will receive a part of
the charge and, wounded, get away.

In North Dakota and other States where the legal
bag limit is twenty-five birds or less per diem, two or
three double shots at the hovering flocks will put an
end to the day’s sport, so that it is no longer to the
sportsman’s interest to take the pot-shots in the air or
on the water.

A retrieving dog is always used. The best dog for
this purpose is the Chesapeake Bay dog—a strong
water-dog, able to stand the roughest weather and the
icy waters of the bay, and to find the birds in the heav-
iest sedge. Such dogs are owned by sportsmen who
shoot on the Chesapeake, and at the clubs at Curri-
tuck, and they may be found here and there through-
out the West. The dog is trained to remain motion-
less in the blind until ordered to retrieve. He will

168 WILD-FOWL

often detect the birds at great distances and indicate
their presence by a glance of the eye.

Ducks which are passing the blind at a distance
without seeing the decoys may have their attention
directed to them by tossing a hat in the air, or by rais-
ing one foot high up from the blind or battery and
quickly lowering it. The motion may be repeated
two or three times, but when the birds turn on no ac-
count repeat it. Their eyes are now on the decoys
and they will surely detect the hat or boot if they are
shown again. An old market gunner with whom I
shot ducks many seasons on the Shinnecock Bay
taught me how to raise a foot above the side of a bat-
tery, and explained that the passing birds, attracted
by the motion, believed, no doubt, the foot was a duck
rising on end as they sometimes do when onthe water,
and the deception was the more complete since the
motion appeared in the centre of the flock of decoys.
{ often exhibited my foot to the passing scaups and
red-heads and saw them wheel directly for the decoys.
When the birds are discovered passing at a long dis-
tance the foot may be raised quite high and several
times in quick succession, but when the flock is pass-
ing near raise the foot but once and not very high
from the water. I have seen the ducks return after
having passed the battery when a raised foot attracted
their attention.

A writer for a sportsman’s magazine published in
San Francisco, says the newly painted decoys are not
so good as the older and duller ones. There is much
truth in this, no doubt. Certain it is that highly
painted and varnished decoys which shine brightly in

SEA-DUCK SHOOTING 169

the sun will not attract the birds. The painting should
always have a dull finish.

Shooting over decoys, with all its hardships, is splen-
did sport. When the ducks come in quick succession
one does not feel the cold. For my part, as I have said,
I prefer the shooting over dogs, but I have had many
a good day, both on salt water and fresh, shooting sea-
ducks and river-ducks over the decoys.

The method of shooting ducks from batteries is fa-
miliar to those who shot some years ago at Currituck,
or later on the Long Island: bays. At Currituck it is
now unlawful for non-residents to use the battery. Its
use is barred absolutely in many other States, but the
influence of the market gunners, it is said, has been
sufficient to prevent the passage of such legislation in
New York. I have had many good days in the bat-
teries when I killed many ducks and thoroughly en-
joyed the shooting, but I now believe the use of bat-
teries should everywhere be prohibited. The battery
may be briefly described as a water-tight box, large
enough to hold the shooter lying down, with a wide
rim which floats on the water. The box is made to
sink to the rim by placing weights about its edge.
The battery with one hundred or more decoys is car-
ried on a sail-boat to the feeding-ground of the ducks,
often far out on the open water, and when the sports-
man has taken his place in it, the bay-man, who has put
out the decoys, sails away to a distance, usually to lee-
ward, and picks up the ducks as they are killed and
drift toward him.* Any large flocks which may be

*Tf it be windy and there is danger of the battery sinking, the attendant

will sail to windward in order to be able to return quickly.

170 WILD-FOWL

on the bay are put up by the bay-man sailing down
upon them, and these as they fly about are attracted
to the decoys. The objection to this form of sport is,
of course, that it drives the birds from their feeding
grounds, besides being very destructive. Immense
numbers of ducks have been shot from a battery ina
day.

Point shooting is at passing birds. As they travel
from one feeding ground to another the ducks are
required often to pass near or over certain points
where the shooting is at times excellent. The shoot-
ing is more difficult than shooting over decoys, since
the shots are usually at long range and fired at birds
under full headway. To estimate correctly the rate
of speed and the distance of a passing duck, requires
much practice, and a good shot is he who can often
send his load of shot far enough in advance to meet
the swiftly moving mark. Shoot yards, not feet, ahead
of the fastest birds when passing at long range. Each
shot is different and must have its own estimate.
Practice alone will make a good pass-shooter. Do
not be afraid of shooting too far in advance of the
birds. The shooting in the line of boats and the toll-
ing with small dogs, will be described in connection
with the birds so taken.

In California and the Gulf States the sea-duck shooter
has finer weather, and in many places, particularly in
Louisiana, Texas, and Southern California the shoot-
ing is still very good indeed.

XXVI
THE CANVAS-BACK

AMOUS is the canvas-back. Many sportsmen re-
gard him as first of allthe water-fowl. Epicures
never tire of praising him. One of the largest of the
ducks, he is also very handsome. The head is a dark
chestnut red. The back is white, marked with nar-
row waved black lines, which give it the light-gray
appearance which suggested the name. The bill and
breast are black. Size, beauty, and table qualities are
here combined, and the canvas-back is rightly named
“the king of ducks.”

Although classified as a sea-duck, this bird is found
throughout North America, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. I found the canvas-backs abundant in North
Dakota, where they arrive early in the autumn and
remain until the ponds and lakes are frozen over.
Herbert Job recently found many nests of these birds
on the same ground in the spring. Bendire found it
breedingin Oregon. It no doubt breeds at all suitable
places from Dakota to the Pacific Coast. Most of
these ducks, however, go farther north upon their
spring migration.

The canvas-back is distinctly an American bird. No
other ducks resemble it excepting the red-head duck
and its analogue the pochard of Europe. Red-heads

171

172 WILD-FOWL

have often been sold in the markets as canvas-backs,
but the birds are easily distinguished. The bill of the
red-head is blue, not black. Its head is round, not
angular like that of the canvas-back. The back of
the red-head is much darker than that of the canvas-
back.

A few years ago these birds came in immense num-
bers to the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and the other
bays and sounds of the Atlantic Coast, and the shooting
grounds brought high rentals. Excessive shooting,
however, by sportsmen and the market gunners, has
so reduced the number of the birds as to make the
shooting-grounds of the Chesapeake far less valuable,
and at many points there is to-day but little sport or
none atall. The ducks were nowhere more persecuted
than on the waters of this bay, all the points being held
by clubs. They were assailed from every side by land,
and the market gunners with huge guns fired broad-
sides into them as they slept upon the water. This
shooting was kept up from the moment of the birds’
arrivalin the fall until the ice put an end to the slaugh-
ter; and in the spring the shooting ended only when
the last bird unshot had flown away. The high prices
(often several dollars) which the birds commanded in
the markets stimulated the market gunners to great
activity, and the wonder is that a bird remains. So
abundant were the canvas-backs in former years that
slaves were fed with them, and contracts are said to be
in existence which contain provisions against such
feeding to slaves whose services were rented.

These birds came until quite recently in great num-
bers to the bays and ponds about the great lakes.

THE CANVAS-BACK 173

There are records at the clubs of famous bags, but
here, as on the Atlantic Coast, they no longer come as
formerly. In looking over the game register at one
of the Lake Erie clubs, I observed that in former years
over one thousand canvas-backs were often killed, but
more recently the total for the year has been less than
one hundred birds. Farther west, however, at some
of the preserves in Wisconsin and Minnesota, and on
many lakes and ponds, these splendid birds still come
in better numbers, and they were reported not long
ago in certain places on the Pacific Coast as abundant
as they ever were on the Chesapeake Bay.

Many States have now good laws for their protec-
tion, which limit the bag, prohibit market shooting, the
sale of game, the use of big guns and batteries and all
blinds on the feeding grounds; and if the shooting in
the spring is prohibited, the sportsmen in the West, at
least, will no doubt continue to enjoy good shooting.

The food of the canvas-backs consists largely of a
water plant popularly termed wild celery (valesneria)
This food imparts a peculiarly delicious flavor to their
flesh. On the Pacific Coast they feed upon a bulbous
plant which the Indians call wapato (safellaria vart-
abilis) which renders their flesh equally delicious. It
is only when they can obtain the wild celery or the
wapato that the birds are worthy of high praise.
The red-head and widgeon, when feeding on the same
food have a similar flavor; but all of these birds, when
their food consists of small marine animals, have the
same sedgy or fishy taste and are no more desirable as
food than many other sea-fowl. As a general proposi-
tion, I may here observe that the so called river-ducks

174 WILD-FOWL

are better food than the sea-fowl or divers, as usually
they are free from all fishy taste, since their food is
largely corn, wild rice, and acorns.

I have eaten the canvas-backs from the Chesapeake,
on the ground where they are supposed to be cooked
and served the best, and by no means dispute their
table qualities, but the wood-duck fed on acorns and
the mallards fed on corn and wild rice are their equal,
and I am inclined to believe, with many sportsmen of
my acquaintance and the great Audubon besides, that
the little blue-wing teal is their superior. I preter,
however, the shooting of all game to the eating, and
am prepared to leave such questions to the epicures.

The latter have always insisted that the canvas-
backs from the Chesapeake are the best, and there is
an amusing story of an Ohio senator, who argued with
some Eastern friends that the Western canvas-backs
were just as good. Secretly he procured some birds
from the Ohio marshes and served them at a dinner to
which his friends were invited. The birds, well cooked
and served, were excellent, and during the repast the
Eastern epicures often asked their host to admit their
superiority. This he did, much to his amusement, of
course, and later to their discomfiture.

At the Lake Erie clubs and on many other Western
shooting grounds the canvas-backs and the mallards
and other dabblers may be shot the same day. Not
on the same ground, however. The canvas-backs will
be found diving in the deeper water, the mallards dab-
bling in the shallow ponds near by.

I have regarded the canvas-backs as the wilder
birds, possibly because I have shot them only when

THE CANVAS-BACK 175

they were the least abundant, but Mr. Cumming, a
San Francisco sportsman, writing recently for a maga-
zine, says the mallards are far more wary in the tule
marshes of his State. “Should the sportsman,” he
observes, “have found the mallards and returned
with fifty birds, he is entitled to a hat-raise and bow
from his fellow sportsmen, but if he has that number
of the dull-witted cans., no such obeisance should be
accorded him. The canvas-backs must be classed as
the most foolish duck that frequent these waters.
When they are found in a feeding-pond where their
favorite food is plentiful, they are easy game, provided
the man behind the gun keeps out of sight. After the
birds have been ‘jumped’ out of the pond, he has
only to place out two or three dozen decoys and the
birds will soon work their way back in pairs or in
small flocks, sometimes circling around a little to see
if the coast is clear, but generally dropping quietly
among the decoys.

“When they ascertain to their satisfaction that ap-
pearances seem favorable for an uninterrupted feed
their heads drop into an easy position, indicating
security, and they soon disappear beneath the surface.
As they arrive from time to time in flocks and a num-
ber are under water, the hunter should open fire at
those upon the surface, and as the others come up treat
them to another barrel.”

This may do for one who cares to shoot tame birds
on the water, but when the legal limit to the bag (fifty
birds per diem) is easily reached, most sportsmen pre-
fer the shooting on the wing.

The same writer says: “ Many consider the mallard

176 WILD-FOWL

superior to all others as a choice table morsel, but hunt-
ers and duck critics differ. My experience suggests
that the sprig is equally delicious if not a better bird.”
It will be noticed that the canvas-back is not mentioned.

Canvas-backs are usually shot over decoys. A num-
ber of the counterfeits are placed out within easy
range of the blind, and to these the birds come readily
when they have not been much shot at; but they soon
learn not only to avoid a blind but to fly high in cross-
ing Over points, and on the Eastern waters they are as
wild and shy as any duck that flies and far different
from the “ dull-witted cans.” of California.

Before putting out the decoys the birds are driven
away without shooting at them, and from time to time
they return singly or in small numbers, or perhaps in
flocks. As they sail slowly up to the decoys, or hover
over them preparatory to alighting, they are easy
marks, but as they spring from the shot of the first
barrel they are far more difficult, and he who makes a
“double ”’ has reason to be proud of his achievement.

The sportsman makes an early start for canvas-backs
and should have his decoys in the water by daylight.
The shooting is best in the early hours, and again late
in the afternoon, when the second flight begins. Dur-
ing the middle of the day he may well desert his blind
and try the neighboring marshes with his setters for
the snipe. In Oregon, a Mongolian pheasant is often
added to the bag.

Canvas-backs are also shot from points as they fly
over from one feeding ground to another. This sport
is more difficult; the shots are usually at long range
and at swiftly flying marks, since the birds are under

GNVISI GHOOVA LY SMOVE-SVANVO DNILOOHS

‘ were ae oe

¥

THE CANVAS-BACK 177

full headway as they pass, and go from sixty to ninety
miles an hour, and (before the wind) it may be faster.

In Oregon the canvas-backs are highly prized. Ina
recent article, “ Duck-shooting along the Columbia,”
Mr. J. B. Thompson says: “It was the way of the duck
hunters to ignore all other ducks, mallards, teal, wid-
geon, sprigs, and to confine their shooting entirely to
canvas-backs. In a good year, and most years were
good, it was not difficult to kill all one could carry.
Of late years—since about 1894 to be more exact—can-
vas-backs are not asabundant nor as good eating; the
cause being generally attributed, no doubt correctly,
to the almost total disappearance of their favorite food
the wapato. Inan unfortunate moment some impulse,
not wholly for good, prompted a certain United States
fish commissioner to place in the haunts of the canvas-
backs the lowly and inglorious carp. Why this was
done no one seems to have ascertained. It could not
have been because good fish were lacking, for the
Columbia and its tributaries were full of the lordly
Chinook salmon and other varieties of the same fish,
and the smaller streams were alive withtrout. At any
rate the carp were brought in, and, like most things
undesirable, they stayed and throve prodigiously, and
from that time every green and growing thing on the
feeding grounds of the ducks began to disappear, until
finally, about six years ago, few wapato and very little
else which might be classed as food could be found
there. The high water of 1894 may have aided the
carp by depositing silt and sand over these lakes and
ponds. The food being gone the canvas went also;
and the few that are shot now are poor and flavorless.”

178 WILD-FOWL

The same writer says the canvas-backs were formerly
as abundant on the lakes and ponds near the Columbia
River as they ever were on the waters of Chesapeake
Bay and their flesh was as fine.

Present indications, he adds, promise better things,
however; for it is believed that the wapato was not
totally exterminated and that with care and the de-
struction of the carp the canvas-back may again flourish
as in years past.

The same results followed the introduction of the
carp into Ohio waters. A short time ago the super-
intendent of the Winous Point Club informed me that
the carp had become a positive nuisance. They de-
stroyed the wild rice and other vegetation in the
marshes to such an extent that the ducks had little
left to feed on where food was formerly abundant.
Some fishermen, he said, recently caught eight tons
of carp in one haul of a net, and a catch of six tons was
not unusual. The fish were offered for sale in Port
Clinton, but the market being overstocked, they were
taken to Sandusky on a tug, and there being no sale
for them there they were finally disposed of to a fertil-
izing establishment at $2.00 per ton. This matter of
the carp and their destruction of the marshes is of the
utmost importance to the many duck clubs and owners
of preserves, and in fact to all who shoot ducks. The
carp are said to destroy the plants by rooting, causing
them to fall and die. It is most unfortunate that the
carp, like the sparrows, seem to have come to stay.
The Department of Agriculture now has the authority
and will no doubt prevent the further introduction of
such pests.

THE CANVAS-BACK 179

The canvas-backs feed by diving for the wild celery
or the wapato, and amusing accounts are given of the
widgeon, which floats near by and when the canvas-back
comes to the surface with a choice morsel quickly
seizes and devours it.

The canvas-backs still come in goodly numbers to
some of the preserves owned by the clubs at Curri-
tuck, N. C., and the shooting there is often very fine.
The late President Harrison was the guest of the
Ragged Island Club during his term of office, and
enjoyed some good shooting.

When the sea-ducks are much shot at, especially on
their feeding grounds, they will often desert the waters
of the bay and spend the day far out upon the ocean.
They return at night to feed. In North Carolina and
Maryland and in Ohio, and perhaps elsewhere, certain
days are set aside each week when all shooting is pro-
hibited. At the clubs certain rest days are provided
for by club rules, and some clubs in Oregon, Mr.
Thompson says, allow but one day’s shooting each
week.

Canvas-backs, like antelope, have a great deal of
curiosity, and they are brought within range of the
gun by the use of a small dog, which is trained to run
about on the beach and seek chips or small sticks tossed
for him from the blind. The feeding ducks are soon
attracted by the performance of the dog, and after ob-
serving him a short time, swim toward the shore,
their interest seeming to increase as they approach,
until finally they are within range. This method of
capture is called tolling. Heavy guns and heavy loads
are used to shoot these fowls. Where rest days are

180 WILD-FOWL

provided for the ducks they are always less wild and
less suspicious, and the shooting is accordingly much
better.

Canvas-backs are still shot from batteries or sink-
boxes, but since my shooting from these contrivances
has been at scaups—the black-heads—and the shooting
is the same, I defer the description of this method of
pursuit, saying only here, as | shall say again later,
that this form of sport should everywhere be prohib-
ited, as it is now in many States.

XXVII
THE RED-HEAD

HE gray back of the red-head duck is similar but
darker than that of the canvas-back. The color
of the head is the same or nearly so, the dark chestnut-
red being brighter in this species than in the canvas-
back. The shape of the two heads and the color of
the bills, as I have observed, render the identification
easy, and when their food is the same as the latter
birds, they are excellent on the table. Their flesh
often has a fishy or sedgy taste, and then may be said
to resemble that of the scaups or black-heads more
than the canvas-backs.

I have shot red-heads on the waters of Long Island
and as far west as Dakota, and do not regard these
birds as equal to the mallards, teal, or wood duck.
In the West, like that of many of the shore-birds, their
flesh is usually better than that of the birds shot on
Long Island Sound or the bays along the Atlantic
Coast, for the reason that it has not the sedgy or fishy
taste so often observed in salt-water birds. Asa rule,
I think the Western sportsmen are inclined to stand
up for their ducks, as it were, and insist that they are
superior to the sea-ducks. My early education was
acquired, however, on the waters of the Shinnecock
Bay and on Long Island Sound, and I was prepared

to defend even the merganser or shell-drake as food
181

182 WILD-FOWL

birds; but I am satisfied, as a general proposition, that
the ducks that feed on corn and wheat, and the wild-
rice or wild-oats and acorns, are superior to those
which find their food in the salt marshes and bays
near the ocean. The same rule obtains with reference
to the black-breasted plover and many of the shore-
birds, as we shall observe later.

The red-heads arrive from the South in March usu-
ally, sometimes earlier if the weather is suitable, and
when not much shot at remain until late in the
spring. Many of them would no doubt breed in New
York State if given a chance, and they no doubt will
be before long, since the sentiment against shooting
wild-fowl in the spring is spreading rapidly. Mr. Job
found them recently breeding with the canvas-backs
and ruddy-ducks in good numbers about the lakes of
North Dakota.

In the autumn the red-heads return so soon as the
weather turns cold, usually in November, but earlier if
the Northern waters should freeze over. Large num-
bers still come to the bays and along the Atlantic
Coast, and they are a very common duck during their
migration across the Middle and Western States to the
Rocky Mountains. Large numbersare killed annually
at the many duck clubs about the Great Lakes, and I be-
lieve there are more red-heads killed during the flight
at the St. Clair flats in Michigan than any other
ducks The flight was hardly on when I left the flats,
but the local gunners were all engaged in painting
red-head decoys, and a few days later these ducks were
so abundant in the Detroit markets that many could
not be used, and, the weather turning warm, they were

THE RED-HEAD 183

thrown away. Here, as elsewhere, they come in
greatly diminished numbers each year, and unless the
spring shooting, the shooting of the large guns, and
the use of batteries is stopped as well as forbidden, it
will not be long before the red-head is a rare bird, or
will only be seen in the museum of natural history.
The Canadian Club own a vast preserve on the east side
of the flats, and since the shooting there begins later,
and is conducted under proper regulations, the birds,
fortunately, have there a harbor of refuge which will
do much toward their preservation. The clubs near
Toledo and Sandusky also are a benefit to the ducks,
but at some of these the shooting has been excessive.
The following, which I copied from the club register
at Winous Point, near Port Clinton, Ohio, shows that
the red-heads are by no means as abundant as in for-
mer years:

Red-Heads Red-Heads
Maw Aierets aire ors 04 = 1415 TS GM ie fare lots 50 31
Ups ee eee 1987 | Lite 0 a ee 510
DON Oi Sal sts fo es EGOO0 | DSB. caso sess 216
POO csc ies DOM UV EOG AN decisis «x aims 40
POOR a oe avene tw 5's TES Me SELIG sera Oo 5
Teoma gaye. « 366 MgO telehe veh ote cia 207
EGO pine ducers « § 2 | LIES ice eed dee 68
ESGO wera ae yas 56 | TRG aed hove eicass 4
TOGO Gian cs 16 | ERO mista wets Sits 19
EOQOmy ga ey ass GSM PaROGO). 25:4) wires I

Excessive shooting at this club I am sure was not
the only reason for the diminution of the game. But
few guns visit the club each season, and although there

184 WILD-FOWL

is here no bag limit, the shooting has not been suff-
cient to cause the red-heads so nearly to disappear.
The failure of their food, its destruction by the carp,
and the excessive shooting by the market gunners at
St. Clair, on the north, and in the Southern States dur-
ing the winter, have no doubt combined to bring about
the unfortunate result shown by the club register.
Singular it is, if true, as | am informed, that the clubs
of the Lake Erie region are opposed to laws prohibit-
ing spring shooting. Many ducks would no doubt
remain to breed on their preserves were there no guns
fired at them in the spring.

The shooting of the red-heads is similar to that of
the canvas-backs. They come to the same decoys and
present about the same marks. I have shot them
from a sail-boat on Long Island Sound, and have shot
them in the West, where they were sufficiently abun-
dant to need no decoys. I once killed quite a num-
ber of these birds shooting on a pass between two
lakes, in North Dakota, and their flight was extremely
rapid. They passed quite close to my ambush, how-
ever, since it was well placed at a point where I
observed these ducks and many others passing in both
directions. Thousands which had been driven out at
our approach, were returning to one of the lakes, and
although I had no decoys and had been shooting too
much at the grouse to do well with the swifter marks,
I had no trouble in making a good bag. The red-
heads, like the canvas-backs, are great divers, and it is
difficult on that account to secure wounded birds when
they fall in the water. When a bird falls with his
head up, or is evidently only wounded, it is a matter

THE RED-HEAD 185

of economy as well as humanity to give him the sec-
ond barrel before he strikes the water. I found it
difficult to recover wounded birds from a sail-boat. As
we approached them swimming on the water, they
went under before they could be picked up, and ap-
peared again a long way off. The best retrievers often
fail to secure them. The red-heads are not abundant
on the Pacific Coast. Mr. Thompson, in a recent
article, “ Duck Shooting Along the Columbia,” says
the red-head, along that stream, is very rare. I found
the red-heads this spring extremely abundant at Back

Bay, Currituck, far more abundant than any other
duck.

XXVITI
THE SCAUP-DUCKS

HE scaup-ducks, known to sportsmen in different

parts of the country as black-heads, blue-bills, or
broad-bills, come to the United States usually in Octo-
ber and are found not only on both coasts but through-
out the interior. There are two distinct species,
exactly alike except in size; one known as the big
black-head, big broad- or blue-bill, and the other as the
little black-head, blue-bill or broad-bill. The latter
is also called creek broad-bill or blue-bill. These two
ducks are often confused, with the result that one is
often reported abundant in one locality when as a
matter of fact it is the other. They were formerly
supposed to be the same, but the ornithologists are
now agreed that the two species are as distinct as
the greater and lesser yellow-leg tattlers, the king rail
and the Virginia rail, and some other birds which are
exactly alike in pattern and color, but which are not
related. Elliot is of the opinion that the larger black-
heads are more often found about the coasts and the
smaller birds in the interior. Both have black heads,
as the name would suggest. The fore-parts of the
back, lower-back, and rump are black. The middle
part of the back and sides is white, undulated with

black lines similar to those of the red-head, which
186

THE SCAUP-DUCKS 187

gives the back and sides the gray appearance com-
mon to both canvas-backs and red-heads. The head
of the larger variety is said to have green reflections;
that of the smaller bird is said to have purple reflec-
tions, but iridescent color reflections are usually
changeable and, as Elliot says, feathers which reflect
green in one light may be purple in another. From
the sportsman’s point of view the birds are the same,
excepting as to size. Both birds come nicely to
decoys, fly with great rapidity, and are excellent food
when feeding on water grass; but not so palatable
when the diet is unfavorable.

These ducks, like the canvas-backs and red-heads,
are expert divers, and, like the others, use their wings
under water to propel themselves when in search of
food, or seeking to escape when wounded.

The flocks of the smaller scaup are often larger,
much larger, in fact, than those of the big black-heads,
which usually contain from six or less, to ten or twelve
birds. Herbert Job recently observed the scaups, big
and little, in pairs on the Dakota lakes in the spring,
and secured a photograph of the nest of the smaller
bird. These birds, like the other sea-fowl, are well
protected with feathers and require hard hitting to
bring them down. I used to use No. 3 or 4 shot for
all sea-ducks, but have later used No. 5 or 6 with
better results.

In addition to the big and little black-heads, there is
another bird very similar to the little scaup, which is
known as the ring-neck duck. This duck is often
called the shuffler, tufted duck, and ring-neck black
duck, and has a wide distribution throughout North

188 WILD-FOWL

America. It is often found in company and con-
founded with the little scaup. It is nowhere a com-
mon species. It has been known to nest in Maine,
Wisconsin, and Minnesota. It is seen more often in-
land than on the coast, and has the same habits and
rapid flight as the little black-head, from which it is
distinguished by the ring more or less distinct about
its neck. The ring-neck goes in small flocks and is
probably more abundant in the Mississippi valley
than elsewhere. It comes readily to the decoys.
These three ducks may be shot from the same blind,
over the same decoys, big or little.

The scaups are fairly abundant on the bays or la-
goons on the south side of Long Island, which are
separated from the sea by long narrow beaches, fa-
miliar to those who know the Atlantic Coast. Here
they are still shot from the battery over large flocks
of a hundred or more decoys.

I began shooting scaups when a student at New
Haven, and usually spent the spring vacations in their
company, shooting with a market gunner who knew
the bay and the ducks, and who owned a good battery
and a large lot of well-painted decoys.

Long before daybreak this fine old salt tapped on
my door (I made his cabin my home) and announced
that breakfast was ready, and the savory odor of the
meal came with the light from his lantern through the
crack beneath the door. Having breakfasted, we
went out into the night, and embarking in his sail-boat,
which carried the battery and decoys, we slipped
quietly down the creek which led to the bay. We
expected to beat his neighbor, another professional

THE SCAUP-DUCKS 189

gunner, to the best stand for the morning’s shooting.
As we went out on the bay we heard the thump,
thump of an oar far away in the darkness, and my
bayman said: “ That’s Lane going out—ahead of us.
Perhaps he is rigged for geese,” he added. Lane had
a flock of live decoys. We, too, used our oar to aid
the sail. Just before daybreak we reached the place
determined upon, and found it unoccupied. The bat-
tery was placed in the water, the decoys were arranged
about it within close range, and my gunner sailed
away to leave me lying below the surface of the bay in
the box with its wide rim floating on the water. As
the first light came in the east I could see the ducks,
mostly scaups and red-heads, flying swiftly across the
dim gray light. Soon there was a rush of wings quite
close to my head as a flock of black-heads swung in
to the decoys. Sitting up I fired two barrels at the
shadowy forms, but nothing struck the water, and the
noisy whistling of wings was soon lost in the darkness.

As the sun came up the ducks came rapidly, some-
times one or two, more often a flock. I shot at every
one, with but poor success. The cramped position,
the hasty shot from a sitting position, were new to me
and strange, and it was some time before I began to
kill the ducks.

A single bird coming head on was about to settle to
the decoys, when I fired at him at close range, and he
struck the water dead. Shortly afterward I madea
double from a flock, and with growing confidence my
shooting improved. I soon had a goodly lot of scaups
showing black and white upon the waves as they
drifted with the breeze. Meanwhile the bayman, who

190 WILD-FOWL

had been cruising far enough away not to alarm the
ducks, approached and gathered in the slain. Stand-
ing in close to the battery, he remarked that I was
“learnin’,’ and after explaining how I might attract a
passing flock by putting one foot up and down quickly
in the air, and giving other good advice, he sailed
away to disturb a flock which was feeding on the
bay. The flight was good for several hours, and
then the birds stopped coming. The bayman came
and took me from the box. We sailed away to eat
our luncheon on the shore. The pipes were lighted,
and basking in the sunlight on a dune, I| listened to the
stories of the sea and ducks.

Much good advice was given. I did not lead the
birds enough, he said. Shot too low at rising marks
was too quick at the second pair, not quick enough
at the passing flocks. The single bird was far too
close and badly torn. One double was done in style.
The morning’s work had evidently been closely
watched, and nothing had escaped the observation of
my guide. When the birds began to fly again he
asked if he should shoot a bit to show me how. The
birds fared badly at his hands. He seldom missed a
shot. Soon, with more advice, again he left me in the
box. Birds came. I missed them as before. But some
there were which came to stay, and at evening when
the decoys were taken up the bag was pronounced a
good one—some thirty birds or more, including the
half-dozen shot by my instructor to show me how.
The light in the tall white tower was reflected with
the stars from the wavelets in the bay. We slipped
along before the breeze.

THE SCAUP-DUCKS IgI

A clam-chowder, a merganser-stew, which I shall
refer to again, a roasted scaup, were all served steam-
ing hot, and having dined I heard more stories of the
sea and shore. Meantime the wind freshened to a
gale and howled about the cabin, as it only can when
passing over sea or plain.

“ The black-ducks will be in the bay to-morrow,” said
my host—“ too rough for them outside. Red-heads
and scaups will also move about. Will call you early
—and good-night.”

XXIX
THE GOLDEN-EYE AND OTHER SEA-DUCKS

HE golden-eye, often called the whistler, is well
known from the loud whistling noise made by
the wings. It isa very handsome duck, but nowhere
so common as many other varieties. Like most of the
other ducks the whistler goes to the far North to nest
and returns to the United States in the autumn, where
it is widely distributed throughout the country. The
golden-eye builds its nest ina hole in a tree, some-
where near a lake or stream. There are usually six
or eight eggs. It flies with great rapidity and goes
through the branches like a ruffed-grouse. It does
not come readily to decoys and more often not at all.
The golden-eye is generally seen singly, in pairs, or
in small flocks.

About the coast the golden-eye feeds on shell-fish,
and is therefore not very good to eat, but in the in-
terior it feeds on grasses and roots and is better. It
is often seen with the little broad-bill and the buffle-
head on bays and ponds and is a wonderful diver,
going under usually before the shot reaches it. The
game record of the Winous Point Club (Sandusky
marshes) would indicate that it is there a rare bird.
In years when there were thousands of ducks killed,
the record shows but one or two of the golden-eye
ducks and often none. I found a few of these birds

192

THE GOLDEN-EYE, ETC. 193

on the grounds now owned by the English Lake Club
on the Kankakee in Indiana, and once made a very
good shot at one when mallard shooting. I heard the
whistler coming from behind my back and well over-
head. He was going so rapidly that I only had time
to make a snap-shot at him, but he fell dead in the
river.

The Indians call it a spirit duck. On the Yukon
they stuff the skin to make a toy for the children.

The Indians of the Frazer valley tell a story of two
men in one of their tribes who had a dispute as to
how the whistler made the noise, one claiming it was
produced by the wings, the other that it was vocal or
made through the nostrils. Others joined in the con-
troversy, which resulted in a majority of the warriors
being killed without settling the question. Allan
Brooks, quoted in “Birds that Hunt and are Hunted,”
is my authority for this story.

Barrow’s golden-eye is the Western variety of this
bird, but they are so much alike in appearance and
habits, as to be one and the same from the sportsman’s
point of view.

THE BUFFLE-HEAD.

The buffle-head is another duck which nests in trees
and is an expert diver. It is one of the smallest of the
ducks, being not much larger than the blue-wing teal.
It flies rapidly and alights “by striking the water at
an angle with a splash and sliding along on it.” It is
a cold-weather duck and remains in the United States
until the water freezes over. I have shot a few of

194 WILD-FOWL

these ducks on the Ohio River, on the Kankakee and
at other places in Indiana and always found their flesh
palatable. Where mallards, spoon-bills, sprig-tails and
other large, choice ducks are abundant the little but-
ter-balls, as they are called, are often allowed to go
unmolested. One day when shooting at English Lake,
Indiana, we discovered a flock of seven of these birds
feeding in a little bay, and as my punter moved the
boat slowly toward them, they flew out in the direc-
tion of the lake, passing at long range, and I brought
down three with my first barrel and two with the
second, much to the delight of my attendant. He had
been celebrating the good shots by taking a drink
from my flask, and as he seemed to think all of my
shots worthy of notice the flask had been emptied, and
he proceeded to do honor to this occasion by drinking
five times from a stone jug of his own, which he had
brought for an emergency, and he soon became quite
hilarious. We were fortunately near the house, and I
secured a punter with more ability and less enthu-
siasm for the remaining days of my visit.

The buffle-head is distinctly a North American spe-
cies, and is found from the Arctic Sea to the Gulf of
Mexico, migrating like the other ducks in spring and
fall. It is in some locations called the dipper, but this
term is, I believe, more often applied to the hell-diver.

THE RUDDY-DUCK.

The ruddy-duck is the last of the sea-ducks which
is worthy of the sportsman’s gun. It is a small duck,
intermediate in size between the green-winged and the

THE GOLDEN-EYE, ETC. 195

cinnamon-teal. The green-wing is the smallest of all!
the ducks, its length being about fourteen and a half
inches. The length of the ruddy-duck is sixteen
inches, and that of the cinnamon-teal seventeen inches.

The ruddy-duck is generally dispersed throughout
North America and breeds throughout its range.
There are often many eggs ina nest. One was found
containing twenty, but Elliot says these must have
been deposited by two females.

Herbert Job recently found the ruddy-duck breeding
in the same locality with the canvas-backs and red-
heads in North Dakota, and procured photographs of
the nests, one of which contained fifteen eggs. It
seemed almost impossible, he says, in writing about
this nest, that such a little bird as the ruddy-duck
should have laid that pile of eggs several times its
own weight in less than three weeks.

It will not be long before all the ducks and geese
cease to breed anywhere within the United States.
Before it is too late the State of Dakota or the Na-
tional Government should, as I have observed else-
where, establish a park or refuge, to include some of
the small lakes and sloughs where the wild fowl now
nest. Such parks would be far more interesting than
any zoological garden where beasts and birds are con-
fined in ill-smelling cages, and where they too often
present a picture of unhappiness. The results of such
a park would be to keep the other lakes and streams
of the State supplied with birds for many years, and
would do much to save entire families of birds, which
the eminent ornithologist Elliot and many others be-
lieve will entirely vanish from the North American

196 WILD-FOWL

Continent. States like Ohio, which are vainly striv-
ing to introduce the pheasants of China by means of
expensive hatcheries, are blissfully unmindful of the
fact that at less expense they might save their own
water-fowl, birds of far more economic value, by State
preserves to include the worthless marsh-lands and
the great canal reservoirs.

The ruddy-duck likes all waters, salt and fresh, and
is still fairly abundant at times on the Chesapeake Bay
and the Southern sounds, where it was neglected in
favor of the big canvas-backs, red-heads, and scaups
until recently when it became fashionable to eat rud-
dy-ducks, and they now bring good prices in the mar-
kets where it is legal to sell them.

The ruddy has large feet and swims swiftly; is an
expert diver and often sinks out of sight without div-
ing, like the hell-diver. It swims about on the water
with its tail elevated, and presents a ludicrous appear-
ance which is unmistakable. It flies in good-sized
flocks, very swiftly, like the teal, and comes to the de-
coys with a rush, dropping into the water with a
splash. The ruddy-ducks are often called boobies.
On many of the bays they are shot from a line of
skiffs which approach them and force them to fly
out over or past them. The statute of North Caro-
lina provides that it shall be unlawful to skiff or
ring-shoot any boobies between November to and
February 15.

XXX
OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS

AVING disposed of the desirable sea-ducks or
divers, those which are good to eat, there remain
a number of birds which are often taken by sportsmen
in an arduous but picturesque manner from boats an-
chored far out upon the sea. Since ducks fly best in
stormy weather, this sport is attended with much hard-
ship and often danger, and although I have tried it
many times, it was always for the reason that there
was nothing better within the limit of my time. The
old-squaw, the coots, and the eiders are in the habit of
remaining on the waves some distance from the shore,
and since they are expert divers, it is almost impossible
to get near them with a boat. As they are moving
about, however, they often follow certain lines of flight,
and a number of sportsmen going out together, each
in his own craft, form a line of boats over which the
ducks must pass, or make a long detour to avoid so
doing. The boats are placed so that a duck passing
midway between two of them will be just within the
range of both.
This sport, as can well be imagined, calls for skilful
shooting, since the anchored boats are tossed by the
waves and the ducks are under full headway when

they pass, and see the danger underneath.
197

198 WILD-FOWL

Daniel Webster was fond of this sport, and was often
seen in an open boat off the Massachusetts coast in
the vicinity of his home at Marshfield, shooting in the
line.

A short distance from New Haven, to the east, quite
near the town of Branford, Conn., there is a group of
small islands in the sound. These are called the
Thimble Islands, and on one of them there was, in the
writer’s college days, a tavern where sportsmen who
desired to shoot coots and old-squaws were entertained.
Here these ducks came in goodly numbers in the fall,
and there were usually enough gunners present on this
island to form a line of boats. Each had his number
or place in the line, and those who shot from its outer
end were often far from shore.

Starting early in the morning of a stormy day, I
pulled a heavy boat to my place far out upon the line,
and soon the ducks began to come. I tried a shot at
the first comers just as a large wave struck the boat,
and came quite near going overboard. The shot
went nowhere near the ducks, which were soon out of
sight. Others came in quick succession, and at the
hands of that best instructor, experience, I learned
enough sometimes to bring one down. A wounded
bird I found impossible to secure. Progress with the
heavy boat was slow, and the birds were fast not only
on the surface but below. Good shots were made by
sportsmen in the neighboring boats: old hands who
could preserve an even balance and often make a
double. The exhibition of good shooting down the
line was well worth coming far to see.

Sometimes the waves increased, the wind ran high,

OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS 199

and water came aboard the boats. A neighbor shouts:
“ We can’t stand it much longer out here,” and soon the
anchors allare up; the boats are pulling madly for the
shore. Mountains of water with snowy crests of foam
come rushing on and toss the heavy craft about. A
mile an hour, perhaps, and then the boats pull one by
one into more quiet water under shelter of the island.
The gunners gather about the office stove to tell the
stories of the day.

As for the game, it certainly is not worth the work. It
must be worth the fun. The birds have a strong sedgy
or fishy taste which parboiling with onions will not re-
move. They are, too, covered with heavy feathers which
protect them from the shot, and make the preparation
of them for the table arduous. Elliot says of one of these
—the white-winged scoter: ‘Its feathers also, besides
being strong and thick, seem as if they were inserted
through the skin and clinched on the other side, and
the labor of picking a few individuals of this coat is no
joke, usually resulting in sore fingers.” His reference
to the flesh is that it is “abominable.”

Returning to New Haven from my first expedition
to the Thimble Islands (entirely unaware of the riv-
eted feathers and table qualities referred to), I pre-
sented a few of these delicacies to a college professor
who with his niece, a handsome and lovely girl, had
placed me under many obligations by their kindness
to a “freshman.” The next time I called upon my
friends I was thanked for the birds, but there was an
absence of all enthusiasm in the thanks, and when I
came to know the game, the wretched thought occurred
to me that they had probably tried to eat the ducks

200 WILD-FOWL

without onions and had probably maimed or lost a
valued servant-girl besides.

THE SURF-SCOTER

The surf-scoter is somewhat smaller than a mallard,
being nineteen inches long. It is appropriately dressed
in black and has a white spot, triangular in shape, on
its forehead. Why nature has placed this ray of purity
on the bird’s head I never could imagine. Its disper-
sion is general. Its dispossession is difficult. By this
is meant it is hard to dispose of a second time to those
who have tried it; and the same may be said of the
other coots.

This bird is often called “spectacled coot,” “bay
coot,” and has other local names by which it may pos-
sibly deceive the unwary.

THE WHITE-WINGED SCOTER

Another bird dressed entirely in black, excepting the
speculum on the wing and a spot under the eyes, which
are white. This bird is also known as the white-eye and
white-winged coot, and has the same habits and tastes
as the others. It is a well-known bird along the coasts
and on inland lakes. Its range extends from the Arctic
Sea to Florida and Mexico.

THE AMERICAN SCOTER

This bird is entirely black. It is widely distributed
from the Arctic Ocean south to New Jersey, on the

OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS 201

Eastern coast and to southern California on the Pacific
side. The bird may be identified and avoided by the
bill, which is bright orange on the basal half. It is
often called black coot, whistling coot, and has other
local names.

THE VELVET SCOTER

The velvet scoter is given in the check-list as an
old-world bird, which has, fortunately, only been found
on our shores a few times. Its general appearance is
velvety black; speculum white.

THE OLD-SQUAW

This bird is often called “Old South Southerly,”
from the supposed resemblance between the sounds it
utters and those words. I am, however, not very good
at discovering such resemblances, and I doubt if the
average observer would call the bird by that name
without instruction. There are, however, other in-
stances of birds being named from their notes—the
kill-deer plover and the Bob-white partridge are ex-
amples of this style of nomenclature. This duck is also
often called the long-tailed duck, from its long tail, but
the latter term is more often applied to the fresh-
water sprigtail duck.

The old-squaw inhabits North America from the
Arctic Sea south to the Ohio River; specimens have
been seen farther south. I obtained one on the Kan-
kakee, in Indiana. The old-squaw does not much fre-
quent the western coast south of Alaska. Like the
coots, this bird is fond of the sea, and is often seen in

202 WILD-FOWL

flocks off the shore. It is a swift flyer, expert diver,
a fish eater, and a tough and undesirable bird for the
table. The evolutions of this bird in the air are said
to be beautiful in the spring-time, when the males
chase the females about, and all dive from the air into
the water, and come up again one after the other,
there sometimes being a number of males in the chase.
In summer the old-squaw is almost dirty black.

THE HARLEQUIN DUCK

This is a rare North American duck, so named from
its fantastic markings. It is extremely rare, and of no
importance to sportsmen. Even that industrious orni-
thologist, Elliot, says he never saw one alive.

THE EIDERS

The eiders are noted for their down. They are all
great divers, and subsist on food which gives them the
fishy taste common tothe coots. Lieutenant McConnell,
of the revenue cutter Bear, in a magazine article, speaks
of the eiderduck as “an excellent table bird.’”” They may
be to an arctic appetite, but such is not their reputation
on our coasts. The varieties are known as the common
eider; the American eider, which replaces the common
eider ona large portion of the Atlantic Coast; the king
eider, and the Pacific eider. The Pacific eider is dis-
tinctly an Alaskan bird. The king eider is also an
arctic bird, but comes occasionally as far south as New
Jersey; but it is not abundant. The king eider is the
largest of these birds, being almost an inch longer than

OLD-SQUAWS, COOTS, AND EIDERS 203

the mallard. The spectacled eider is another Alaskan
bird, and has never appeared south of that territory.

Stellars duck, the last on the list of sea-ducks, is
given as a straggler to our coasts, found only on the
coasts of Behring Sea.

XXXI
RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING

UCH that has been said about sea-duck shooting
applies to the shooting of the shoal-water ducks
or dabblers. These birds seldom frequent the salt bays
and lagoons, and are nowhere as abundant in the salt
marshes as they are in those where the wild-rice and
fresh-water reeds and rushes grow. The river-ducks
are shot from blinds on the shore, and in some places
from batteries placed in the open water; but the bat-
teries are more often used for sea-fowl, and, as I have
observed, their use is in most places now prohibited.
River-ducks are also shot from points or passes as they
fly from one feeding-ground to another, in the same
way that sea-ducks are taken.

It is most important in connection with this method
of capture to remember that the ducks have certain
well-defined lines of flight, and that the sportsman’s
blind must be under one of these. Observe well what
the ducks are doing ona given morning. The lines
travelled are not always the same. The wind, the
weather, or much shooting, may change the course,
and an observant gunner will soon change his blind so
as to be within range of the flight and not remain on a
given pass simply because the ducks flew over it some
other day.

Jumping ducks, as it is termed is a favorite method
204

RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING 205

of capturing river-ducks, and since I prefer pursuit to
ambush, I like this form of sport the best.

In many of the fresh-water marshes there is sufh-
cient water for the ducks to swim and for a light boat
to move about through the tall reeds, rushes, and wild-
rice. The sportsman having taken his place in the
boat is pushed rapidly along by a punter, who propels
the boat with a long pole. Many of the ducks which
are scattered about in the reeds arise within range, and
there is often opportunity for a double shot. The
shots, I should say, from the moving boat, are more
difficult than many of those from ambush over the
decoys, but since the birds are rising from the water
and are not under full headway when the gun is fired,
the shots are less difficult than those at travelling
ducks when the shooting is from points or passes.
This method of pursuit reminds one of rail-shooting,
and I have often shot both the large and the smaller
rails when engaged in jumping ducks.

Much here depends upon the punter. He should
know well how to handle the boat, to send it swiftly
through the reeds, to steady it for the shot; and
should be able to mark closely the dead and wounded
birds. He should be familiar with the marshes, know
where the boat can go, and where and when the ducks
are most abundant.

Such men I have shot with many days on the
marshes of the Kankakee, and such there are at the
duck clubs about Sandusky Bay, the St. Clair flats,
and on the marshes about the Illinois, and in fact,
everywhere I have been. Their services are of course
greatly in demand at the duck clubs, where they

206 WILD-FOWL

receive good wages, and many of them are employed
throughout the year.

Sportsmen sometimes propel their own boats by
means of a sculling-oar or pole, but few men can man-
age a boat and shoot well at the same time. The Cal-
ifornia market gunners use a light-draught skiff half
decked over and covered with grass, so as to resem-
ble closely the marsh. In this boat the gunners move
quietly about and shoot the ducks asleep upon the
mud-banks.

Mr. Cumming says: ‘“ Long experience has taught
these men that speed is a useful auxiliary to science
in getting upon their watchful and cautious game, and
they find it necessary to adopt novel methods of getting
about, one of which is that of lying at full length upon
their backs in the bottom of the boat, totally concealed
from outside view, while working a peculiarly bent
oar ina greased scull-hole, that drives the blind-boat
ahead quietly and rapidly. The whole outfit resem-
bles a detached portion of the marsh floating naturally
down with the tide. In this manner, before the State
law was passed prohibiting the shooting of more than
fifty birds in a day, the pot-hunters would each day,
in season or out of season, fill their murderous ma-
chines to the gunwales, thereby making such a glut in
the markets that large quantities of fine fowl spoiled
before they could be sold.”

At some of the clubs blinds are constructed on the
open water by driving long poles or young trees into
the muddy bottom in such shape as to form a blind
which will hold a boat. Thisis open at one end or has
a brush door, to permit the entrance of the boat, and

RIVER-DUCK SHOOTING 207

here the shooter remains concealed until the birds
come to his decoys. Such blinds are prohibited in
some States, since they tend to drive the ducks from
the feeding grounds.

Many laws have been passed within the past few
years regulating this and other field sports and defin-
ing the methods of capture; these are amended from
time to time, and the sportsman who goes to shoot in
another State should ascertain the rules and regula-
tions, since game laws in many States now mean
something.

River ducks are often shot, where they are abundant,
by sportsmen who walk quietly along the banks of
streams or sloughs and shoot the ducks as they arise
from the water. In this way I began my duck-shoot-
ing on the small rivers in Ohio, and I have since shot
many dabbling ducks of all varieties from an Indian
pony moving along the banks. I have also used the
pony instead of the boat to jump the ducks in shallow
lakes, and am inclined to think this rambling about on
horseback and shooting from the saddle the best of
all duck-shooting.

XXXII
THE MALLARD

HERE are in the check-list of the American
Ornithological Union fourteen shoal-water or
dabbling ducks. It has been my good fortune to
shoot them all, excepting one or two extra limital spe-
cies, strays from the old world, which are included in
the list of the ornithologists because they have been
taken on our shores. These are of no importance,
however, to the sportsman, since they are not common
enough to furnish sport. They are often referred to
as accidental visitors.

I should be inclined to say that the mallard was
the best river or fresh-water wild-duck in the world,
if that honor did not belong to the little blue-wing
teal. All fresh-water ducks are, however, excellent
for the table and afford magnificent sport. So, like the
ornithologist who describes one duck after another as
the finest food, we are in danger of saying many of
these so-called river-ducks are the best. In Dakota
we used to have a mallard for dinner and a blue-wing
teal for dessert. Perhaps it would be well to describe
the mallard as the best all-around duck, the staple, as
it were, and let the little blue-wing keep the place
accorded to it as something special, just a trifle better

if that were possible than the best. Comparing the
208

THE MALLARD 209

flesh of the mallard and the teal, it may be said that
the mallard is so fine that one sometimes wonders if
the blue-wing can possibly be better.

The behavior of the two birds in the field is equally
good, they both come nicely to the decoys, both fly
swiftly and test the skill of the sportsman. The mal-
lard is a larger and somewhat easier mark. The teal
is one of the most difficult marks in feathers. I have
had occasion to carry a large lot of mallards, when the
wagon or ambulance did not find me in the marsh or
when the boat was necessarily left a long distance
from the blind, and, to say the least, the transportation
was laborious. The reader will find a reference to the
portable character of the teal in the chapter on those
splendid birds.

The mallard is immediately identified, when we say
he is the green-headed duck of the barn-yards. The
latter are descended from the mallards, and in Eng-
land the mallards are often referred to as the stock-
ducks. The wild bird is, of course, far more beautiful.
His colors are brighter and he is alert and graceful on
the water and can fly swiftly through the air, even in
the timber.

The mallard is distributed throughout the northern
portion of both hemispheres, and seems entirely to have
escaped the ornithological variety makers. There are
thus no fractional species, the (a), (b), and (c) of the
ornithologists. The mallard, however, has shown some
ambition to create a new species or perhaps to puzzle
his ornithological biographers, as he did Audubon, by
an occasional intimacy with other fresh-water ducks,
which have resulted in some hybrid birds of most

210 WILD-FOWL

singular appearance. I have seen one of these with a
mallard’s head and the long tail of the sprig-tail duck,
and others have been discovered.

The mallard is a fine, large duck, twenty-two inches
in length, both sexes being the same size. It is by far
the most abundant of all the water-fowl, and when the
sportsman goes to shoot ducks on fresh-water they
are usually mallards, the other varieties being more
often accessories to a day’s mallard shooting.

The majority of these birds, like the other water-
fowl, go north to nest, but many remain in the United
States, and were the spring shooting prohibited and
the parks or refuges which I have so often urged
established, enough of these beautiful fowl would be
saved to preserve the race, and the overflow to the
open streams and lakes, and especially to the properly
regulated shooting preserves of the country, would
continue to furnish sport and food for all time to
come.

Herbert Job found the mallards breeding in North
Dakota in June, and secured an excellent photograph
of the nest. I saw many young mallards on the ponds

and small lakes in the Devil’s Lake region of that
- State, which were unable to fly in August and must of
course have been bred there. On the reservation of
the Cut Head Sioux there are hundreds of small lakes,
and the Cheyenne River, like a big winding slough,
forms its southern boundary. Here is one of the best
places in the country for a refuge for the ducks, and
where the experiment of so preserving them might be
tried at small expense.

I found the mallards tremendously abundant in the

THE MALLARD 211

marshes about the Kankakee, and used to shoot them
there, going out from George Green's, afamous resort
on English Lake. These grounds are now owned by
the English Lake Club, composed largely of Chicago
gentlemen. Upon my first visit to English Lake, |
shot many mallards, but did not do so well as others,
since I wandered far and wide, cruising with a punter
through the drowned forests, and out into the sloughs
and ponds of the vast marshes of wild-rice, and often
when in the blind the mallards got the best of me,
sailing swiftly by while I sat and gazed upon the
wondrous beauties of the scene. Without much diff-
culty, however, I could easily put several dozen mal-
lards in the boat, and wood-duck, teal, red-heads,
spoon-bills, and all the other ducks often contributed
to the bag. The day of my arrival, Colonel Harris, a
well-known sportsman from Cincinnati, came in with
over fifty mallards in his boat, and next day did as
well. Other boats, with men I did not know, came
loaded to the guards and some would barely float.
One day, as we entered the great north marsh, our
coming disturbed the ducks and there must have been
millions of mallards in the air. The whole great
marsh seemed to rise up with a roar and the water
dropping from the ducks looked like heavy rain. The
sun shone brightly on the sea of emerald heads, so
numerous as to almost obscure the sky, and I sat dum-
founded and amazed.

“Shoot, man! Shoot!” the punter cried, and, when
I fired, a single green-head climbed higher at the first
discharge and at the second shot came down. The
wary birds all went off and settled in some ponds

212 WILD-FOWL

where the punter said they were safe from harm by
reason of the deep mud and shallow water.

Thousands of mallards are killed each year on the
marshes about the Illinois River, and in the Southern
swamps. They are still extremely abundant at times
in the ponds of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Dakotas,
and in the tule marshes of California, but any one
who observes these birds at all will notice the rapid
diminution year by year. I know of places where |
used to have good shooting where the appearance of
a single duck to-day would cause surprise. An army
of guns would no doubt at once take the field to
circumvent it.

The records at the Lake Erie group of clubs show
that the mallards have always been the most common
variety, excepting possibly the teal and the canvas-
back. The record of the Winous Point Club shows:

Canvas-backs. Mallards. Blue-Wing Teal.
TOSO, 2. nfs kere 665 eat) 2,110
MOOG Ns sichesaras 237 943 1,019
TOQOws Se im ewe 697 394 603
ES Oye as 72 218 21
TQ OO yee sorte I 232 °

The score for 1900 is unimportant, since the Ohio
Legislature (influenced it has been said by the irate
gunners who object to the exclusive game preserve)
passed a law prohibiting the shooting of all ducks
until November toth. The marshes were frozen over
two days later, when the ducks all left, except the
blue-wing teal, and these, of course, had gone a month
or more before.

THE MALLARD 213

Mr. Thompson, of Oregon, in a recent article in
Outing, says: “ The mallard (Anas boschas) is _per-
haps the favorite of all duck-hunters in the far West
as well as elsewhere. It sometimes nests along the
Columbia, though ordinarily it goes farther north.
Like the teal it has its favorite feeding haunts morning
and evening, and its favorite resting places, usually
during the middle of the day, in the middle of some
large slough far out of range. To some extent, how-
ever, its movements can be controlled by feeding.”

The most familiar method of shooting mallards is
over decoys. The best places are shallow, muddy,
and somewhat inaccessible ponds in the vast marshes
of wild-rice. Mr. Denny, of Pittsburgh, recently had
little difficulty in making a bag of one hundred and
four mallards in such a pond, “the little mud hole,”
on the preserve of the Ottawa Club in Northern Ohio.
The bag was made during the morning flight.

Upon approaching the place where the decoys are
to be set out, the ducks which are feeding in the pond
will all fly out. The sportsman of experience will not
shoot them then, no matter how tempting the shot
may be. He knows that ducks can reason well and
that if they are shot at as they depart, they will be
less inclined to return again, and a shot at such a time
is a notice of the danger to all the ducks which have
been feeding in the pond or slough.

After all the ducks have gone without unnecessary
alarm, the decoys are quickly placed, usually before a
blind already made, and at the club preserves at places
where the ducks have been baited with corn and wheat
by the gamekeepers long before the season opens.

214 WILD-FOWL

Soon the mallards, under the impression that their
alarm was false, begin to return singly or in pairs,
often in good-sized flocks, and as they come the eager
birds, seeing the well-made counterfeits on the water,
sail over the pond head up to the wind, and spreading
out their tails to break their speed, drop with flapping
wings to the water below. As they settle down within
easy range they are not hard to hit, but at the shot
mallards “climb” rapidly, and the novice must remem-
ber to shoot high and forward if he would bring them
down. It is an exciting moment when a flock of these
large green-heads comes with a rush of wings to settle
before the blind. The good shot will take them as
they come and go, and not shoot them on the water.
At times some travelling, or trading, birds will test the
skill of the sportsman far more than those which notice
the decoys. That talented English writer, Stuart-
Wortley, says he once fired aiming the length of a
church ahead of passing flock to see the hindmost one
fall dead.

Mallards are very fond of acorns, and in the over-
flow fine shooting is often had about the Western
rivers in the woods. I have shot them among the oaks
from a boat concealed by brush and branches, and
have jumped them on a cruise about the marshes and
the sloughs.

When the birds resort to the open water for their
noon-time siesta they should not be disturbed. Bat-
teries are sometimes anchored on such grounds and
on feeding grounds as well, but their use is most
destructive and will drive the unslain birds away.

Robert Roosevelt said some years ago: “In station-

THE MALLARD 215

ing a battery, that imitation coffin—which should be a
veritable one, if justice had its way, to every man who
enters it—and in lying prone in it through the cold
days of winter, the market-man may find his pecuniary
profit, but the gentleman can receive no pleasure;
while the permanent injury inflicted by driving away
the ducks from their feeding grounds and making them
timorous of stopping at all in waters from any and all
portions of which unforeseen foes may arise, is ten
times as great as the temporary advantage gained; and
as for calling that sport which is merely the wearisome
endurance of cold and tedium to obtain game that
might be killed more handsomely, and in the long run
more abundantly by other methods, is an entire mis-
application of the word.”

In shooting mallards a dog is quite necessary—a re-
triever of course. The water-spaniel, or the Chesa-
peake Bay dogs, are the best. A wounded mallard
will, without a dog, most often escape by skulking
and hiding in the grass. <A good retriever should lie
down in the boat or blind and remain motionless un-
til ordered to retrieve. I have often observed the
bright eye of one of these intelligent animals observ-
ing ducks when they were far away and before I had
discovered them. They take great delight in the
sport and endure much hardship and are deserving of
the best of care; a dog-coat or blanket when the day
is done, another to lie upon when they come in from
the freezing water.

Their fine noses enable them to follow and secure
the birds which hide in the grass. They swim rapidly
and overtake the wounded on the open water. They

216 WILD-FOWL

are something of a nuisance as they come dripping
wet into a boat and proceed to shake the icy water all
over one, but it has been well said it is unreasonable
to ask the “devoted but shivering creature that he
should remain standing in the freezing water or upon
the damp sedge.”

The mallards have been reported as very abundant
in California within the past year or two. In a San
Francisco paper it was stated that the farmers in
Glenn County were employing men to herd them off
their sprouting grain, and were slaughtering vast num-
bers of the birds, which were allowed to stay on the
ground where they fell. Such abundance will be of
short duration, however, if history repeats itself, as on
this point it always has.

The sportsman who goes to shoot mallards (and the
other ducks as well) must make an early start. He is
often on the ground at the break of day. There is
compensation always for early rising in the scene.
The gorgeous panorama which attends the change
from star-lit night to the broad light of day is best
seen in the marshes and at sea.

The sleepy-heads who linger in the town are un-
aware of the pictures which the mallard shooter sees.
These are always charming, ever new, sometimes sim-
ple, but often sublime. The weather effects which a
painter knows are seen best in the vast marshes where
the mallards dwell.

The attendant will conduct the sportsman to the
most likely places, but I have often enjoyed the trip
alone or in company with a friend who also punted his
own boat and set his own decoys. I have thoroughly

THE MALLARD 217

enjoyed a trip about the marshes, wandering here and
there through the innumerable water streets and lanes
before the season opened and without a gun. Last
season, while I was sketching in the marshes of the
Ottawa preserve, the mallards were quite tame. At
one little pond a punter preceded me and scattered
the corn for their daily meal, and shortly after he had
gone the ducks began to return. I had an excellent
opportunity to study them and figure out imaginary
shots. First came a wary black- or dusky-duck, over-
eager for the well-known bait. With a rush of wings
he barely missed my head and dropped into the pond.
There he sat immovable, with his head held high,
looking, listening, determined to detect a danger if
any should be there. I was but partially concealed,
but the corduroy was well in tone with the faded flags
and reeds and | remained as motionless as the wary
duck but a few feet away. Soon his partners came, a
little band followed by the mallards singly, in small
companies and in flocks, all circling once about and
heading to the wind. When at full speed down went
the brakes, their widely spreading tails, and tipping
sideways, flapping, they dropped into the pond. All,
like the black-duck, sat ‘attention’ and I dared not
wink an eye. The tempting grain was all about, and
at last the ducks did the preening which seems neces-
sary to precede the meal and soon were rapidly devour-
ing the grain. A friend at another pond had cameras
instead of guns, and when we met at night he had thor-
oughly enjoyed the day. A hawk had pounced upon
one of his decoys, and sinking his talons well into the
wood had carried it a long way off. A snap-shot told

218 WILD-FOWL

the tale. I was convinced by my experience of that
day that the entire absence of motion in the shooter
was more important than perfect concealment. After
I had observed the ducks for a long time (they were
very near) I made the slightest movement of one hand,
when with loud quacks they all sprang into the air
and in an instant were out of sight.

Upon one occasion, when shooting with the Indian
agent at the Cut Head Sioux agency, we found the
mallards at evening flying from one small lake to an-
other, and just as the sun went down we began to
shoot. It wasa cloudy evening, and the sun set red
behind large blue-black masses of cloud, so that it was
too dark to shoot shortly after the sun disappeared.
After a dozen or more shots a tight shell stopped
my shooting for a time, but we recovered in the dark
some thirty mallards, which, however, by no means
represented the number slain. The birds flew swiftly,
and at times I believe an expert ball player could have
done well with a bat.

Mallards in the West often resort to the corn-fields,
and they may be shot on a pass as they travel into and
out of the fields, but the better way is to seek the pond
in the corn-fields, or puddle of water they are using
and shoot them over the decoys.

I have shot mallards from horseback, riding along
the banks of a Western stream, and jumping them from
the water and the grouse from the shore. I have shot
them in the shallow Western lakes, by wading just out-
side the tall band of sedge which grew about the shore.
I have shot them from a boat and pass, but the most
mallards will be secured when shooting over decoys.

THE MALLARD 219

A duck-call is often used, which may be purchased
in the stores. The punter will often better imitate the
quack. A good call will aid to bring the wild birds
down. A bad one, however, is worse than none.

I once bought one which proved a fine source of
amusement, but not of profit. At every quack the
ducks jumped a thousand feet or more straight up
into the air.

I used occasionally to spring it on a friend to see if
I could improve his shooting.

XXXITI

THE-DUSKY DUCKS

HE dusky duck, or black-duck, often called black-

mallard in the West, the Canard notr of Louisi-
ana, is found throughout Eastern North America
from Labrador to Florida, where it is replaced by a
similar bird called by the ornithologists the mottled-
duck. These birds are so much alike that the differ-
ence may be regarded as local or climatic, and for the
sportsman they are one and the same. One who
shoots in Florida may notice that the mottled-duck
differs from his dusky relation in having the cheeks
streaked with brown instead of being plain buff, and
the speculum or spot of metallic color on the wings is
said to be purple instead of green. As already ob-
served, however, these metallic colors are often inter-
changeable in different lights, and unless the sports-
man’s attention was specially called to them he would
not notice the differences.

The black-duck closely resembles the mallard in its
habits, and the quack of the one might be mistaken for
that of the other. The quack of the green-head of the
barn-yard is the quack of the mallard and dusky duck,
and the tame ducks make excellent decoys. The
dusky ducks are quite common in the Mississippi
River valley, and are said to breed from Maine to

Texas. I sawa fine flock in captivity not long ago
220

THE DUSKY: DUCKS 221

which were captured by the barber at the Star Island
hotel on the St. Clair flats, and the birds, though full-
grown, were quite tame and not alarmed at my
approach. There are usually eight or ten eggs. |
have shot the black-ducks on the Atlantic Coast, and
as far west as Wisconsin. I often killed a few of them
when mallard shooting on the marshes about the
Kankakee in Indiana.

Their flight is rapid, very similar to that of the
mallard, and the quickly repeated wing beats are the
same.

I learned two lessons shooting at these swiftly flying
marks. Two travelling birds, one flying several yards
behind the other, passed my boat on the open water of
Fox Lake, and shooting well ahead of the leading bird
I saw his mate fall dead. My second lesson occurred
a moment later when I went head foremost into the icy
waters of the lake. The light duck-boat was drifting
gently with the breeze. I stood up to load a muzzle-
loading gun. A tuft of grass, or other small obstruc-
tion, stopped the treacherous craft, it tipped a time or
two and I was out. I tried several times to get in over
the side and as often filled the little boat with water,
and had to bail it out, but finally climbed the end and
was quickly at the oars. My friend, whose gun was
booming a mile away, fortunately had the proper
remedy for cold, and leaving him I pulled strongly for
the shore. Before the club-house fire I soon was
warm again, and ready to return to the shooting.
Great care is necessary in standing in frail boats.

The flesh of the black mallard is usually not so good
as that of the other river-ducks. The duck does not

222 WILD-FOWL

come as readily to the decoys. It isa wild and wary
bird, one of the most suspicious of all the water-fowl,
always on the look-out for an enemy and said to have
a keen scent which warns it from the danger lurking
in the blind. If ducks detect an enemy by means
of the sense of smell, smoking in the blinds should be
given up. The dusky duck may be said to resemble
the female mallard, but is darker.

Black-ducks are somewhat nocturnal in their habits,
and often when disturbed in the morning fly far out on
the open water, where they spend the day and return
again at night to feed.

One evening, after an unsuccessful day with the
scaups and red-heads, my bayman at Shinnecock asked
if I would remain out on the beach at night and shoot
the black-ducks as they came in to feed. The bay had
been full of them in the morning, but they all took
wing when far out of range and retired to the ocean.
The moon was full. As it arose it seemed light enough
to shoot by. We sailed away for the outer beach and
concealed ourselves without difficulty. Shortly the
ducks began to come. We heard the nasal quack—
quack—quack at intervals as they flew in from the
ocean long before we could see them. As they passed
swiftly over the beach they were in sight for a moment
and again disappeared in the half-light on the bay.
The shooting was extremely difficult. I could only
see the birds as they passed between me and the moon.
After several misses a snap-shot caught a single bird
just as he passed en szlhouette before the silver orb,
and down he fell upon the beach. A few more birds
were shot, but many shells were wasted in the dark.

THE DBPsiky (‘DUCKS 223

And then the bayman came with a heavy bunch of
ducks which he had shot. It was getting late. We
sailed away.

Night shooting is now prohibited by law in many
States, as it should be. The temptation, however, is
great, [ must admit, to shoot at these birds after dark,
when they fly away early in the morning, arising out
of range, and do not return until after sundown. Mr.
Tallett, however, President of the Jefferson County
(N. Y.) Sportsman’s Association, referring to the fact
that some sportsmen still contend that night is the
proper time to shoot black-ducks, asserting that they
are night feeders and can only be shot successfully at
that time, says: “ My experience has been that in no
way can the black-duck be driven from a favorite feed-
ing-place quicker than by night shooting, and I believe
that if night shooting were allowed in this county a
large part of the birds we now have would be driven
away.” Mr. Tallett further says: “ Upon the stopping
of the spring shooting in this county the black-ducks
remained to breed, and those sportsmen who know the
habits of the black-duck and its extreme wariness can
judge of the number we have when [ say that during
the first week over one hundred and fifty black-ducks
were killed, and all were killed in broad daylight, as
the shooting after sunset is prohibited in this county.”

Mr. Tallett, referring to spring shooting, says:
“This letter is not written for the purpose of induc-
ing the rest of the State to stop the spring shooting
of wild-fowl. It isa matter of indifference to us. If
you do not want the birds, drive them up here. We
know a good thing when we have it.”

224 WILD-FOWL

Black-ducks have begun to breed in large numbers
on the grounds of two of the Currituck clubs which
prohibit shooting after January 25th, and the editor of
Outing has well said: “It hes in the power of these
wealthy organizations to do vast good and go far tow-
ard repairing the harm done by negligent legislatures
and recreant executives.”

XXXIV
THE TEAL

HE teal are the smallest of the wild-fowl. There
are three varieties common to North America—
the blue-winged teal, the green-winged teal, and the
cinnamon-teal, all named from their color-markings,
the two former from the wings, the latter from the
prevailing color of the bird, which is a rich brown or
cinnamon. They are all very handsome on the water
and remarkably graceful in the air. They fly with
great rapidity, usually in flocks, and as they all wheel
together their color-markings show brightly in the
sun. They are all splendid table-birds, and the blue-
wing, as | have observed, is superior to the far-famed
canvas-back.

We are inclined, however, to enthusiastic praise of
that which pleases at the time. On one occasion, when
shooting with some officers of the army, it turned very
cold and began to snow early in the afternoon, and,
since the ducks were not flying well, I left my blind
without waiting for the ambulance which came out
each evening to transport us to the camp. Upon my
arrival there I found that the post surgeon had pre-
ceded me, and was cooking a green-wing teal, which
was extremely fat from feeding on wild-rice. He in-

sisted upon my eating it, and proceeded to prepare
225

226 WILD-FOWL

another for himself. The bird was cooked to pertec-
tion, and I had no hesitation in pronouncing it the
best duck I ever ate. The blue-wing, however, never
has the sedge-taste which the green-wing has some-
times, and may fairly be regarded as the best duck
that flies.

A distinguished ornithological writer in a recent
work thus said: “I know of no better bird for the
table than a blue-winged teal fattened upon wild-rice.”
But in the same book, speaking of the canvas-back,
he says: ‘There is no duck save, perhaps, the red-
head, that can equal this splendid species in the del-
icate quality of its flesh.” And again: “ The flesh of
the red-head, when it has been feeding upon wild
celery and such dainty food, for tenderness and flavor
is excelled by no other duck.”

Although somewhat conflicting, we find here high
praise for all.

The blue-wings and green-wings are found from the
Atlantic to the Pacific Coast, the former more abun-
dant in the Eastern and Central States, and especially
so in the Mississippi valley. The cinnamon-teal is dis-
tinctly a Western bird, although it has been known to
eo as far eastward as Florida. Such occurrences, as
Elliot says, are rare and are to be regarded in the
same light as would be the appearance of some Euro-
pean species. The blue-winged teal are among the
first ducks to arrive from the North, and usually come
to the Northern States as early as September. They
do not like the cold, and are among: the first to leave
for the South. Many of the teal remain to nest in the
marshes of the Northern States whenever they are not

THE TEAL 227

too much persecuted. In the South, upon the club
preserves at Currituck, where spring shooting has
recently been stopped, Mr. Whitney, of Outing, says
teal have begun to breed in large numbers. <A special
law prohibiting spring shooting in Jefferson County,
New York, was followed by the same result. These
facts sufficiently demonstrate the benefits to be de-
rived from club rules and State laws prohibiting the
shooting of wild-fowl in the spring. Not only teal
but wood-ducks, mallard, and dusky-ducks nested in
Jefferson County.

I have always regarded the teal as among the best
of all the game birds. They fly with wonderful rapid-
ity, present most difficult marks, and are more easily
transported than the larger birds.

I have had fine sport with teal on many marshes,
have shot them over decoys, jumped them in the wild-
rice, shot them when flying over points or passes,
followed them along the banks of many rivers and
prairie sloughs, both on foot and in the saddle, and
have made large bags by riding an Indian pony through
the tall reeds and rushes of Western lakes and ponds.

Several birds are often killed at a shot, since teal fly
quite close together and often “bunch” when the
sportsman rises from his ambush. Upon one occa-
sion, when on the march with an army outfit in the
valley of the Tongue River, Montana, I dropped
behind the command and followed the windings of the
stream, in the hope of shooting a few ducks for din-
ner. While fording the stream my pony stopped to
drink just as he entered it and a large flock of teal
soon appeared flying some thirty feet above the water.

228 WILD-FOWL

Remaining absolutely motionless until the birds were
directly opposite, I quickly raised the gun, and as the
birds crowded closely together fired and brought
down seven with my two barrels. This was my only
shot that afternoon, and when I reached our camp the
captain said he had heard my gun, and asked if I had
his duck for dinner. I promptly produced a teal from
the pocket of my coat, and as the others of our mess
(there were six in all) came up, I presented a teal to
each, taking one at a time from my coat, much to their
amusement and satisfaction, since we had for several
days been dining on venison and bacon.

I doubt if I could have done as well with any other
ducks except the other teal, and am sure I could not
have carried them in the pocket of my coat. Like
other ducks the teal are easier marks when shot over
decoys, but when under full headway, passing singly
or in small numbers over points, | can imagine no
marks more difficult. The sportsman accustomed to
shooting over dogs will miss many shots at teal before
he bags a single bird.

After some days’ shooting at the sharp-tailed grouse,
I went one day to a famous duck-pass in North
Dakota, when the teal were flying from the Devil’s
Lake to a smalier one to breakfast. As soon as I had
made my blind, they began to come singly and in
pairs, sometimes three or four together or a small
flock, and although they came in quick succession and
the shooting was fast enough to heat the gun, I be-
lieve it was an hour or more before I killed a bird. I
was almost in despair, when I fired at a passing flock,
holding the guna yard or more before the leading

THE TEAL 229

birds, and at the report a single teal, some distance
behind the others, fell dead upon the beach. I at
once began shooting long distances ahead of the pass-
ing ducks, and before long I had a large bag of birds.

A few days afterward an officer from the garrison
nearby, a good shot in the upland fields and woods,
went with me to my duck-pass to shoot at teal. We
made our blinds some two gun-shots apart and soon
began to shoot. The birds came rapidly as before, and
my friend gave them two barrels as they passed, but
was entirely out of ammunition before he killed a bird.
His orderly came to my blind for shells, and with them
I sent a message to shoot three times as far ahead as
he had been doing, and he soon was killing birds.

One morning, when shooting larger ducks, three
green-wing teal passed my blind, flying just above the
water, all in a row a yard or more apart. Aiming
well ahead of the leading bird I saw my shot strike
the water well behind the last, and of course they all
escaped.

Teal spring from the ground or water with great
rapidity and it is easy to miss them as they rise. I
once saw a blue-wing on a small stream in Ohio, which
was being chased about on the water by a flock of
tame ducks, who scolded him and annoyed him until
he finally went ashore on a mud bar at the lower end
of a small island, overgrown with willows and much
underbrush. Letting my boat drift until I made a
landing at the upper end of the island, I quietly
stalked the teal until within easy range, and after
observing him for a time, stepped out from the cover
of the trees, when he sprang into the air and I missed

230 WILD-FOWL

him with both barrels, shooting no doubt far under
him.

| found the cinnamon-teal feeding with great num-
bers of the green-wings on the Dakota ponds, and one
small lake was always so full of teal that there was
hardly room for more. I had read of many of these
birds being killed at a single shot, and having noticed
that the birds which used this pond when disturbed
always went out over the same place on the beach,
made arrangements to take my place quietly before
daylight, where the birds would pass overhead, to see
if I could make a record shot. My brother, with a
repeating gun, approached the pond on the other side,
and as soon as it was light enough to see opened fire
on the immense flock, which arose from the water with
a noise like a passing train and headed for my blind.
Before the birds came in range, however, they all
wheeled to the right and passed out over the beach
far below me. I was perfectly concealed, but the teal
no doubt had heard me when I went to my blind and
were too wary to pass over me. Two gadwalls fol-
lowing on behind, took the usual course, and on these
I made a double. My brother with his five shots took
heavy toll from the flock. I have forgotten now just
how many birds, but among the number was the hand-
some cinnamon. One day I found the teal and mal-
lards feeding in a reedy pond quite near the Yellow-
stone, and riding about on the shallow water I shot
them from the saddle. The birds were very tame and
often flew but a short distance out over the prairie,
and returned again to feed. The shooting was quite
rapid, the shots were easy and I soon had a fine bag.

THE TEAL ant

A soldier acted as my retriever. He had removed his
shoes and was wading about leading his pony and
picking up the birds, when we discovered some horse-
men on a distant hill, evidently observing us. Think-
ing they were Indians, we stopped the shooting and
beat a hasty retreat for camp. I shall never forget the
appearance of the orderly with his ducks and his shoes
in his hands as we galloped across the plain. It was
a false alarm, however. The men were some of our
own troopers who had gone out to shoot at larger
game. It was too late, however, when we learned this
to return to the ducks, and early next morning we
moved our camp.

The green-wing teal are far more abundant on the
Pacific Coast than the blue-wings. They come later
and remain longer.

Mr. Thompson, writing of thissport in Oregon, says:
“If teal are abundant and ‘come’ just right even an
old canvas-back shooter after a good morning’s sport
at these small and beautiful birds, is almost ready to
declare that there can be no finer sport. Of course,
each season will not bring them in the same numbers,
nor are they found everywhere. They seem to favor
one locality more than another. Usually, however, it
is possible with care and judicious feeding to draw
them to a given point; at times they are very abundant,
recalling the stories of years past in the waters of the
South. At one small lake, one of the best places along
the river for this kind of ducks, four hunters in one
day, shooting morning and evening, made a record of
more than four hundred of these birds. These were
all killed on the wing.”

232 WILD-FOWL

The blue-wing teal are more common on _ the
marshes of the Middle States, ] believe, as far west
as Illinois, Kansas, and Iowa. On the Sandusky
marshes in Ohio, a club record shows each year more
blue-wings are killed than green. In 1881, the totals
for the season were blue-wings, 1,646, green-wings,
441; in 1885, blue-wings, 1,019, green-wings, 506; in
1890, blue-wings, 603, green-wings, 373; in 1895, blue-
wings, 21, green-wings, 99; in 1899, blue-wings, 255,
green-wings, 184. In Dakota and on the Pacific Coast
these figures would be reversed.

Much that has been said as to the method of capture
of the other ducks applies as well to teal. They come
well to decoys, and they are shot in the same way
over points. They are jumped in the wild rice and
shot from a moving boat.

In the winter thousands of teal are shot in the rice-
fields in the South, and they are probably nowhere
more abundant than in Louisiana and Texas. Another
teal, the European teal, is given in the check-list. This
bird is, however, only an occasional visitor to our East-
ern shores, and is seldom shot by sportsmen.

XXXV
THE WOOD-DUCK

HE wood-duck is the most beautiful duck in the

world. Some years ago, in a magazine article,

I expressed the opinion that this bird was more beau-

tiful than the mandarin duck of China, and in Elliot’s

recent popular ornithological work this opinion is sus-
tained.

In size the wood-duck is intermediate between the
mallard and teal. Its head is dark green, reflecting
purple and blue, and effectively marked with white
lines. Its back is dark brown, the wing coverts are
blue. Its breast a rich chestnut, dotted with white
arrow-shaped marks. It has a handsome crest, and
Linnzus well named it the bride (Sponsa). It has been
suggested, however, that it is the groom that is beau-
tiful. The female, as in most water-fowl, is not so
handsome.

The wood-duck is known in many localities as the
summer duck, since it remains and breeds in many of
the States, and the migratory birds return first of all to
the northern parts of the United States, where the
shooting is best in August and September. It is
designated also as the acorn duck, from its well-
known fondness for acorns.

The flight of the wood-duck is swift and graceful,

233

234 WILD-FOWL

and it goes through the trees with the speed and safety
of the wood-grouse.

The summer ducks are found from Hudson’s Bay to
the Gulf, and are abundant in the Mississippi valley ;
but they are vanishing more rapidly than any of the
other ducks in all parts of their range. I have referred
to the bulletin of the Agricultural Department which
predicts their extermination.

They were some years ago extremely abundant in
September on the Sandusky marshes in Ohio, and
about the Kankakee in Indiana, and the Illinois River
in Illinois. I have often shot them over decoys and
jumped them in the wild-rice. The game register at
the Winous Point Club, near Sandusky, shows that
hundreds of wood-ducks were killed formerly each
season on that preserve, but the average for the past
ten years has hardly been more than fifty birds per
annum. I was informed that within the past year or
two the wood-ducks were somewhat more abundant
than they were five years ago, but the register does
not show much of an increase.

At English Lake I shot them from a light boat,
jumping them in the wild rice. The punter pushed
the boat (which contained a revolving office-chair for
the gunner) rapidly. The birds often arose at short
range and presented easy marks. They were very
abundant on the Kankakee at certain bends in the
river, where they fed on acorns which dropped from
the oaks into the water. A friend one day killed over
seventy of these birds over decoys, and I often made
fairly good scores shooting from a blind, but my fond-
ness for moving about and exploring the marshes and

THE WOOD-DUCK 235

ponds for other ducks and a change of scene always
prevented my making very large bags.

I found the wood-ducks abundant in the little lakes,
sloughs, and marshes near Havana, Illinois, when the
shooting was open; but all the good duck grounds in
that vicinity are now owned by clubs, where I am
afraid the shooting is often over-done.

The wood-duck is always a splendid table bird, and
when it is fattened on wild rice and acorns is excep-
tionally fine. It is, however, too pretty to shoot. It is
not a very wild duck, comes well to the decoys, and is
shot as it flies, over passes, to the streams and ponds.
I have shot them on small streams in the woods in
Ohio when partridge shooting, and had little difficulty
in approaching them within range as they swam
about.

Many thousands are killed each season in the South-
ern States, and since they come first of all the ducks
to the Northern waters, they receive the first fire of
eager sportsmen in August and September, and the
shooting is kept up as they move southward and until
they have paired in the spring.

The wood-duck builds its nest in trees near the water,
to which it carries the young before they are able to
fly. An account appeared in Forest and Stream of these
beautiful birds, and the golden-eyes, butter-balls, and
mergansers being driven from a pond in the vicinity
of which they nested, by the introduction of pickerel,
which destroyed the young. The carp also, as I have
said elsewhere, have done much to drive ducks away
from the marshes by destroying the food.

XXXVI
OTHER RIVER DUCKS

HE sprig-tail, often called the pin-tail or spike-

tail duck, is easily distinguished by the long
slender tail, which suggested the name. It is found
throughout North America, migrating like the others,
from the North to the Gulf of Mexico, and arriving in
the Northern States in September or October. It
may be looked. for shortly after the appearance of the
wood-duck and the blue-winged teal.

Like the other ducks this duck is not so abundant
as formerly, but many visit the Southern States each
winter, and it is a common duck in the middle West
and on the Pacific Coast.

In the spring the pin-tail is said to drum like the
snipe, arising high in the airand then falling suddenly
when a loud drumming noise is produced by the
wings. This isa most remarkable performance, and
the reader will find a further mention of it in the
chapter on the snipe which I have seen when drum-
ming.

The pin-tail is found in the same marshes with the
mallards, and is often shot over decoys when mallard-
shooting. It is one of the best table-ducks, its flesh
being uniformly in fine condition.

Mr. Cumming, a San Francisco sportsman, writing
recently for a Western magazine, says the sprig-tail

236

OTHER RIVER DUCKS 237

arrive in California about October Ist, and are there
shot from blinds made on the banks of ponds or
sloughs. The blinds are usually constructed of a wine
cask or a large dry-goods box sunk in the ground and
concealed by attaching tules or marsh grass to the top
on the level with high water. The decoys are placed
but a short distance from the blind. Mr. Cumming
regards the “sprig” as the most wary of all the ducks,
and says that they will circle round the pond several
times beyond the reach of shot, especially if they have
ever heard a gun. He says the sprig-tail is equally
delicious, if not a little better than the mallard.

In the winter many of these birds are shot on the
Southern sounds about the Atlantic Coast and in the
marshes throughout the Mississippi valley to the
Gulf. I have shot them in many places when shoot-
ing other ducks, but observed them more abundant in
North Dakota than at other places I have visited. |
often shot them ona pass between the lakes as they
travelled back and forth, usually without the aid of
decoys. They fly swiftly, but when they are shot and
fall upon the water, they are easily recovered, since they
cannot dive well. On land and in the marshes they
skulk and hide with great skill, and are often lost with-
out the aid of a retriever.

When the sportsman arises in his blind the pin-tails
jump high in the air, and many shots are missed by
shooting under them.

THE WIDGEON

The widgeon is another handsome duck, well known
to sportsmen throughout America and highly prized

238 WILD-FOWL

on account of the delicacy of its flesh, which, like that
of the other dabbling ducks, is always in fine condi-
tion. The widgeon is more often called the bald-pate
on account of the top of the head and forehead being
white. This duck is somewhat smaller than the mal-
lard, being nineteen inches in length to the latter's
twenty-two.

The widgeon flies swiftly, usually in small flocks.
It is extremely shy and wary, and has been said to
warn other ducks by its whistling sound.

Although the widgeon isa fresh- or shoal-water duck,
it also frequents the brackish bays and sounds about
the coasts, where it associates with the canvas-backs
and red-heads, and steals their food in the manner
already described.

I shot my first widgeon many years ago in Southern
Ohio when they were fairly abundant on the Ohio
River and on the smaller streams; but the incessant
shooting at the ducks has so diminished their numbers
that many of them are never seen in places where I
used to find them abundant.

The widgeon breeds as far south as Texas, and if
laws prohibiting spring shooting were passed in all
the States, as they should be, these birds would be
especially benefited thereby. They are very hand-
some birds. Mr. Thompson says the widgeon fur-
nishes good shooting in Oregon, and comes readily
to decoys. At times they are very abundant. The
widgeon, he says, seem to love the sunshine, hence the
best shooting is on a bright, sunny day.

OTHER RIVER DUCKS 239

THE GADWALL

The gadwall is often called the gray duck, on ac-
count of its gray appearance, and gray widgeon from
its resemblance to that bird. The females of the widg-
eon and gadwall are much alike and easily mistaken.
A female gadwall which was shot by my brother when
we were shooting in North Dakota, was mounted bya
taxidermist, who pronounced it a widgeon.

The gadwall is found throughout North America,
but is not as common anywhere as are some of the
other fresh-water ducks. I found it fairly abundant
in North Dakota and usually shot a few gadwalls
with the other ducks. One day when shooting on a
little pond quite near the Devil’s Lake, I shot a large
number of ducks, and nearly all of them were gadwalls.
They came quite rapidly toward evening, and stand-
ing in the tall rushes without much effort at conceal-
ment, I had some very rapid shooting. Far out on the
lake the swans and geese were trumpeting and honk-
ing. Large flocks of snow-geese, or white brant, as
they call them in Dakota, were always in the air, and
mallards, sprig-tails, teal, and all the ducks were flying
everywhere; but the gadwalls were the only ducks
which came to me in any numbers. Had I put out
only gadwall decoys, there might have been a reason
for this, but | had no decoys that day at all. In fact
the ducks were always so abundant, that I could kill
far more than I could carry, without decoys, and an
ambulance from the garrison came out to carry in the
game.

The gadwall breeds in the Northern United States.

240 WILD-FOWL

It isa handsome gray bird with a white speculum on
the wing. It is fairly abundant in the tule marshes
in California, and there, as elsewhere, it is much es-
teemed as a table delicacy.

THE SHOVELER

The shoveler is often called the spoon-bill from its
wide bill, by which it is easily distinguished from all
other ducks. It is not common on the Atlantic Coast,
but is abundant in the Mississippi valley. It comes
to the United States in the autumn with the other
ducks, but some remain to breed throughout the
States, even as far south as Texas. The flocks are
larger than those of the gadwall or widgeon; the
flight is said to resemble that of the teal, but they
are not so fast.

The spoon-bills are very handsome birds, with
bright green heads, like the mallards. They come
readily to decoys, are excellent on the table and are
easily placed among the best of the fresh-water wild-
fowl.

I have often shot the spoon-bills when shooting
other ducks, but have nowhere seen them very
abundant.

XXXVITI
THE MERGANSERS

ERGANSERS, or spike-bill ducks, as they are

often called, are given in the check-list as a sepa-

rate family of the order swimmers. There are three

species: The American merganser, the red-breasted
merganser, and the hooded-merganser.

These birds are readily distinguished from the
ducks by their slim, serrated spike-like bills, which sug-
gested the names saw-bill and spike-bill, often given
them. They are all fish-eating birds, and dive and
swim rapidly under water in pursuit of small fish,
which they are enabled to catch with their sharp-
edged bills. They are not very desirable as food, and
can hardly be considered game birds, but they are
often shot by sportsmen when in pursuit of better
fowls, and at some places on the coast large flocks of
decoys painted to resemble these birds are kept, and
spike-bills are shot over them.

They are as much entitled to a place in this volume
as the old squaws and coots already described, and are
about as difficult to dispose of when shot.

The mergansers are all very handsome birds, and as
they fly swiftly present excellent marks. I have eaten
them when cooked by the wife of a bayman who was
fully aware of the difficulties surrounding their prepa-
ration, and they satisfied the appetite which we had

241

242 WILD-FOWL

after a stormy day on the bay. When canvas-backs
and mergansers are both on the table, however, I take
the former.

THE AMERICAN MERGANSER

Many names are given to this handsome fowl—shel-
drake, buff-breasted sheldrake, goosander, saw-duck,
and sea saw-bill, are the most familiar.

Migratory, like the ducks, the sheldrake is distri-
buted throughout North America, and breeds in some
of the Northern States. Like the wood-duck it builds
its nest in the trees, selecting a hole which often seems
too small to admit it. It flies rapidly and comes well
to the decoys.

This bird is less common than the other mergansers
and is far handsomer than any of them. It is easily
distinguished by its black head with iridescent green
reflections.

I have shot these birds now and then when duck-
shooting, but have more often spared them, for the
reason that they are not worth cooking when one is
shooting ducks.

Upon one occasion a very handsome specimen flew
up from the water before my boat as I was being
punted on a prairie stream. It was an easy mark
going straight away, but at the crack of the gun the
bird dove from the air and was lost to sight in the
stream. I was under the impression that I had killed
it, but as the punter sent the boat swiftly forward he
cautioned me to look out for it, and it soon came up
and was in the air again. I did better with the second
barrel and the bird fell dead upon the water. The

THE MERGANSERS 243

rapidity with which these birds dive from the air is
most remarkable and a hawk would hardly catch one.

THE RED-BREASTED MERGANSER

This bird is also known as the sheldrake, fish-duck,
saw- and spike-bill, and is seen more frequently on the
salt water than is the preceding species. It is very
common on the brackish bays and on the rivers that
flow to the sea.

This merganser is found throughout North Amer-
ica, and like the others builds its nest in trees. It
feeds exclusively on fish, and Elliot describes it getting
under them and driving them to the surface, where
the gulls pounce upon them and between the two
large numbers of small fish are destroyed.

I have shot them several times over decoys on Shin-
necock Bay when the broad-bills were not flying well,
and one day made quite a large bag. The birds were
nearly all females, however, and I could not account
for this at first, but it was in the spring of the year
and my decoys were all painted to represent the hand-
somer males and this no doubt accounted for my bag-
ging only females.

The wife of the bayman at whose house I dined
when at the bay, made a very palatable stew of the
mergansers, putting in potatoes, onions, and perhaps
other vegetables, of which I partook with satisfaction
after long days of exposure on the bay. As the ducks
come in fewer numbers more attention is paid to this
bird, and as a mark it answers every purpose and often
affords good shooting.

244 WILD-FOWL

THE HOODED MERGANSER.

This bird is much smaller than the others and is
accordingly often referred to as the little saw-bill,
spike-bill, and pond sheldrake. The male is remark-
able for its beautiful crest, from which it took its name.

The hooded merganser also nests in trees. It flies
very swiftly, being nearly, if not quite, as fast as a
teal, and it is, of course, necessary to shoot far ahead
of it to hit it.

The little spike-bill is found usually on ponds and
streams. I have only shot them occasionally when
shooting better game.

BOOK. III

SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS

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XXXVIII
THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS

IRDS of the shores, or wading-birds, are desig-

nated by the ornithologists as Limicole, liter-

ally, inhabitants of the mud. A number of these birds,

however, inhabit the uplands, preferring grass-fields

and meadows to the marshy ponds or muddy margins

of streams, and many are found upon the sandy shores
of the ocean.

As we consider these wading-birds from the sports-
man’s point of view, we find it difficult to determine
how many of them should be classed as game. One of
the best of all the birds, the magnificent woodcock,
heads the list. There is a gradual decrease in size and
value as marks from the large curlews until we have
remaining a few diminutive birds, such as peeps and
sanderlings, thoroughly undesirable as marks and
worthless as food. We cannot take size, however, as
the criterion, since some of the smaller shore birds are,
like the diminutive rail and reed-birds, better food than
some of the larger. The kill-deer plover, on the other
hand, is a fair-sized mark, and is shot often by sports-
men, but in my opinion he is too fishy to eat.

Sportsmen, however, like doctors, differ. Many, no
doubt, will continue to shoot both kill-deer and the
smaller marks, which should be left to pipe and whistle
in the marsh or run gracefully from the waves on

247

248 THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS

sandy beaches and follow the receding water in their
search for food. The woodcock and the snipe are
shot over dogs. The method of capture is not am-
bush, but pursuit quite similar to that of the gallina-
ceous birds. The upland plover, one of the best table
birds on the list, is also taken by pursuit, but the
sportsman usually approaches the birds in a vehicle or
on horseback, without the aid of dogs, since the birds
rely upon flight rather than concealment. All the
other shore-birds are taken from ambush, and are shot
over decoys, the sport having much resemblance to
that of duck shooting. The weather (late summer
weather) for this sport is, however, usually fine, quite
different from the severe cold and rain, snow and wind,
when duck shooting is at its best. The shooting of
shore birds is a lazy pastime, not to be compared with
the tramp across fields and through the woods behind
the thoroughbred setters and pointers, nor with the
shooting at the wary swift-flying ducks on the marsh
lands. Forester said that sportsmanship proper could
not be said to belong to this form of shooting, unless
(which few persons do except the professionals) one
make and set out his own stools, paddle his own canoe,
and whistle his own birds.

The shore birds are migrants. <As the geese, brant,
and ducks move northward in the spring, they are
followed by the waders, familiarly termed bay-birds
or bay-snipe. These birds nest in the far North,
and should not be shot in the spring, when their visit
is of short duration. They return late in the summer,
and were they protected in the spring there would be
a vast improvement in the summer and early fall

THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 249

shooting. The bay-birds are found not alone about
the shores, bays, and salt-water marshes, but most of
the varieties cross the interior of the country. I have
seen them in great abundance in the Dakotas, and
they are probably to be found nowhere in greater
abundance than there and in Texas at the proper sea-
sons. They now come in greatly diminished numbers
to the Eastern and Central States by reason of the
over-shooting, especially for the markets. They are
fortunately protected on the preserves of the numerous
duck clubs,and when the ducks are present are not
much molested, the larger game being more attractive.
The number of these birds which used to visit the
marshes about the bays of the Atlantic Coast seems
almost incredible. Giraud was informed by a gunner
residing in the vicinity of Bellport that he killed one
hundred and six yellow-legs by discharging both bar-
rels of his gun into a flock while they were sitting
along the beach. Wilson mentions eighty-five red-
breasted snipe being killed at one discharge of a mus-
ket. Audubon says he was present when one hundred
and twenty-seven were killed by discharging three
barrels. I have seen the birds sufficiently numerous
about the muddy rims of ponds in North Dakota to
make such shots possible, but always preferred to shoot
at the flying marks. I never made a pot-shot on the
ground, and usually left the wading-birds undisturbed,
preferring to use my ammunition on the sharp-tailed
grouse and wild-ducks, which were equally abundant.

I have been much inclined to eliminate many of the
shore-birds from my list of game, but the gradation
from the better to the poorer varieties is so slight as to

250 THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS

make it difficult to draw the line of exclusion. The
sportsmen of to-day are more and more interested in
natural history, and I have determined therefore to in-
clude all the shore-birds in my commentary, giving
the larger space to those which are well deserving of
it, and but a brief mention to those which the sports-
man should not molest. These would soon become
tame enough to furnish a proper amusement with the
camera.

There are in all seventy-six species and sub-species.
The ornithological list includes seventeen stragglers,
or accidental visitors, such as the European snipe and
woodcock. There are five sub-species which differ so
slightly as to be the same to the sportsman’s eye.

The order Lzmico/e contains six families of shore-
birds. These, in the order of their importance to
sportsmen, are: 1. Scolopacide, the family of snipes and
sandpipers; 2. Charadritde, the plovers; 3. Recurviros-
tride, Arocets and Stilts; 4. Phalaropodide, the phala-
ropes; 5. Aphrizide, the surf-birds and _ turnstones;
6. Jacanide, the jacanas.

The birds which interest sportsmen are for the most
part found in the first three families above. In the first
are the woodcock, the snipe, and the upland plover or
Bartramian sandpiper, and several other sandpipers
fairly good as marks and to eat.

Among the plovers there are several fine birds, espe-
cially the golden-plover and the black-breasted plover ;
large plump birds. The golden-plover and many of
the other varieties are far better table birds when
found on the Western prairies than they are when
feeding about the shores and salt marshes, when they

THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS 251

frequently have a most disagreeable fishy taste. I
have shot the dowitcher or red-breasted snipe on the
grounds now preserved by the English Lake Club
(near Chicago), when the sport was similar to that of
snipe-shooting. The birds were feeding in the grass,
and I shot them while shooting snipe, and so closely
do they resemble the snipe in size and length of bill
that I had several in the bag before I noticed the dif-
ference. Their flesh was excellent. On the prairies
of Indiana and Illinois I have shot many golden plover
when they were plump to the bursting point, and their
flesh compared favorably with the delicious Bartramian
sandpiper or field plover. By eliminating the small
and undesirable varieties, the list of shore birds consid-
ered game would be reduced to about two dozen birds,
including the woodcock, snipe, upland plover, dowitcher
curlew, golden plover, dunlin, yellow-shanks willet, and
others of less importance.

The three most important birds on the list are the
woodcock, the snipe, and the upland plover. We will
consider these in their order, giving them the space
they deserve. We then proceed to bay-bird shooting,
where all the other varieties may be taken in a day over
decoys. A descriptive list of all the shore birds is
given in the Appendix, from which the sportsman may
pick his game according to his taste or conscience.

XXXIX
THE WOODCOCK

O warning cry used by sportsmen is more thrill-
ing than that often heard in the wet thicket,
“mark cock!”” No American game bird is more highly
prized by shooters than the woodcock. William Jar-
vis well says ina poetic sentence, it is ‘‘a bird with the
magic power to turn its admirer from all other feath-
ered game, if once he hears the whistle of its wings
or sees its form glide stealthily down the glade.” Dr.
Coues observes this is ¢#e game bird after all, say
what you please of snipe, quail, or grouse, and Gurdon
Trumbull adds “yes, Doctor, either in the field or on
toast.”

The woodcock is peculiar in its appearance and is
easily distinguished from all other game birds. The
general color is rufous gray, effectively marked above
with black; its head is larger than that of the snipe
or partridge (Bob-white), and the black eyes are set
well back and high to enable it to see when boring
in the mud with its long bill. The legs and bill
are a gray flesh color, the bill being about two and
three-quarter inches long and twice the length of the
head. Compared with the Bob-white the woodcock
is somewhat heavier and larger, the length of the
former being from nine and one-half to ten inches, the
latter ten and one-half inches to twelve inches. The

woodcock in extent of wings is from sixteen to eigh-
252

THE WOODCOCK 253

teen inches, and in weight is from five and one-half to
nine ounces. A full-grown cock will weigh as much
as nine ounces. Compared with the snipe the wood-
cock is heavier and stouter, and is more stocky in ap-
pearance. The sexes are alike in color and markings,
but the female is always the larger.

The technical Greek name (Phz/ohela) indicates that
the woodcock is a swamp-lover, and the Latin word
(minor) was added to indicate that he is smaller than
the European woodcock, which he much resembles.

The woodcock is distinctly a bird of the wet wood-
lands. He is often found, however, on wooded hill-
sides and high up in the mountains. Trumbull says
he is known to the darkies about Matthews Court-
house, Virginia, as mountain partridge; and though
we commonly associate woodcock with bogs and low-
lying land, we must not forget the good shooting we
have had sometimes higher up, nor the fact that many
of these birds retire for a time to the hill-tops each
year. Mr. George B. Sennett saw a pair of these birds
on the summit of Roan (North Carolina) in a clump of
balsams at an altitude of fully six thousand feet. (Zhe
Auk, July, 1887.)

The woodcock arrive in the Northern States in
March, some as early as February. The courtship
begins in April, and the male bird may then be seen
dancing about in the bog with elevated tail before his
admiring mate, and singing his love song, which has
been described as a nasal squeak. After singing for a
time he soars aloft on whistling wings and shortly
drops with great suddenness on the spot from whence
he flew. Edwin Kent is my authority for the state-

254 SHORE BIRDS

ment that farmer boys take advantage of the cock
when thus performing, and watch for the bird when
he leaves the ground, then run to the spot he left and
kill him with a switch when he drops to earth again.

The nest is rudely constructed, usually on the leaves
on a dry spot in the wooded swamp. There are four
or five eggs, speckled buff in color; and should the nest
be destroyed by flood, the birds will usually nest a
second time. The young, like the young partridges,
are precocious in the extreme, and run about as soon
as they leave the shell. The woodcock has protective
markings, and the russet color harmonizes well with
the leaves; it is difficult to see the birds on the ground.
When the mother is alarmed, like the partridge she
warns her young to hide, and flutters away as if dis-
abled, inviting her enemy to follow her as she leads
him away from her young. Mr. Hills, of Hudson,
New York, sent me four remarkable photographs of
this bird and its nest. The pictures were made in the
town of Claverack, Columbia County, New York. Mr.
Hills says: “I found the nest June 24th, and secured
the pictures June 28th.” After making one picture he
took a small stick and lifted up the bird’s bill so that
it would show to better advantage. He then placed
the camera within eighteen inches of the bird, leaving
her bill resting on the stick, and for the fourth picture
he lifted the bird from the nest and photographed the
eggs. She returned to the nest soon after he left it.
He found the eggs not pecked on the morning of the
28th, but on the morning of the 30th, at nine o’clock,
she had hatched her young and they were gone.

The woodcock feeds by boring. Its long flexible bill

THE WOODCOCK 255

is well supplied with nerves, and it searches for its food
by feeling for it. The food is chiefly earthworms, but
it also devours many insects which are found in the
damp woods, and has been seen to catch butterflies.
Audubon discovered that a woodcock devoured in a
single night more than its own weight in worms, and
some experiments recently made on a captive bird con-
firm hisobservations. Mr. Kent says one of his friends
kept a pair of woodcock in confinement for a few weeks
in one end of his greenhouse fitted up for their accom-
modation. Several large, shallow, wooden trays were
filled two or three inches deep with loose moistened
garden loam, in which was placed the supply of angle
worms. It required more of the gardener’s time than
could well be spared to provide sufficient worms for
the birds, as the trays were cleaned out during the
night, and he eventually let the birds go.

When feeding the woodcock stands for a moment
with his head on one side as if listening, then thrusts
the long bill into the earth and feels fora worm. The
bill is repeatedly withdrawn and thrust in again, now
an inch or more to the right, then to the left, or in
front or behind the first boring, until at last the worm
is struck and withdrawn. The pattern of holes left in
the mud indicates to the sportsman the presence of the
birds in the cover. I recently observed some snipe
boring in the Sandusky marshes, and it seemed to me
the bill thrusts were more rapid than those of the wood-
cock. The pattern made in the mud is similar. The
woodcock is a nocturnal bird and usually feeds and
flies by night. Although found in the woods and al-
ways remaining in brush or timber or cover of some

256 SHORE BIRDS

kind, such as standing corn, during the day, the wood-
cock at dusk will fly out to any ground where food
is abundant. I have known them to drop into gar-
dens quite near the house, and they often fly to feed-
ing grounds quite distant from the cover. I have
had them fly quite close to my head when sitting in
the front yard, and they have often been seen flying
through the streets of a village, and once down Broad-
way, New York. I had one brought to me for iden-
tification which was taken in a business street in
Cincinnati, and knew of one being captured in a pas-
senger depot. Many are killed by striking telegraph
wires or fall victims to prowling cats. The woodcock
remain until the ground freezes, when they at once
disappear, going south. There the heavy cane-brakes
are a safe refuge, and it is fortunately so, since the
woodcock is one of the birds which seem destined to
become extinct at an early date.

The woodcock is found from the Gulf to Canada
and west to Nebraska and Kansas. They were for-
merly very abundant in certain counties in New York,
and Forester mentions killing with a friend one hun-
dred and twenty-five birds in one day, and seventy
the day following before noon. This was in July and
it was intensely hot. The ground, he says, became so
foiled by the running of the innumerable birds, that
although they had excellent retrievers they lost be-
yond doubt forty or fifty birds, and at four in the after-
noon of the second day they were entirely out of am-
munition.

Woodcock are abundant in Louisiana during the
months of December and January, and they were for-

THE WOODCOCK 257

merly shot at night by means of torches and beaters.
I found them very abundant a few years ago in
Northern Indiana and in Illinois, but they are no-
where found in any such numbers as Forester de-
scribes. The sportsmen of the country have viewed
their decimation with alarm, and just now the ques-
tion of a rest period of some years’ duration is being
urged in the papers devoted to field sports.

The season for cock-shooting was until a few years
ago entirely too long. The opening day in most of
the States was July rst, and summer cock-shooting
was practised everywhere. The argument in favor of
shooting cock in summer and snipe and ducks in the
spring has always been ad hominem, resting not upon
merit, but upon the position of those engaged. If we
do not shoot woodcock in July and snipe in April,
we will have no July or April shooting. But as the
scarcity of game of all sorts is brought to the atten-
tion of sportsmen, the sentiment against spring and
summer shooting grows stronger, and this sentiment
is already reflected in the legislation of many States.

I passed one summer at a farm a few miles from
Cincinnati, on the Littke Miami River. I had no
thought of finding woodcock so near the city, but
one day I asked a local angler if he had ever seen any
woodcock in the vicinity, and he said he had flushed
an occasional bird along an old and abandoned mill-
race just across the river. The following Sunday he
was going over after minnows, and I accompanied him,
taking a camera, since he described the place as most
picturesque, darkly beautiful and romantic, with occa-
sional glimpses of water in the old race. We entered

258 SHORE BIRDS

the woods, and stooping to examine the ground for
borings I put up a cock and soon flushed several
more. Ina short stroll we flushed eighteen or twenty
birds. A few days later I returned with the gun,
accompanied by a small boy from the farm and the
farm dog, a large black animal, with a white tip at the
end of his tail, which had some pointer blood, but
absolutely no training. Ina few hours I succeeded in
making a very fair bag of birds. The ground was
overgrown with tall horse-weeds, festooned with
creeping vines, and shaded by the heavy foliage of
large trees. Many smaller willows stood along the
race and it was by no means an easy place to shoot.
I returned often to this ground and always met with
some success in the afternoon, but usually found no
birds in the morning. In fact, I shot most of my birds
late in the afternoon, and was convinced that they
were more easily found when the feeding time ap-
proached and the birds began to move about. I
would advise sportsmen when shooting other game in
the vicinity of a likely cock cover, to reserve that for
the afternoon, since I am firmly convinced more birds
will be found then, than in the morning.

I once made a trip especially for woodcock to some
splendid ground south of Fort Wayne, Indiana. We
started on the opening day (July 4th) and had a spe-
cial car and engine at our disposal which moved us
from one wet woodland to another, and we succeeded
in making fair bags each day. We would have done
better had not others been shooting ahead of us out of
season, as was evidenced by the empty shells which
were scattered everywhere in the woods. The wild

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THE WOODCOCK 250

roses and other flowers were in full bloom and the
heavy summer foliage cast strong blue shadows
through the woods, intensifying by contrast the spots
of vivid green where the sunlight fell. It was very
hot and we returned often to the ice-cooler in the car.
The mosquitoes were abundant and industrious. Al-
though we had ice we found it difficult to preserve
the game. Many of the birds were small, and I was
more than ever impressed that it was not the season
for shooting feathered game.

Forester tells of shooting in July with a friend who
fired at a woodcock, which fluttered off as though
wounded. When it was again put up it returned on
strong wings to the place where it was first flushed.
Following it, one of the dogs found and caught a
young cock still unable to fly. What stronger argu-
ment could be advanced for prohibiting the summer
shooting? The date when the young were hatched in
the nest photographed by Mr. Hills was, as I have ob-
served, later than June 28th. The open season in
some of the States is still July 1st. Just think of a
campaign against birds two days old! It is not only
outrageously wrong, but cruel to shoot woodcock in
July. The opening date should not be earlier than
October 1st. The consensus of opinion among sports-
men is now strongly against summer shooting. It has
been prohibited in New England and in many other
States, and it is to be hoped that it will be prohibited
in every State in the Union within the coming year.

There is but little pleasure to be obtained from sum-
mer cock shooting. It is very hot, tiresome work at
best, hard alike on man and dog. The heavy summer

260 SHORE BIRDS

foliage alone makes the shooting difficult. The young
birds are easy marks and the many small ones make
an unattractive bag. The knowledge that the shot
may deprive birds two days old of the parents’ care
and protection should be sufficient to keep sportsmen
out of the woods at this season without the prohibi-
tion of a legal enactment.

In bright October, when the frost is in the air and
the leaves have taken on the gorgeous tints of autumn,
the birds are strong on the wing and present far more
difficult marks. They are heavy, plump, and hand-
some, the rufous tints being frosted with gray, and the
flesh is in fine condition for the table. The dogs, in-
stead of trotting about with tongues hanging from
their mouths, hunt with a vigorous eagerness, their
heads are held high and it is a pleasure to see them
gO.

As to the kind of dogs, since the shooting of wood-
cock is more often an incident to a day’s tramp afield
for partridges or ruffed-grouse, they are usually the
pointers or setters. The dogs should be trained to
hunt close to the gun, and are often lost for a time
when pointing the game in the thick underbrush. A
small bell is sometimes attached to the collar to aid
the sportsman in locating the dogs. Where the bell
was last heard tinkling the dog is often found on a
point. Small spaniels are perhaps the best dogs for
woodcock when one goes in pursuit of these birds
alone. These merry little dogs gallop about at short
distances from the gun and give tongue when they
flush the game. They have excellent noses and are ex-
tremely fond of the sport. The woodcock gives forth

THE WOODCOCK 261

but little scent as compared with other game, but on
the moist ground, where they are always found, it is
sufficient for the pointers and setters to locate and
point them.

When flushed, the cock whirls rapidly up through
the overhanging trees, and flies swiftly away, produc-
ing a whistling sound which has been the subject of
much controversy among sportsmen and ornitholo-
gists. Trumbull, in an article in Forest and Stream,
gives his observations of a captive bird, and is firmly
of the opinion that the whistling noiseis vocal. Brew-
ster, in the same magazine, insists that the noise is
made by the wings. Many other writers joined in the
controversy, and pages have been written on the sub-
ject. I believe the noise is made by the wings.

Since the cover is dense, the shooting is difficult,
and snap-shots are the rule. I have often shot wood-
cock by firing into the cover after I had lost sight of
them, aiming a little ahead of the disappearing bird,
and later recovering him with the aid of pointers or
setters. The shotsare usually at short range. A light,
open gun, 12 or 16 gauge, is used, loaded with small shot;
No. 9 early in the season, and No. 8 late in the fall.
The smokeless powder is far superior to the old black
powder of a few years ago; the heavy cloud of smoke
from the first barrel hanging low in the damp atmos-
phere of the wet woods often prevented the use of
the second barrel.

The woodcock disappear in August from places
where they have been abundant in July. There has
been much speculation as to the cause of this disap-
pearance, which occurs at the moulting time. Some

262 SHORE BIRDS

writers insist there is a migration, some say the birds
go to the hills, others believe the birds resort to the
standing corn. That the disappearance occurs there
can be no doubt, but there seems to be much doubt as
to the cause of it, and the place resorted to.

The disappearance was once referred to in Outing
(September, 1892) as “the mystery of the wood-
cock’s life.” My own observations lead me to be-
lieve that it is not the knowledge that the loss of the
feathers renders them to a certain extent helpless,
which induces them to leave the swamps, but the fact
that the food becomes exhausted.

When we recall that a woodcock will eat more than
his weight in angle-worms in a night, and consider
that each cock has his mate and fouror five young,
with the proverbial appetite of youth, it seems reason-
able to believe that the food supply gives out on the
breeding grounds, which are often quite limited in ex-
tent. As the dry season comes on the boring area is
much restricted, since the flexible bill can only be used
in soft, moist earth. About the old mill-race in Ohio
where I had an opportunity to notice the disappear-
ance of the birds, I observed that the ground, as the
season progressed, was bored literally full of holes in
all places where boring was possible. The race, anda
creek which carried its waters to the river, flowed
through a low strip of land between hills or high ter-
races, leading to the fields above. The entire ground
was not over a mile in extent, and the boring area was
quite narrow, and in places where there were deposits
of lime-stones, of course there was none. Early in the
season the terraces or hill-sides were sufficiently moist

THE WOODCOCK 263

in places to enable the birds to use their probes, but as
the season advanced, but a few small spots remained
where the birds could bore. The sportsmen in the
little village nearby said the birds had gone to the
hills, their evidence supporting the contention of
Trumbull and others.

With a dog almost worthless I found birds in the
neighboring corn-fields, which furnished evidence to
support the theories of many other writers. Being sat-
isfied that the birds scatter at this season in their search
for food, the only question which remained was why
they should abandon the home of their birth, when
they might readily go out to feed at night, and return
to rest in their chosen cover by day. Possibly the par-
tial loss of wing power at this season is the answer
to the question. It is most likely that the continuous
shooting may make it seem desirable to the birds to
move to other more secure retreats. Ducks when
much persecuted will abandon the choicest feeding
grounds: why should not the woodcock do the same?
I certainly gave the birds along the old mill-race every
reason to desirea change of habitat.

The woodcock are now protected on many of the
preserves owned by duck clubs. The wet woodlands
adjacent to the vast wild-rice marshes about the Kan-
kakee and the Sandusky rivers, and everywhere within
the range of the woodcock, where there are duck clubs,
harbor many woodcock, and the protection given the
birds will do much toward the salvation of the race.

Woodcock were bred and raised in Fairmount Park,
within the city limits of Philadelphia, last season.

Good cock-ground in the Middle and Western States

~

264 SHORE BIRDS

is usually found in the forests adjacent to the streams,
muddy from flowing through rich alluvial bottoms.
The timber is walnut, beech, and other nut-bearing
trees; oaks, maples, and the picturesque sycamores
with wide-spreading white branches, and many wil-
lows. The undergrowth is heavy. Tall horse-weeds
grow in many places higher than one’s head, and
many vines and creepers, from the slender morning-
glory to the larger grape, are tangled in a way to make
the walking difficult. In the hills and mountains of
Pennsylvania, New York, and New England the cocks
are found beside brighter, purer waters in the alder
swamps and places where the beautiful rhododendron
flourishes. Many springs and brooks in the haunts of
the ruffed-grouse water areas of boring ground often of
very limited dimension.

In the South the cocks are found in the wet woods,
but as I have already observed, there is a harbor of
refuge in the cane. Charming is the ramble over any
of these grounds, magnificent the game. Great is the
joy of the sportsman who in the autumn stops a plump,
gray cock as he goes whistling through the brake.

During very dry seasons large tracts of woodcock
ground become uninhabitable, there being no longer
any places soft enough for boring; at such times
the birds cannot feed and must move. Should there be
a small lake or pond in the vicinity with woods ad-
jacent, and springs not affected by the dry weather, the
woodcock will there congregate in vast numbers. I
once set out from Lake Forest, a village north of
Chicago, with a sportsman who resided there, our des-
tination being a duck club at Fox Lake. We went in

THE WOODCOCK 265

his shooting-trap, drawn by two horses, and when well
out on our journey met with a slight accident which
could only be repaired by a blacksmith. We found
one near at hand at a cross-road’s village, and I asked
him if there were any ducks in the neighborhood. He
said they were abundant ona small lake a mile away,
and we went to the lake to put in the time while the
repairs were being made on the wagon. At the lake
we found a leaky boat which would not carry two per-
sons, and | agreed to my friend’s proposition that I
take a trip about the shore while he put out to the
open water to stir up the ducks which were floating in
rafts at the middle of the lake. It was some years
ago, when it was the fashion to shoot large shot at
ducks, and we carried Nos. 2 and 3.

I had gone but a few steps when I flushed a hand-
some cock, and soon discovered there were more wood-
cock on the ground than I had ever seen before. The
walking was abominable. The mud in many places
was very deep, and I had to make my way carefully,
stepping from one hard tuft of grass to another. The
heavy duck-loads often upset my balance and I had
several falls. The shot was, of course, too large for
the game; my shooting was especially bad and the
bag light. My friend, after several long shots at the
ducks, pulled over near the shore and asked me what I
was firing at so rapidly. I informed him that the
woodcock were holding a mass-convention. While
we were talking several birds arose near at hand and
flew off. He declined to come ashore, observing my
plight and the bad nature of the ground. It wasabout
time, too, for us to get on. We returned to the wagon

266 SHORE BIRDS

and finding it finished we resumed our journey. [have
never seen so many woodcock before or since. They
had no doubt gathered from miles around, since the
country was for the most part thoroughly dried up.

Nearly all writers mention the fact that the wood-
cock are often unknown to the farmers on whose lands
they reside, and Gurdon Trumbull says: * Many funny
stories are told of sportsmen being led far into the
woods by promises of good woodcock shooting, only
to find at the end of their journey that the wood-
peckers were referred to. I hada similar experience
within the year in one of the western counties of
Pennsylvania. I once shot a very large cock when
visiting a farmer in Southern Illinois but a short dis-
tance from his house. He expressed great surprise
upon seeing the bird, and said he had never seen one
before. We were shooting partridges and he was an
excellent shot, very fond of the sport,and spent much of
the time during the autumn shooting. I killed several
other woodcock during my visit, and could only ac-
count for his not knowing the birds by reason of the
fact that partridges were extremely abundant, and he
no doubt kept out of the wet places, finding an abund-
ance of birds on the stubble and in the dry wood-
lands.

Forester tells us that, during the fall migration, as
rapidly as the woodcock are shot in the cover, new
birds will be found to take their places. He advises
the sportsman who has shot all the birds in a cover in
a day, to return the next, and says he will find the
cover restocked from day to day. He wonders at this
habit, but does not try to explain it. My opinion is,

THE WOODCOCK 207

that the birds migrating in small companies following
one another, arrive and depart with some regularity at
the covers where the food is abundant. When the
birds are all shot off one day, and a similar number are
found on the ground the next day, the matter is noted
and much talked about as something strange. When,
no birds are found the next day, the matter is not dis-
cussed. lam prepared to admit that new birds often
will be found in a cover shot out, but not always.

The woodcock has many local names. He is some-
times called snipe, or big-headed snipe, wood-snipe,
whistling-snipe, mud-snipe, and red-breasted snipe.
The latter term is more often applied to the dowitcher.
Timber-doodle is another name used by countryfolk.

The European woodcock is an occasional visitor to
our country and is occasionally shot by sportsmen.
He isa very much larger bird, so much larger, indeed,
as to be easily distinguished. I read some time ago
of an experiment to introduce these birds into America,
but the result was not satisfactory ; the birds were not
seen again after their first migration.

b. ©,
THE SNIPE

HE snipe (ornithologically Wilson’s Snipe) is the

game bird of the open bog-meadows, and is sec-
ond only in importance among the wading-birds to the
woodcock. He isa handsome, graceful bird, protect-
ively marked above with brown and tan and black.
The markings on the back are lengthwise. The under
parts are white and gray. The bill is long, slender,
and flexible, like that of the woodcock, but he is a
more slender bird, and somewhat lighter.

The snipe arrives in the Northern States early in the
spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground. A
few remain in secluded places to nest, but most of the
birds continue northward as the weather becomes
warm, and nest far beyond the boundary of the United
States. There are three or four eggs in the nest.
Like the woodcock, the snipe feeds by boring in the
soft earth for angle-worms. His presence is indicated
by the numerous small holes made by the bill, and
until there are borings it is useless to look for him on
the meadow.

The snipe is found throughout North America when
migrating, but only on wet meadows and fields where
the ground is suitable for boring and where his food is
to be found. He winters in the Southern States, Mex-

ico, and the West Indies. I have shot them on the
268

THE SNIPE 269

meadows of New England and west as far as Dakota,
where they were fairly abundant about the small
streams and lakes. Nowhere are they as abundant to-
day as about the prairie sloughs in the Western and
Southern States.

Audubon says the snipe is never found in the woods,
but Forester mentions finding it in wild, windy weather
early in the season in the skirts of moist woodlands
under sheltered lee-sides of young plantations, among
willow, alder, and brier brakes, and, in short, wherever
there is good soft, springy feeding-ground perfectly
sheltered and protected from the wind by trees and
shrubbery. Abbott says: “ During the autumn I have
found them along neglected meadow ditches overhung
by large willow-trees, and again hidden in the reeds
along the banks of creeks. I have shot them repeat-
edly in wet woodland meadows.” I have often found
snipe in bushy tracts and among the swamp willows,
but I have never seen them in the forest, and believe
they so rarely resort to the woods that it would not
be worth while to seek them there.

From the middle of March to the middle of April
we may look for the arrival of the snipe. They seem
to know in some way, we know not how, when the
frost is out of the ground, and suddenly make their
appearance in great numbers. Where there were no
birds one day there may be thousands the next. Their
going is equally sudden. After a real warm day in the
spring and at the first hard frost in the autumn not
one will be found remaining, There is so much un-
certainty about the time of arrival and departure that
| would advise sportsmen living at a distance from the

270 SHORE BIRDS

shooting grounds to have some local sportsman tele-
graph when the snipe are on the grounds. The first
warm, settled weather in the spring will bring the
snipe to the meadows. It was until recently every-
where the fashion to shoot snipe in the spring. While
the sport is not so barbarous and cruel as the shooting
of the woodcock in summer, since the snipe have not
nested and there are no young birds, it has neverthe-
less been thought desirable to stop the spring shoot-
ing, and in many States there are laws prohibiting it.
The frost seems to leave the uplands much earlier
than the lowlands. Early in the season, therefore,
when the snipe first arrive, there may be none on the
low-lying meadows, their favorite ground, and many
birds on fields, especially cornfields, higher up. I once
tramped an entire morning early in the season over
one of the best snipe grounds in Indiana—a low, wet
prairie with a slough winding about through its centre
—and failed to find a single bird. I was certain the
birds had arrived, since I had found them a few days
before on some meadows near the village where I was
stopping. Late in the day, in despair, I asked a coun-
try boy if he knew where the snipe were. I little ex-
pected any information from him, but after describing
the bird, he directed me to a cornfield on higher
ground, and advised that I enter the field from a lane
which passed it, and at a certain point where there was a
depression in the field. Following his advice, I climbed
the rail fence, and as I entered the field several snipe
arose but a few feet ahead of me, and, without stop-
ping to pick up a bird or moving from my place, |
killed a half dozen birds. and in less than two hours I

THE SNIPE 271

bagged thirty-eight snipe and two golden plovers—all
killed in that cornfield and the one adjacent, where I
followed a few of the birds.

The snipe return to the Northern States in Septem-
ber, but many of the good spring grounds are then
entirely dried up, and being unsuitable for boring, the
snipe do not visit them. In the autumn I have often
found the snipe in the ditches and about the edges of
small streams where the ground is soft enough for
boring. I have found them abundant in the autumn
on the marshes controlled by the duck clubs about
Lake Erie; usually on the muddy margins of the ponds
or water-holes, or along the streams or sloughs. When
the meadows are dry, the snipe must necessarily go to
the marshes owned by the clubs, and in many places
there is no fall shooting at snipe except for club
members.

When the snipe first arrive in the spring they are
wild and in poor condition, but in a few days they
become fat and lazy, and on warm days lie fairly well
to the dogs. In wild, windy weather they have a
habit of flying up toa great height and letting them-
selves fall through the air with a humming noise pro-
duced by the wings. This performance, which it will
be observed is somewhat similar to the courtship of
the woodcock, is repeated over and over again, the
snipe descending (not to earth, however, and often not
low enough for a shot), and then soaring aloft and
dropping as before. At such times snipe will not lie
to the dogs, and those found on the meadow are as
wild as hawks, and the sportsman cannot expect to
meet with any success until this performance ol

272 SHORE BIRDS

“drumming,” or “tumbling,” as it is called, is over.
Herbert says he would not have been more surprised
when he first saw the snipe perform in this manner,
had they begun to sing “ God save the King,” or more
appropriately, ‘“ Hail Columbia.”

One wild, windy morning when shooting with a
friend in Indiana, we found the birds all drumming,
and getting under them, I fired several shots at them
as they descended, but we did not kill a bird until
afternoon, when the sun came out warm and genial
and the birds ceased their performance and returned
to the fields. We then had good sport with them.
Snipe were formerly very abundant both in the spring
and fall. Forester tells of large bags made on the
meadows about the Hackensack and Passaic rivers.
Bogardus mentions killing, with a friend, three hun-
dred and forty of these birds in a day on the Sanga-
mon in Illinois, and says their bag was seldom so
small as seventy-five couple at the right time. The
larger score would indicate an average of a little less
than three birds every five minutes for ten hours.
Any one who has seen Bogardus smash glass-balls or
shoot pigeons at the trap can readily believe that he
could ably assist in the killing of such numbers; but
admitting the skill of Bogardus no one can kill all the
birds shot at, and many escape without a shot being
fired, either arising out of range, or while the gun is
being reloaded and flying away from the line of beat;
so that it is evident there must have been myriads of
birds on the ground. I have seen these birds extremely
abundant in many places in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois,
and upon several occasions made large bags, which

EHECSNIPE 273

would have been larger had I not run out of ammu-
nition.

On one occasion, in Ohio, [ killed twenty-eight birds
in a little over an hour’s shooting before breakfast. It
was seriously urged some years ago in Ohio that the
snipe needed no legal protection, since they came in
such abundance it would be impossible to exterminate
them.

The snipe are, however, nowhere as abundant to-
day as formerly, and it is fortunate that they have in
Ohio and elsewhere comparatively safe retreats on
the club preserves, where they are not shot in the
spring, and where they are often unmolested in Sep-
tember, for the reason that the teal and wood-duck
shooting is then good on the same grounds.

There is a reason for the absolute disappearance of
these birds from many places to be found in the drain-
ing of the lands. The feeding grounds being de-
stroyed, the snipe were forced to go elsewhere. Some
of the most famous snipe-grounds in Indiana (one of
the best snipe States in the Union), the prairies about
Vincennes and in the vicinity of Lafayette, Chalmers,
Reynolds and other places farther north were thus
closed to sportsmen. And so it has been throughout
the West where the soil was rich and fertile, and there
was not too much water. As an offset to this destruc-
tion of good shooting ground, some new grounds
have been made by turning in cattle upon the lands
adjacent to sloughs and ponds, where the wild grasses
grow too tall and heavy for the snipe, and where only
the rails were found. While reducing the grass tothe
proper height for snipe, the cattle improved the feed-

274 SHORE BIRDS

ing ground by much tramping over it, and in such
places I have recently found snipe abundant where
there were none a few years ago.

The season before last I was fishing in the waters of
the St. Clair flats, and for some miles about the small
hotel where I was stopping the reeds and grasses
were entirely too long and heavy to harbor snipe.
The rails were abundant, both the small varieties and
the large king rails, but there was not enough water
in the grass to float a boat, and sportsmen well know
success does not follow the pursuit of rails afoot. It
was September and I knew the snipe must be passing
upon their Southern migration, and made repeated in-
quiries for them. I was assured by my landlord, who
was very fond of shooting, that there were none about;
but once when I was on a tour of inspection through
the waterways to the eastward in the direction of the
middle channel, I was lost in a blind cut and found at
its head a dairy farm which supplied some of the large
hotels about the south channel with milk. Upon go-
ing ashore to make some inquiries I flushed a snipe
and noticed the cattle had made the ground most suit-
able for feeding. The owner of the ranch had no ob-
jection to my shooting. I fortunately had a gun in
the boat and several boxes of cartridges, and I was
soon at work with the birds, shooting over a brace of
spaniels which belonged to the dairy-man. I did
some very good shooting, and when I returned with
the birds my landlord expressed surprise at my find-
ing any so near at hand.

Here is an excellent suggestion for the duck clubs,
especially those frequented by the shoal-water ducks,

THE SNIPE 275

or dabblers, where the snipe, although abundant, are
scattered about on the narrow rims of mud and there
is often no good shooting. I was discussing this mat-
ter one day with a member of the Ottawa Club, when
he pointed out to me an excellent piece of snipe
ground across the river which had been made by turn-
ing in some pigs. He said he believed these animals
made even a better snipe ground than the cattle, but
on this point I have my doubts. I have never much
fancied shooting when a flock of pigs followed on be-
hind as witnesses. The snipe are often found abund-
dant upon the sloppy tracts used by cattle about the
distilleries, and I am quite sure some undesirable
sloughs and wet lands can be converted into good
snipe grounds by the use of these animals.

Another method which has been tried with some
success is the burning of the grass when it is very dry,
and I have recently seen it stated, I forget now where,
that the frost seems to come out of the ground earlier
where the grass has been burned off, and the sugges-
tion was made that the blackened surface took more
kindly to the sun’s rays. Any place especially desira-
ble by reason of the frost being out of the ground and
the food abundant will attract the birds upon their
first arrival and hold them until their departure, pro-
vided they be not too much persecuted. There
should be at all clubs certain rest days for these birds
each week, such as are provided by law in some States
for the ducks, when under the club rules the birds
would be unmolested.

Upon preserves where there are both snipe and
ducks certain days might be open for each, and when

276 SHORE BIRDS

the preserves are large certain tracts might be closed
to advantage at all times, with the result that some of
the ducks and snipe would remain to breed on the
club property.

The size of the bag should be limited by law, as it
now is in many States, and supplemented by club rules;
so that the killing of three hundred and forty of
these birds in one day will no longer anywhere be
tolerated.

The flight of the snipe is peculiar. When flushed
he flies rapidly for a short distance to right or left ; in-
stantly reverses his course and goes in the opposite
direction, and continues to pitch and dart rapidly from
right to left, all the while uttering a squeak which is
said to resemble the word escape, and escape he al-
ways does from the novice, and quite often from older
and more experienced guns.

After going some distance the snipe settles down to
a course more regular. It was formerly considered
most important to wait until the snipe flew straight
before firing the gun. He was, however, often out of
range before making the change in his flight, and the
sportsmen of to-day, with their light hammerless guns,
treat him asa right or left bird, as he may be going,
and aiming a little ahead have a better chance of bag-
ging him than those who used to wait to “see the
rover travel straight.”

The snipe has never been for me a very difficult
mark. His flight is silent. There is no noisy roar of
wings such as the grouse and partridges make to dis-
concert the shooter. The shots missed are easily ac-
counted for; for it is seen that the bird has decided to

THE SNIPE 277

go about on the other tack just at the moment the
load of shot was sent across his bow, and of course he
escapes and flies on joyfully, announcing the fact to all
the other birds on the meadow. The cause of the
error being apparent, it is easily corrected. The tacks
are sufficiently long to enable the sportsman to kill the
bird before it makes the turn, and if he be sufficiently
cool he can select his shot, taking it to right or left as
he may prefer.

I have shot snipe in many places, and have always
made better bags and killed more birds continuously
without a miss when shooting snipe than when shoot-
ing any of the other small birds of the upland, such as
partridges, woodcock, and plover. The prairie-grouse
are so large and fly so slowly that they are of course
easier marks.

The most important thing for a snipe-shooter to
know is that he must beat his ground down wind. He
must enter a field or meadow from exactly the oppo-
site side to that taken when he is in pursuit of grouse
or partridges, and turn his back upon the wind. The
reason for the rule is that the snipe always arise and
fly against the wind. They are usually wild and shy,
and take wing when some distance from the shooter,
so that it is all-important that they should spring and
fly toward and not away from him. The dog, to be
sure, is placed at a disadvantage when sent down wind,
but this is more than offset by the birds flying toward
and not away from the gun. The dogs used are usually
pointers or setters, and they soon learn to point the game
at long distances, and not to attempt the near approach,
which is possible when pointing grouse or partridges.

278 SHORE BIRDS

Forester, who had excellent opportunity for study-
ing the snipe when they were abundant on the Passaic
meadows, near his home, says he made a much better
bag when shooting one day in sight of another gunner,
an equally good shot, and who had better dogs, for the
sole reason that he knew how to beat for the game.
When they met at the local tavern in the evening the
other gunner expressed surprise at being so badly
beaten, especially by one who, from his point of view,
was hunting the wrong way—with the wind.

When Forester explained that he purposely shot
down wind his rival accepted the situation, glad of the
excuse for being so badly beaten.

Bogardus gives the same advice. ‘ When hunting
along a slough,” he says, “ your companion will com-
monly be willing that you shall take either side you
choose, as few men know that it makes any difference.
But it makes a very material difference when the wind
is blowing across or nearly across the slough, and if
you take the windward side you will have the most
shots. I have always done so, and have often killed
two or three snipe to one killed by my companion.
The reason is simply this: the snipe fly up wind, and
those which rise on the leeward side of the slough
cross it to windward, while none of those which get
up on the latter side fly to leeward.”

On one occasion, when shooting near Reynolds, In-
diana, I met two men who were beating toward me in
a very large field. They had an excellent dog and
were very good shots. We entered the field at oppo-
site sides about the same time, and when we met I
had killed some thirty birds, while they together had
not killed over a half-dozen. The birds arose wild be-

THE SNIPE 279

fore them, and many of them flew over or past me,
presenting good shots, while none of my birds went to
them. I made a double shot just before we met, and
had difficulty in finding the birds, but they offered the
services of their dog, and he soon found and retrieved
them, first pointing dead in fine style. They wondered
that I should kill so many birds when they found it
difficult to get a shot.

In an old note-book I find the record of a snipe
which arose very wild before me three times when I
attempted to approach him against the wind, but upon
making a détour and moving upon him down wind, he
allowed me to approach very close, and then flew
toward me, passing so near that I had to wait for him
to get off a suitable distance in order not to miss him
or tear him to pieces.

The snipe are easily killed when hit, and seldom fly
on after receiving their death-wound, as the partridges
often do. They are usually found scattered about on
the feeding ground or in small flocks or wisps, as they
are termed, containing perhaps a half dozen or more
birds.

The rule of silence is of the utmost importance
when snipe shooting. There are birds often on the
ground which do not get up at the report of the gun,
but upon a remark to a companion about the shot or
an order to the dog, they may take wing and escape
before an empty gun. Slip fresh shells into the gun
at once and be always on guard and ready for a sec-
ond and evenathird or more shots. I have repeatedly
killed a number of birds before picking up the first or
moving from my position.

Bogardus mentions killing on one occasion three

280 SHORE BIRDS

birds at a shot, and says he has several times killed two
with one barrel; but such shots are uncommon since
the birds pitch about some distance apart. I have
made such a shot but once, when I waited until two
birds flying toward each other crossed, and, firing
just at the right time, killed them both.

On warm, sunny days, the snipe are often quite tame
and do not fly far. I was shooting on such a day
along a slough in Northern Illinois and had but fifteen
charges of shot. With these | bagged fourteen birds
—thirteen snipe and one prairie chicken, missing only
two shots and killing two snipe with one barrel, as
stated. Had I been supplied that day with plenty of
ammunition, I have no doubt I could have made a
record, since the birds presented easy marks.

The proper gun for snipe-shooting is the 12 gauge,
loaded with No. 1o shot early in the season, and No. g
later, or No. 8 if the birds are very wild. Some writers
advise the use of No. 12, or mustard seed, but since
there may be a strong wind blowing on the meadows,
when such small shot will be badly deflected and
the shots are often at long range, I much prefer the
heavier shot.

It is well to have a few shells loaded with No. 6 or
7 shot for an occasional mallard or teal; these shells
can be used on the snipe if the ammunition gives out.

Dr. Lewis does not regard dogs as of much account
in snipe-shooting, “perhaps,” he says, “ because I never
had a particularly good one for this sport—except a re-
triever.” He admits, however, that snipe frequently
lie well and suffer a dog to approach within a few feet
of them.

SHHSUVN WHHL NI ONILOOHS AdINS

THE SNIPE 281

Iam much in favor of the use of dogs. The walk-
ing is difficult and laborious, the grounds are of wide
extent ; a well-trained dog can be sent long distances
to search for the birds and thus save the shooter many
steps. He will point wild birds at long range and
retrieve the fallen, and should the birds prove very
wild and refuse to lie to him, he can be sent forth to
find and move a lot of birds, which are easily marked
down, and if necessary the dog can be ordered to heel
upon approaching them. Then, too, more than half
the pleasure of field sports is the observation of the
high bred, intelligent animals. The protective mark-
ings of a snipe make it most difficult to find without
the aid of a dog, and the shooting is often too rapid for
the good marking of dead birds. Snipe-shooting is
hard work for the dogs. They get thoroughly wet
and muddy, and have earned a rest by the fire before
they are put in the kennel for the night. It is impor-
tant they should be dry, otherwise they may be stiff
and useless on the morrow.

The spaniels often used in cock-shooting have been
used on snipe. I never so used them excepting on the
occasion referred to in Michigan and once in Illinois.

The two bright little spaniels at the dairy-farm
rushed out of the house and came to me at the sound
of the gun, and since their owner did not object, I used
them that day and on several other occasions, and
they did excellent work. The ground was peculiarly
suitable for their use, however, a good part of it being
a long narrow strip between two channels. Starting
out with the wind at my back, the dogs ranged well
ahead and flushed the birds, which flew toward me,

282 SHORE BIRDS

often passing immediately overhead. A few which
went out over the water, returned and pitched quite
near me, and having marked them, I went to them at
once with the dogs at heel. One day I took a set-
ter in my boat when I left the Star Island hotel, and
shot over him with the spaniels at heel. The small
dogs made far better retrievers, going through and
under the heavy rushes, reeds, and grasses, where the
birds often fell; while the setter soon tired himself out,
floundering about and trying to move by jumping over
them. The Snipe is often called Jack Snipe or Eng-
lish Snipe, but the English Snipe is rarely seen as a
straggler to our country.

A light shooting-coat and short trousers, and for me
light stout shoes and leggins, make up the costume
for snipe-shooting. Many go afield wearing the long
rubber boots or waders. I prefer to travel light and
get wet, and rely upon an immediate change of foot-
wear at night to prevent a cold.

XLI
THE BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER—UPLAND PLOVER

HE Bartramian sandpiper of the ornithologists is

the upland or field plover of the sportsmen.
Wilson named it after his friend William Bartram,
near whose botanic gardens on the banks of the river
Schuylkill he first found it. Seton says, “ever since
Wilson’s time this name has been continually thrust
into the face of the public, only to be as continually re-
jected. Upland plover it continues to be in the East,
and quaily on the Assiniboine.” In the West, the bird
is the prairie pigeon, and at New Orleans it is the pap-
abote.

It was formerly abundant in New England, and on
Long Island and throughout the country west to the
Rocky Mountains, frequenting only the high, grassy,
open fields. It does not frequent the ponds or streams
or ocean shores, and in its habits is more of a plover
thana sandpiper. Its food is chiefly insects. It never
has the fishy taste so often observed in other sand-
pipers and plovers, and its flesh is always delicious.
Audubon, Wilson, Coues, Elliot, Forester and the rest
of the ornithologists and sportsmen are united in prais-
ing this bird as an article of food.

Colonel Dodge regards it as one of the best of our
table birds, using it as a standard of excellence to which

283

284 SHORE BIRDS

he compared the young sage-grouse. Forester says:
“As far as a bonne bouche for the epicure goes, this
plover is inferior in my judgment to no bird that flies,
unless it be the canvas-back duck, and there, with the
chancellor I doubt.” As a game bird and object of
pursuit, | do not myself care about him. The modus
operandi does not suit my book or entertain me ; never-
theless, there is much skill displayed in circumventing,
or as Major Docherty would say, surrounding, this
wily bird; and as frequently a very largenumber may
be brought to bag, it is with some persons a very fa-
vorite sport. Forester describes at length the method
of pursuit in Rhode Island, where the sportsman is
driven in a chaise as if to pass the birds, the vehicle
being driven in a circle, approaching nearer and nearer
until the birds are about to take wing, when the sports-
man steps quickly to the ground and fires as they arise.

The upland plover is a bird of graceful outline,
brown in color, marked with black and buff. There is
but little difference in the appearance of the sexes.
The nest is always on the ground in the grass, and
there are four eggs.

The flight of this bird is strong and swift, and, since
they are usually shot at long range, they are difficult
marks. The method of pursuit is everywhere the same,
the sportsman being driven in a vehicle of some kind
(usually a wagon, buggy, or buck-board in the West) as
near as possible to the game, and jumping down to
shoot as the birds take wing. They are sometimes
shot from the saddle, which, after all, is perhaps the best
way of pursuing them. Dogs are, of course, useless,
since the birds will never lie to them.

THE UPLAND PLOVER 285

Upland plover are no longer found abundant any-
where excepting in the West and South.

They have vanished entirely from many of the East-
ern fields, but are still fairly abundant in Illinois, the
Dakotas, and Indian Territory. Mr. Hough says this
bird fairly swarms at times on the lower table-lands of
Utah and Colorado and overruns Kansas and Ne-
braska in large flocks; but they do not decoy regularly
enough to warrant the use of decoys, and the shooter
need not waste time in putting out a flock. Ina few
instances he shot them over decoys made of dead birds,
but could hardly say that they drew in to the flock, nor
is it certain that they will pay more than the slightest
attention to an imitation of their whistle. They are
especially fond of ground that has recently been burnt
over.

Before becoming familiar with the gun these birds,
like all others, are quite tame. Dr. Coues says he
found them so tame in Kansas that they were de-
stroyed without the slightest artifice, and that he had
seen them just escape being caught with the crack of a
coach-whip. Mr. Van Dyke, in a magazine article, has
given us an interesting account of shooting these birds
in standing corn. He killed seventeen birds in one
field, many of the shots being within twenty-five feet,
and made one double shot. This is the only instance
I know of where the birds have been walked up and
shot at close range. I should have been tempted to
buy the field. I doubt if they are to be found any-
where to-day as tame as described by Coues. They
learn quickly that man is their enemy, and the fear be-
comes, I believe, a matter of instinctive heredity.

286 SHORE BIRDS

My own experience with these birds has not been
extensive. On Long Island I found them so few in
numbers and so wild as to make it hardly worth while
to go in pursuit of them. In company with a local
gunner who thought he could whistle them, I put in
some time with them for want of something better to
do, but the birds seemed to me to put an additional
mile to the distance between us at each whistle. We
were entirely unable to stalk them, and those which
came anywhere near our ambush were always, in the
drawling dialect of my companion, “Tew wide, tew
wide.”

In the far West, where I found these birds more
abundant and tame, I was accompanied by setters, and,
the grouse being abundant, I had no time to devote to
birds which did not interest my dogs, and shot but a
few specimens.

A friend of mine, an army officer stationed in Texas,
informed me that they kill large numbers of them,
driving about in an ambulance, and | regretted much
that I could not accept an invitation to shoot them
there. I have had many a cruise in an army ambu-
lance after all sorts of game, from the lordly elk and
buffalo to birds of all sorts, but have never used an
army ambulance as a means of approaching the “ prai-
rie pigeon.”

XE
BAY BIRD SHOOTING

HE shore birds or waders other than the wood-
cock, snipe, and upland plover or Bartramian
sandpiper may all be considered together, so far as the
shooting is concerned, under the familiar title bay birds.
Throughout the entire length of our sea-coasts, about
the bays, lagoons, inlets, and salt marshes, most of the
varieties may be seen late in the spring upon their
northern migration, and at the end of summer return-
ing southward with the young of the year.

When going to shoot the bay birds I would advise
the sportsman to put up with some local gunner or
fisherman, so as to be on or near the ground, excepting,
of course, those sportsmen who belong to the clubs, or
have an invitation to shoot on club preserves. In ad-
dition to the advantage of being on or near the ground
the sportsman domiciled with a local gunner will have
the advantage of his advice, and without much difh-
culty will reach the points frequented by the birds.
Although he may have a fair knowledge of the habits
of the birds, it is all important to know what they are
doing in a given locality ; what particular marsh, flat,
point, or mud-hole they may be using, and the most
likely places for a blind. For several years during my
residence at Yale I had an arrangement with a market
gunner at Shinnecock Bay. He had a neat and tidy

287

288 SHORE BIRDS

cabin on a little creek, a short distance from the bay,
good boats, plenty of decoys and was thoroughly fam-
iliar with every inch of the ground. Of course, after
spending some weeks with this obliging and capable
man I was able to go out alone on the bay, knowing
well every likely place for birds.

Although I regard the shooting of bay birds as
the least interesting of all field-shooting, I have spent
many pleasant days so engaged; and when the day is
fine and the flight good, the sport furnishes excite-
ment enough of a pleasurable kind, and a bag of birds,
good, bad, and indifferent ; their value depending much
upon their food, and many of them too small and insig-
nificant as marks to be worthy of a sportsman’s notice.

The method of pursuit at all seasons is the same.
When the tide begins to flow the sportsman sets forth
for the shooting ground at the margin of some bay or
pond, accompanied usually by a professional market
gunner or bayman, who sails the boat, puts out the
decoys, constructs the blind or hide, and, in fact, does
all the work.

The blind is constructed of sea-weed, sedge, or
bushes; sometimes a group of small evergreen trees,
stuck in the mud, at a favorite place and left standing.
so that the birds may become familiar with them.
Often a box is sunk in the mud or sand with a fringe
of sea-weed or marsh grass about it, further to conceal
it. This is the best form of blind, so far as deception is
concerned, but it is decidedly tiresome, lying down in
a narrow box for hours at a time, especially if the flight
is not good. The decoys, wooden or tin images,
painted to represent the more common varieties of

BAY BIRD SHOOTING 289

bay birds, are set up a short distance from the place
of ambush, usually at the edge of the water, some of
them in the shoal water, others on a likely little bar or
feeding-place. Considerable skill is displayed in set-
ting them so that they resemble a lot of birds, natu-
rally spaced and posed as if feeding.

The sail down the bay ina boat moved by a sum-
mer breeze is delightful. As the sportsman listens to
the waves splashing against the prow and breathes the
salt air, his eyes rest upon the broad marshes, beauti-
ful in tones of yellow, olive, and Venetian red, which
stretch away to the horizon, where they blend with the
diminutive summer clouds floating in an azure sky.
There area few hay-stacks. There is a cabin here
and there, a picturesque fish-reel, and the tall, slim
light-house gleams white like the passing sails. Pres-
ently the bay-manexclaims: ‘“ Mark! Dowitch!” and
as a matter of habit, ducks his head and begins to
whistle in imitation of the notes of the dowitchers or
red-breasted snipe, or it may be the loud shrill, Whew!
Whew! Whew! in one, two, three order, should the
birds be the noisy tattlers, the yellow-legs. A bunch
of birds flying closely together is seen far out over the
beach, moving to a feeding ground. There is no dan-
ger of the birds coming within range, however. They
know the gun too well. The bay-man recovers from
his automatic pose of concealment, ceases to whistle,
glances at the sail, moves the rudder slightly in his
endeavor to make more speed, and the merry waves
go slap, slap, slap against the bow, sweet music to the
sportsman’s ear, far different from the rattle in the
streets at home.

290 SHORE BIRDS

Approaching a feeding ground, a variety of birds
are seen diligently at work, running about on the
muddy or sandy flat and in the shallow water. These
sound an alarm and take wing, flying rapidly away.
The blind is quickly arranged, the decoys are set out
and the boat sails away to a sufficient distance, so as
not to alarm the returning birds. As the tide rises
the birds feeding in the marshes are driven out and
fly about. The bay-man at once knows what variety
is approaching, even when they are but small specks
on the horizon, and begins to whistle a perfect imita-
tion of their cries. Soon they discover the counter-
feits and wheeling all together they come sailing up,
flutter a moment over the decoys and often alight
among them if permitted to do so.

If the birds are allowed to alight an immense num-
ber may often be killed at the first shot, and many
more will surely fall to the second barrel as the rem-
nant of the flock flies away.

There may be some excuse for a market gunner with
a large family to support (if legally permitted to shoot
birds, as he should not be) shooting birds on the
ground. His business requires him to get the largest
number of birds with the least expenditure of ammu-
nition. There is no such excuse for a sportsman. He
should select his birds while they are on the wing and
try for a double shot. Since he presumably shoots
for sport alone, he would do well to try and make his
double shot count for not more than two birds, shoot-
ing where the birds are widely spaced instead of where
they are most closely crowded together. It is short-
sighted in the extreme now that game birds of all sorts

BAY BIRD SHOOTING 291

are vanishing so rapidly to try and kill them all at
once. I have referred to the legal limitation of the
bag to be made in a day, found necessary in many
places.

In Vermont—the bag limit is five birds per diem—
a single pot-shot puts an end to a legal day’s shooting.
In Maine the limit of a day’s bag is fifteen birds, ex-
cepting sandpipers (which I suppose is a legal blunder
for shore birds), where the bag limit is seventy birds.
Club rules and regulations govern the bag on many
preserves, and it is evidently to the sportsman’s inter-
est nowadays to select his birds and kill only one at a
time. Sportsmanship is, I am pleased to observe, more
refined and humane to-day than formerly, and the true
sportsman seeks to enjoy the sport with the least pos-
sible cruelty, killing his birds clean and wounding as
few as possible. The shot at the flock where the birds
are closest together is sure to wound a number in addi-
tion to those killed outright.

There may be many varieties of birds in the bag at
night. In Massachusetts and elsewhere it is customary
to speak of “big” and “little” birds. The curlews,
dowitchers, tattlers, golden and black-breasted plovers
and some others rank as big birds, and all the smaller
plovers, sandpipers, and sanderlings are classed as
small birds.

I am firmly of the opinion that it would be well to
draw the line so as to exclude all the little birds from
the list of game, with the exception of one or two vari-
eties, such as the pectoral sandpipers, which are excel-
lent food birds. For my part I do not care to shoot
at these. After lively work with canvas-backs, mallards,

292 SHORE BIRDS

grouse, partridges, woodcock, snipe and other splen-
did game birds, the pectoral sandpiper, peep, and oxeye
do not suit my gun.

A retrieving spaniel under good command is useful
and ornamental in bay bird shooting. He should be
under excellent control and lie close in the blind, not
winking an eye until ordered out to retrieve. The
dogs used for duck-shooting will do very well. I have
used setters. The gun should be the 12 gauge;
shot No. 8, with a few loads of No. 7 or 6, for the
largest birds or any long-range shots. A light sleeve-
less coat of gray or brown canvas, a hat of the same
color and light shoes make up a suitable costume, since
the weather is warm. A heavier coat and rain-coat
may be left in the boat. A well-filled lunch basket,
with a bottle of beer or wine, if you will, and plenty of
water and ice, add to the pleasures of the noon-hour,
and the ice may save the game on a very hot day.

Forester’s advice is to use two heavy guns—io- or
12-pounders—loaded with coarse powder and No. 5
shot. It is needless to say the advice is not heeded
by sportsmen. A few such guns may be found to-
day at some of the duck clubs, but they are not fired
at peeps.

Difficult shots are sometimes presented at wild pass-
ing birds, when the gun should be held well ahead of
the mark, as in duck-shooting.

A piece of netting over the hat will keep off some
of the mosquitoes and gnats, which are marvellously
abundant on good bay bird grounds, and, unless you
are pretty thoroughly acclimated, as Forester says,
they “will probably use you up to about as great a

BAY BIRD SHOOTING 293

degree as you will use up the willets, robins, dow-
itchers, marlins, yellow-legs, and black-breasts.” <A
fine salt breeze, however, often blows the mosquitoes
away, and a cloud of tobacco-smoke may be sent after
them.

The migrating shore birds which follow the streams
of the interior and are found far from salt water, an-
nually travelling up and down the valley of the Missis-
sippi and its tributaries, are not much shot over decoys.
In some places they are quite tame and may be ap-
proached within range, and when shot at often will fly
away but a short distance, and return again to hover
over their dead and dying companions, presenting the
easiest kind of shots. As larger game rapidly vanishes
more attention is given to the shore birds, and they
soon will become wild, and when shot at will fly long
distances.

There are many places in the Western States where
the shore birds may be shot over decoys in the same
manner as on Long Island, but they are more often
shot incidentally by sportsmen who are afield for snipe,
or as they pass over the duck-blinds. Itisin such ways
that I have shot most of the varieties in the Western
States.

The shore birds are fairly abundant at many of the
duck preserves, and no doubt as the ducks come in
fewer numbers more attention will be given them. At
some of the clubs there are full sets of decoys for
shore birds.

KEV
OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS

AVING described the method of pursuit, we now

come to consider the birds, to look over the

bag, as it were, handling them one by one, to see what

birds are worth the powder and to throw out those en-

tirely worthless, which should not have found a place
in the bag.

The desirable birds of the snipe and sandpiper family
(in addition to the woodcock, snipe, and upland plover,
or Bartramian sandpiper), are twelve in number: The
dowitcher or red-breasted snipe, the knot, the dunlin,
the marbled godwit, the Hudsonian godwit, the greater
yellow-legs, the lesser yellow-legs, the willet, three cur-
lews, and the pectoral sandpiper.

All but the last named and the dunlin are birds of fair
size, good marks, and fairly good to eat when their
food does not give them a too “ fishy” taste. The pec-
toral sandpiper is a small bird, but its flesh is better for
the table than that of many others, and on this account
it properly finds a place in the bag. This bird is in
some localities known as the jack-snipe, a name more
often applied to the true snipe (scolopax).

We proceed to consider these larger birds in their
order, and since all the shore birds, big and small,
under existing game laws are considered game, we
have listed the smaller varieties in the appendix, suff-

204

OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 295

ciently describing them to enable the sportsman to
identify them. The smaller birds are sometimes shot
by accident when the gun is fired at larger game, and
it has been the practice on many beaches to shoot them
for sport for the want of something better when the
larger birds are not about.

I.—THE DOWITCHER—RED-BREASTED SNIPE

This bird is about the same in size as the Wilson
snipe, has the same long bill and is often mistaken for
the latter bird. In the Western markets I have seen
them hung up in bunches with the Wilson snipe, often
called jack or English snipe. I have found and shot
them on the same wet grass fields with the Wilson
snipe. Along the shores they are shot over decoys
with the other shore birds. They respond well to an
imitation of their whistle, and the baymen are quite
expert in calling them. As Elliot observes, they are
among the last to take alarm should an intruder draw
near. Like some of the other varieties, before being
too much shot at they will return a second time to the
decoys, provided the gunner remains concealed and
can imitate their familiar call, and many often fall at a
shot.

The long-billed dowitcher is the Western variety and
is only found in western North America, breeding in
Alaska to the Arctic Coast, migrating south in winter
through the western United States (including the Mis-
sissippi valley) to Mexico, and less commonly along
the Atlantic Coast. Its bill is somewhat longer than
that of the Eastern bird, but from the sportsman’s
point of view the two birds are the same.

296 SHORE BIRDS

i.—THE KNOT

The knot, often called robin snipe, from the resem-
blance of its lower plumage to that of the robin, is
nearly as large as the upland plover, or Bartramian
sandpiper. It is found throughout the world, fre-
quenting the shores of all continents. It has been very
abundant on the Atlantic Coast and is still more abun-
dant than many of the other waders. The young are
often known as gray-backs, or gray-backed snipe.

Mr. Ralph Greenwood, writing for Shooting and Fish-
ing, says that at Chatham, Massachusetts, the sanderlings
are very plentiful; the turnstone plovers are also abun-
dant and by most gunners are esteemed a step higher
than the sanderling. ‘The knot (red-breast),”” he says,
“is still more highly esteemed by sportsmen, and as a
rule one or two are shot each day by each gunner.
Sanderlings are by some considered unworthy of a
charge of shot; but the sanderling is generally quite
fat, and its flesh, according to my opinion, is superior
to the black-bellied plover, the greater yellow-legs, or
in fact most of the shore birds.” . . . “ Allstrive to
shoot the knot.”

Other local names for the knot are red sandpiper,
may-bird, red-breast plover, and beach robin.

These birds feed like the other smaller and more
familiar shore birds, running gracefully away from the
on-rushing wave, flying a few feet if necessary to avoid
being overtaken by it and following the receding
waters, feeding as they go, ina manner familiar to all
who have taken a stroll on the beach.

Anderson refers to the knot as a superior bird of
ready sale.

OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 297

The knot flies swiftly, presents a fairly good mark,
and comes readily to decoys, especially when the notes
of its call, ‘‘wheep, wheep,” are imitated.

Iil.—THE DUNLIN

The dunlin of the gunners is the red-backed sand-
piper of the ornithologist. They are found through-
out America, and have been given the name dunlin
from the European bird. In the check-list of the
American Ornithological Union this bird is given as
asub-species; the English dunlin, which is an oc-
casional visitor to our shores, being placed as the
species.

The dunlin is usually shot by sportsmen and _ is
plump and palatable. Trumbull says no apology is
necessary for introducing it in his list, as, notwithstand-
ing its diminutive size, it has appeared many times in
lists of gunners’ birds, and affords some sport even to
adults when bigger birds are absent. Bates, who is
most familiar with shore-bird shooting as practised on
the Massachusetts coast, says this bird is deservedly a
favorite with sportsmen, both from its beautiful plu-
mage and for its edible qualities. They feed on the
sandy flats, and in the autumn are easily captured,
any boy being able to walk them up, or call them
down. Audubon says the bird is considered excel-
lent eating. I shot most of my dunlins when a boy,
and can hardly regard them as game birds for adults.
Think of a dunlin ina bag with the ruffed or prairie
grouse, the partridge, woodcock, snipe, teal, canvas-
back, or mallard!

The red-back is often called black-bellied sandpiper ;

298 SHORE BIRDS

the cinnamon markings on the back and the large
black patch on the belly suggesting the names. It is
well to know that in the winter the upper parts are
mottled gray and the under parts white. The birds
are no longer “red-backs,” or “ black-bellies.” The
European bird is a slightly smaller bird; otherwise the
same.

IV.—THE MARBLED GODWIT

The godwits somewhat resemble the curlews and
are found often associating with them. They are
easily distinguished ; the bills of the godwits are nearly
straight, or slightly curved upward. The bills of all
curlews have a decided downward curve. There are
in all four godwits found in North America, but the
marbled godwit and Hudsonian only are important.
The Pacific godwit is an Asiatic bird, found also in
Alaska, and as an occasional visitor to California. The
black-tailed godwit is very similar to the Hudsonian,
and represents the latter in the old world; an oc-
casional specimen has been seen in Greenland.

The marbled godwit is found throughout North
America. With the other waders it comes to the
Atlantic coast in April or early in May, and returns
again in the late summer. The centre of its abun.
dance in summer, and its main breeding-ground, is ap-
parently, says Coues, the Northern Mississippi and
Eastern Missouri regions and thence to the Saskatche-
wan; for, unlike its relative (L. Hudsonica), it does not
proceed very far north to nest. It breeds in lowa
and in Minnesota and Eastern Dakota, where I ob-
served it in June, and where the eggs have been pro-

OTHER SNIPES’ AND’ SANDPIPERS 299

cured. It is found with the field plover and curlew
nesting on the plains, and Dr. Coues says that in its
habits at this season it most nearly resembles the cur-
lew, and that the two species, of much the same size
and general appearance, might readily be mistaken at
a distance, where the difference in the bill might not
be perceived. The godwit is wild and difficult to ap-
proach. It is shot over decoys, and, like many other
varieties, these birds return again to the dead and dying
after a shot has been fired. They are often called red
curlew, straight-billed curlew, marlin, and have other
local names.

V.—THE HUDSONIAN GODWIT

This bird is somewhat smaller than the preceding.
It is found upon its migration about the Eastern coast,
but is never abundant. It is found also in the interior,
but does not go to the Pacific coast, except in Alaska.
I have seen the godwits only in Dakota, and have shot
but a few of them, usually without decoys, when in the
pursuit of other game. I have approached quite close
to them when they were feeding on the margin of
ponds in the West, and do not regard them as difficult
marks.

VI.—THE GREATER YELLOW-LEGS

The greater yellow-legs and the lesser yellow-legs
are identical in pattern and color. A photograph of
one would do for the portrait of the other were there
nothing to indicate the size. They are different birds,
although one might be taken for the young of the
other. From their loud, shrill whistle, sounded in
notes, often repeated, they are called tattlers, yelpers,

300 SHORE BIRDS

and telltales. They often come whistling past the
gunner when he is shooting wood-duck or teal in
September, and upon such occasions and when snipe-
shooting in the spring I have killed many of them. I
had a chance to observe them quite closely a year ago
in the autumn, when sketching in the Ottawa marshes
south of Lake Erie. One day I had for some timea
lot of these birds quite near me, and there were also
in the water beyond mallards, teal, dusky ducks, and
some others, all within range, and a number of snipe
were boring along the shore. It was just before the
shooting season opened, and the birds were on the
preserve of the Winous Point Club.

The yellow-legs are marked with black and white.
The head, neck, and under parts are white streaked
with black. The lesser bird is about the size of the
Wilson snipe; the other is considerably larger. They
are easily distinguished by their long legs, which are
of a bright Naples yellow. They are found along the
sea-shore and were formerly abundant, but they are
now far more numerous about the Western ponds
than in the East. They come well to the decoys,
especially when the gunner is familiar with and can
imitate their whistle.

The greater yellow-legs breeds in the far North,
occasionally in the United States. I have shot these
birds in many places, more often in Ohio, Indiana»
Illinois, and Dakota when in pursuit of other game. I
have not the patience required to sit in a blind and
whistle bay birds when there are snipe on the mead-
ows or woodcock in the woods or wood-duck or teal
to be “jumped” out of the wild rice. I much prefer

OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS | 301

to move about and go in pursuit rather than lie in
ambush.

I was once shooting snipe in Indiana on some excel-
lent ground owned by a club of Chicago gentlemen,
and observed four of the larger yellow-legs on a
muddy bar at the upper end of a diminutive island in
a shallow prairie river. 1 waded to the lower end of
the island and moved forward—slowly until within
easy range of the birds, and not caring much whether |
I bagged them or not, I determined to try for three
with two barrels (on the wing, of course). As they
arose, two of the birds flew toward each other, and
waiting until they were close together, I killed them
both and shot a third bird with the remaining barrel.
The survivor went off rapidly, whistling loudly ; but
when I[ whistled to him he missed his companions, and
returning, passed within range, and firing a little ahead
of him, I tumbled him into the river. The birds were
unusually fine, large specimens and looked well in the
bag of snipe.

The fishy flavor of these birds when taken on the
coast is not so apparent in the Western birds, but
I do not care much for them in the field or on the
table. They are not difficult marks. They have al-
‘ways brought good prices in the markets, are always
taken by sportsmen, and are properly ranked with
the shore birds of the second class, giving first place
always to the woodcock, snipe, and upland plover.

VII.—THE LESSER YELLOW-LEGS
All that has been said of the greater yellow-legs
applies to the lesser, which is much more abundant
everywhere. I have seen these birds in the West often

302 SHORE BIRDS

too tame to need decoys, and on several occasions I
have shot at them until the gun became hot, and have
made large bags without concealment of any kind.

One day when shooting sharp-tailed grouse, as I ap-
proached Fort Totten, where I was visiting an army
officer, I saw an immense number of these birds about
the muddy margin of a shallow alkaline lake. As
those nearest took wing, I fired, killing a half-dozen or
more with my two barrels. The many flocks about
the lake all arose at the report of the gun, and the air
was full of yellow-legs, many wheeling past or over-
head, and circling about, often alighting again within
range. I was in excellent practice, and shot rapidly,
making few misses. My setter kept busy for a time
retrieving, and often brought several birds at once. I
was entirely too fast for him, however, and brought
down ten or a dozen birds while he retrieved one.
After galloping about in the mud in pursuit of a
wounded bird with another in his mouth, he became
disgusted with the sport and retired to the grass and
declined to retrieve more. It occurred to me that I
had all that could be used at the garrison, and I ceased
firing, while there were still many birds flying about
within range. I gathered several dozen birds which
fell where the walking was good, but had to abandon
as many more which fell in the deep mud, the dog
positively refusing to be a party to such slaughter.

Although I often saw these birds very abundant, I
did not again shoot at them, since they were not as de-
sirable as the grouse, mallards, teal, gadwalls, spoon-
bills, and other ducks, and the snipe which were often
flushed about the margins of the ponds.

OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 303

VIII.—THE WILLET

There are two willets so much alike as easily to be
mistaken. The Eastern variety is found from the At-
lantic westward to the Mississippi. The Western va-
riety inhabits the western portion of North America
to the Mississippi. The latter bird, according to the
ornithologists, is a little larger and somewhat grayer.
Elliot says that in winter the two forms cannot be
distinguished from each other, save possibly by the
longer bill of the Western variety, “though this is not
always reliable.” As I have had occasion to remark,
the sportsmen are not much in sympathy with ornitho-
logical variety-makers, especially when the differences
are slight. From the sportsman’s point of view the
Eastern and Western willet are the same. There is
really a much greater difference in the gunners than
in the game, and the willets and other slightly shaded
varieties of game birds, glancing back at their human
enemies, might with more propriety classify them as
blondes, brunettes, or red-heads.

The two willets are found often in the same locality.
They are among the largest and best of the bay birds.
Second in size only to the godwits and curlews, their
length is about sixteen inches.

They are, when pursued at all, very wild and wary
and difficult to approach. They are more often shot
when flying past the decoys set out for the other
waders, and do not come to the decoys nearly so well
as many of the others. The name is derived from the
noisy call of the bird. It is often called “pil willet.”

304 SHORE BIRDS

IX.—THE LONG-BILLED CURLEW

This bird is the giant among waders. It is nearly
three times as large as the Wilson’s snipe. The long-
billed curlew fly in an angular order, like the wild
geese, a single bird at the point of the angle leading.
Their loud, shrill cries are well imitated by the profes-
sional bay-men and some sportsmen, and they come
readily to the decoys when the call is well imitated.
As they come flapping up or sail on extended wings
they present a large, easy mark similar to ducks hover-
ing over decoys, but far easier. Elliot describes kill-
ing a pair of these birds from a flock passing overhead,
when the others returned to their wounded compan-
ions, flying over and around them, and says repeated
discharges failed for a time to drive the unwounded
away. The flesh has the same sedgy or fishy taste
when these birds are taken along shore, but is better
when they are shot on the Western prairies.

X.—THE HUDSONIAN CURLEW

The Hudsonian curlew, popularly known as the Jack
curlew, nests in the far North and returns to the States
with the other waders toward the end of summer. It
is not numerous anywhere and is the least abundant of
our curlews. It has many local names, such as crooked-
bill marlin, whimbrel, horsefoot-marlin, etc. They are
fairly good to eat and are always shot by sportsmen
when the opportunity is presented, as it now rarely is.
Elliot says the birds were once abundant in New
Jersey.

OTHER SNIPES AND SANDPIPERS 305

XI.—THE ESKIMO CURLEW

This is the smallest but most abundant of the curlews.
Its bill, like the others, is long and curved downward.
It is much like the Hudsonian, only smaller, the length
of the former being seventeen inches and of the latter
about thirteen inches—the length of the woodcock, it
will be remembered, is nine and a half to ten inches.

The Eskimo curlew, when migrating in the spring
and early autumn, are found in immense numbers on
favorite feeding grounds in the Missouri region. Dr.
Coues saw numerous flocks containing fifty to several
hundred birds on the prairies along the road between
Fort Randall and Yankton. They were scattered
everywhere, dotting the prairie with the Bartramian
sandpipers and golden plovers in large loose flocks,
which, as they fed, kept up a continuous low piping
noise as if conversing with each other.

They respond to the whistle and come well to de-
coys. They are rapid flyers, but fly so closely together
that it is possible to kill quite a number at a shot. The
smaller flocks decoy better than the larger. They are
excellent table birds when found on the Western
prairies, since, like the Bartramian sandpiper, they are
fond of grasshoppers, which, as we have observed, are
excellent food, giving even to the sage-grouse a fine
flavor. They also eat berries and small snails. They
are more abundant in the West than on the coast.

XII.—THE PECTORAL SANDPIPER

I have no hesitation in admitting the pectoral sand-
piper to my list of game. Although much smaller

306 SHORE BIRDS

than the other wading birds excepting the dunlin, he
is a good mark and is very good to eat. He feeds in
the salt meadows, lies to the dog, and can be walked
up and flushed like upland birds, a game-like quality
sufficient to admit him to the list. Audubon pro-
nounces his flesh juicy and well-flavored. When pro-
cured late in the season, he says, “I think it superior
to any of our shore birds, and I have partaken of it
when I have thought it equal to any of our upland
game.”

These sandpipers do not associate much in flocks
like the others. They are found scattered about feed-
ing upon the meadows singly or in pairs. They are
not very wild birds, and when approached arise and
fly but a short distance, uttering a single “tweet.”
They sometimes, when much startled, spring quickly
with loud repeated cries, and make off in a zigzag
course much like the common snipe.

I have had considerable sport with these birds on
the salt meadows walking them up without a dog, and
on several occasions I have made a good bag of them
with a few of the other varieties. No. 10 is the proper
shot, since they are small marks, and the shot is usually
at close range.

These birds are met with in the interior as well as
along the coast. Elliot observes that they do not seem
to go southward by way of the coast line of California,
probably migrating inland to Central America and so
onward to Chili by way of the shore.

XLIV
THE PLOVERS

HERE are, including the European golden plover,

an occasional visitor, and several other extra limit-
al birds, fifteen plover on the check-list of North Ameri-
can birds. Most of these birds (although it is lawful
everywhere to shoot them at certain seasons) are unde-
sirable as marks, on account of their size, and their flesh
is not sufficiently good to warrant the killing. I would
strongly urge sportsmen to spare the ring-plover, the
little ring, the piping, the snowy, and semi-palmated
plover and the others—even the familiar kill-deer,
which I must confess has more than once called for a
shot from my gun as he sailed overhead uttering the
shrill whistle which gave him his name.

The plovers are distinguished from the snipes and
sandpipers by their bill, which is more pigeon-shaped.
The bill of the snipes and sandpipers is longer and
slimmer. We have observed that the best of all the
plovers of the sportsmen is not a plover but a sand-
piper.

Of the true plovers, the only birds worthy of the
sportsman’s attention are the American golden plover
and the black-bellied plover, the European golden
plover, a rare visitor ; the Pacific golden plover, which
is, from the sportsman’s point of view, the same as the
American golden plover, and the mountain plover.
Of these in their order.

307

308 SHORE BIRDS

THE GOLDEN PLOVER

The golden plover, familiarly known in the West as
golden back and bull-head, takes its name from the
yellow or golden dots on its back. It is a fine large
bird with black breast and head; the forehead white
and a white stripe over the eye. The upper parts are
brownish black, beautifully mottled with yellow and
white. The golden dots render it unmistakable.

Shortly after the arrival of the snipe, in the spring,
one may look for the golden plover. The date of their
arrival in the Northern States is dependent upon the
weather. Not a bird will be found until the frost is
well out of the ground. Many birds usually arrive in
April, but, as Mr. Hough says, the first of May can
roughly be called their date. By the last of that
month they have departed for their breeding grounds
in British America and north to the Arctic shores.
Before they have left us they have paired, and it is
without doubt wrong to shoot them in the spring, and
the shooting at this time should be prohibited by
legislation. I have had excellent sport with these
birds when snipe shooting in the spring on the West-
ern prairies, when the birds were so abundant as to
seem to need no legislation; but they come each year
in greatly diminished numbers, and are seen no more
to-day in some places where they were very abundant
afew years ago. The salvation of this bird depends
upon the stopping of the spring shooting. The plover
return to the United States the last of August or dur-
ing September. They are found in flocks, often con-
taining many birds, and as they run about on the

THE PLOVERS 309

prairie, they appear as large as pigeons (larger than
they are), and they are called prairie pigeons in some
localities. This name is, however, more often applied
to the field plover or sandpiper.

The golden plover is shot by the bay-men and
sportsmen over decoys, as it travels north and south
along the coast, and it responds well to an imitation of
its whistle, which Mr. Hough has attempted to give
phonetically as akeen “ Whit! wheet—wheet—whit!”
There are plover calls on the market which give a
fair imitation of their whistle, but the market gunners
do not rely on these.

Elliot says the golden plover goes mostly by the sea-
coast in its migrations; or, if the weather be favorable,
far out at sea, making but few stops in the long jour-
ney. I have never seen any such numbers about the
coast as I have observed on the Western prairies, and
I am quite satisfied that fully as many and in fact
more birds pass inland across the continent.

In Illinois and Indiana a few years ago the number
of plovers to be seen on the prairies was truly re-
markable. I have seen flocks containing hundreds of
birds scattered about in every direction and flying
from one feeding ground to another.

Plover shooting over decoys is still a favorite amuse-
ment with many Western sportsmen. It is almost im-
possible to stalk them without the aid of a horse or
vehicle. I have repeatedly, when snipe shooting, at-
tempted to walk near a flock of these birds when they
appeared not very wild, but notwithstanding I resorted
to the artifice of seeming to pass them, as one would
drive for them in a vehicle, they always took wing just

310 SHORE BIRDS

before I came within range and seemed to estimate the
distance to a nicety, continuing to run about and feed
until the last safe moment.

The sportsman going out to shoot golden plover
should observe, like the duck shooter, what the birds
are doing. Upon a careful survey of the ground it
will be apparent often that the birds are moving in
certain directions, flying from one feeding ground to
another and passing over certain fields, and it is on
the line of flight or on some favorite feeding spot
that the decoys should be set out. The decoys may
be had at the gun stores and are usually made of wood
or tin, with a peg to stand them on in the mud; the
dead birds can be used to advantage, standing them
up among the decoys by means of sticks, as the duck
shooter often sets up his ducks. A few sticks carried
in the shooting-coat for this purpose will be found use-
ful on the prairie where it is impossible to find any.

I have more often shot these plovers from a blind,
getting under their line of flight and without decoys,
but much larger bags can be made with decoys—espe-
cially if the sportsman is skilful in calling or whistling
the birds.

I was once shooting snipe in Northern Indiana and
finding but few birds, I decided to devote the day to
the golden plover, which were exceedingly abundant,
flock after flock crossing the same field in rapid suc-
cession. Taking my stand at a fence with a few
bushes and small trees as a blind, I ordered the dogs
down and soon had some rapid shooting.

The flocks were not large and at no time did I kill
many birds at a shot, but I repeatedly killed two or

THE PLOVERS 311

three, more often one, or one with each barrel, and it
was not long before I had a very fine bag of birds.
My shooting companions, when we met at the vil-
lage hotel, expressed surprise that I should have so
many plover. They knew I had no decoys and was
a poor hand at calling. They, too, had tried for the
birds all day with no success, having endeavored to
stalk them. When I explained my method of letting
the birds come to me on their line of flight, they
determined to try it, and had no trouble in getting
some excellent shooting.

Upon another occasion, when out for snipe, I ob-
served as I walked down a road that the plover were
crossing it at a certain point, and stopping in the fence
corner with little concealment I had some very good
shooting.

In Texas and some of the other prairie States these
birds are shot by stalking them in a vehicle or on horse-
back in the same way already described for taking the
upland plover or Bartramian sandpiper. On the vast
prairies where there are few fences this is very good
sport, but a horse which can jump a wire fence is bet-
ter than a vehicle, which must often necessarily make
a long detour to follow the birds to an adjoining field.

Since I have joined the ranks of those opposed to
spring shooting I do not expect again to shoot much at
plover. In September, the prairie-grouse, the snipe,
the wood-duck, and teal are more inviting, and I then
have no time to learn to whistle the golden plover or
study the setting of the decoys.

Hough well says that to be successful you must be
an expert plover-shooter, and to be an expert you must

312 SHORE BIRDS

call the birds. This requires constant practice in the
field, and the proficiency with which one can execute
the call is about the measure of his success at golden-
plover shooting. It is the easiest thing in the world to
make a mistake in setting out the decoys which shall
cost you half your birds. You do not want the wind
to blow across your blind to the decoys or across the
decoys toward your blind. The decoys must be at
one side of the blind. Suppose the wind is blowing
from the east to the west, you put out your decoys to
the north of your blind and not to the east or west.
The decoys should be set out in a longish line, rather
wedge-shaped, point down the wind and all at easy
gun-range—not too close. Hearing the call the birds
swing, cross over and come up wind to alight among
the decoys.

The same writer advises the sportsman not to fire at
the leading birds, but at the “ middle-oblique” of the
flock, when the charge will rake the flock. As the
remnant double up, he says, the second barrel held till
the right time goes far toward completing the work.
At the sound of his deceitful whistle the birds will
often return again to the decoys, and twenty, thirty, or
forty birds may fall to your gun from one flock. If
you get only six or eight, your friend and possible com-
panion, the market-gunner, would laugh at you. Two
hundred in a day, 1,000 in a week—you can do this in
Northern Illinois even to-day if you have the natural
heart for butchery.

I have already advised the shooting for single birds
when shooting at a flock of bay birds, and the same
shot should be made by sportsmen at golden plover

THE PLOVERS 313

on the prairie. I must admit the pot-shot where the
birds are thickest is most tempting to a novice; but it
is butchery like this which causes the birds to vanish
from localities where they were most abundant.

The proper gun is the twelve-gauge loaded with No.
8 shot, or No. 7 if the birds are wild. I would advise
the taking of shells loaded with both numbers, and a
few with No. 6 for a passing teal or wood-duck.

A friend with whom I used to shoot snipe and plover
once saw a market-gunner arise from his blind and
throw his felt hat at a large flock before firing. The
birds bunched as they wheeled in a fright, mistaking
the hat (in the opinion of the market-gunner) for a
hawk, and an immense number was killed with two
barrels.

The European golden plover is very similar to the
American; so closely does it resemble it in fact that
the birds might be mistaken easily. Dr. Coues gives
it as his opinion that our golden plover may always be
distinguished by the color of the lining of the wings,
which is pure white in the European and ashy-gray in
the American species. The Pacific golden plover has
the same habits and closely resembles the American
golden plover. The only difference is its smaller size
and “more golden hue.’”’ With such slight variations
the sportsman has nothing to do.

THE BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER

This variety is not infrequently mistaken for the
golden plover, but can easily be distinguished, as Elliot
says, at all ages by its having the axillary plumes (the
long feathers growing from the armpit and seen under-

314 SHORE BIRDS

neath the wing) black; whereas, in the other species,
these are white. This bird arrives at the same time
with the golden plover, passing northward in May
and returning in August or September. Elliot says
that these birds are more numerous along the sea-
coasts, but this seems to me to be incredible, since there
are legions of them at times in Kansas, Nebraska, and
the Dakotas.*

Along the coasts the birds feed in the salt marshes
and about the flats and ponds, their food being insects
and shell-fish, which imparts the fishy flavor to their
flesh. On the Western uplands, where they feed on
grasshoppers, these birds are excellent for the table.

These birds come well to the decoys and are shot
with the golden plover, and that which was said with
reference to the shooting of the golden plover applies
equally well to them.

THE MOUNTAIN PLOVER

This bird is a true prairie plover, never resorting to
the beach, but dwelling upon the plains away from the
water, “ preferring the grassy districts’’; and is some-
times found in sterile tracts covered with sage-brush.
It is very numerous in New Mexico and Arizona and
Southern California. It feeds upon insects, such as
grasshoppers, crickets, beetles, ticks, and possibly
worms, and is often fat and in fine condition. This
bird presents a fair mark and is good to eat, and it
may be considered game, but it is of little importance,
since it is found in localities where much better birds
are abundant.

The other plovers, of no importance to sportsmen,
* See Appendix, No. 95.

THE PLOVERS 315

excepting to those who shoot only on beaches where
everything larger has about been exterminated, are
the ring-necks or semi-palmated plovers, small migra-
tory birds which are found usually on the sandy shores,
living on minute insects and shell-fish, and in the in-
terior about the margins of ponds and rivers. They
run away frequently as one approaches, or fly for a
short distance and at once begin feeding again in a
most unsuspicious way. The European ring-neck and
the little ring-plover are European species. The Wil-
son’s plover is similar to the semi-palmated, and is
found on both coasts from Long Island and California
south. The piping plover is another shore bird some-
what more wary. It runs with great rapidity and flies
short distances. When fat it is fairly good to eat. I
have shot them with the others for want of something
better to do, but should not regret seeing them pro-
tected at all times by law. The belted piper and the
snowy plover are small varieties found in the West,
the latter in the far West, from Salt Lake to the
Pacific, and is common on the sea-coast of California.

XLV
OTHER VARIETIES OF SHORE BIRDS

HERE are twelve species of avocets and stilts

throughout the world. But two are found in

North America—the black-necked stilt and the Ameri-
can avocet.

Avocets and stilts are easily distinguished by their
great size, long legs, and bills which curve slightly up-
ward, and which suggested the technical name (Recur-
virostra). The legs of the stilt are a rosy lake, or flesh
color. The legs of the avocet are pale blue.

AMERICAN AVOCET

The avocets are fairly abundant in the West, but are
rare birds in the Eastern States. They are occasion-
ally found in the markets with other game from the
Mississippi valley. I have observed them on the
plains when shooting sharp-tailed grouse. On one
occasion before daybreak I drove out from Fort Tot-
ten, N. D., to a small lake which was much frequented
by geese, brant, and many varieties of ducks. The
plain was some feet higher than the water and bluffed
down to a muddy beach. When the first light of day
was showing in the east I had taken my position just
above the muddy flat, and the gabbling and quacking
below promised an excellent shot; but, before it was

light enough to shoot, all of the geese and ducks flew
316

OTHER VARIETIES 317

off with a roar of wings and a noisy dripping of water.
I remained, hoping some of the ducks would soon re-
turn, and as it became light I observed an immense
number of shore birds at the edge of the water. There
were tattlers, the big and little yellow-legs, sandpipers,
plovers of all sizes, and among them were several avo-
cets, easily distinguished by their large size. Like
feathered giants they stalked about among the smaller
birds.

I could easily have killed a number, but I had heavy
loads in the gun and was really out for geese, so did
not disturb them at their breakfast. I remained some
time to observe them, and then slipped down the bank
to arrange a blind nearer the water; the avocets flew
out over the lake a short distance, and returning,
alighted near by, elevated their wings for a moment
and went to feeding again. It was a warm Indian
summer day, the sunshone bright on the placid waters
and the geese and ducks did not move about much.
My companion went to sleep in his blind, and a pair of
mallards which settled to his decoys were undisturbed
until I fired a long shot at them from my ambush.
My companion jumped up in time to see the mallards
depart, and the shore birds whistled and peeped, and
ran or flew short distances, soon to return to their
favorite feeding spots. I shot a few ducks during
the day, but did not point the gun at the shore birds.
How different the conditions East and West! How
long would a big avocet remain unmolested near a
blind on the Atlantic Coast ?

The avocets are good swimmers, and when wounded
often take tothe water. The flesh is fairly good, about

318 SHORE BIRDS

equal to that of the other shore birds of the second
class, such as the tattlers.

THE BLACK-NECKED STILT

This bird evidently was named for its legs. Like
the avocets, the stilts are more abundant in the West
than in the Eastern States. Stilts and avocets are
often seen feeding together.

The flight of the stilt is swift and easily maintained,
and in its progress it exhibits “alternately the upper
and under side of the body, like many other species of
the Limicole, affording a pleasing contrast from the
black of the back to the pure white of the under parts,
brightened by the long lake-red legs extending be-
neath and beyond the tail.”

Stilts are usually found about the margins of bays
and ponds or streams; wherever they are found in any
numbers there seem to be many other waders, and
most likely some of the avocets. I have seen them only
in the West, where they were by comparison of no im-
portance to a sportsman. Their flesh is about equal to
that of the others whose company they keep.

THE PHALAROPES

There are three American phalaropes: the red
phalarope, the Northern phalarope and the Wilson’s
phalarope.

The name is of Greek derivation and means “ coot-
foot.” The feet of the phalaropes are said to resemble
those of the coot.

The two birds first mentioned are about the size of
the kill-deer plover. The Wilson’s phalarope is a little

OTHER VARIETIES 319

larger, the female measuring nine and a half to ten
inches, and being a trifle larger always than the male.
All phalaropes have this striking difference from other
game—the females are not only the larger and hand-
somer birds, but “‘ do the courting while the male per-
forms most of the duties of incubation, thus affording
an instance of the exercise of ‘woman’s rights’ in the
fullest degree.” The female goes through all the
motions of love-making and pursues the male about as
he runs or flies from point to point, and, finally having
compelled his attention, the nest is constructed, the
eggs are laid and the male is left to sit upon them,
while the female swims about upon the surface of the
water and has the general good time which the male
of other birds is supposed to have while the female is
engaged in incubation.

The red phalarope and the Northern phalarope
inhabit the northern portions of both hemispheres,
migrating southward in the winter; the Wilson’s pha-
larope is distinctly a bird of the New World, and is said
to be more of an inland species than the others, being
very common in the Mississippi valley. The pha-
laropes are all good swimmers, and are often seen on
the water.

The phalaropes fly swiftly in flocks, and it is not a
difficult matter to kill a number ata shot. The gun
should be held well ahead when the flock is passing at
a distance. No. 8 shot is the proper size.

The Wilson’s phalarope does not go as far north as
the others, and is said to breed in Northern Illinois,
Iowa, Wisconsin, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Michigan,
and Oregon. It is recorded as a summer resident in

320 SHORE BIRDS

Northern Indiana and in Western Kansas. Nelson
says it is the most common species in Northern Illinois,
frequenting grassy marshes and low prairies, and is
not exceeded in number even by the ever-present
spotted sandpiper. While it was one of the most com-
mon birds in the Calumet region it is now becoming
scarce.

There is little or nothing in the books about phala-
ropes as objects of pursuit oras food. A recent writer
in a magazine says, “ Although these birds do not come
distinctly within the limits of my definition of game, I
never saw a sportsman who would not shoot one, and
should consider him lacking in mental capacity if he
did not.” This may all be well enough on the Massa-
chusetts coast, but it is not so in Dakota, where the
ducks and geese are sufficiently abundant to call forth
the humorous statement in a local paper that their
shadows interfered with the growth of the crops.

For my part I should be willing to see these pretty
little birds legally excluded from the game list and
left to pursue their strange courtship and rear their
young beside the ponds, and to swim about on the
water and feed along the shores.

BOOK IV

CRANES, RAILS, AND REED BIRDS,
WIED PIGEONS ‘ANDY DOVES

Pie ie

i

XLVI
THE CRANES

HERE are two common varieties of crane in
America, the white or whooping crane and the
brown or sand-hill crane, and a smaller crane known
as the little brown crane, which is very similar to the
sand-hill. They are all very wild and wary birds, most
difficult to stalk, but come well to decoys set out on
their feeding grounds.

An occasional crane is shot by a sportsman from his
duck-blind, but there are a few places where stands of
decoys are kept for these birds. Mr. Sidney South-
wick, writing for Recreation, says: “The sand-hill or
gray crane is fast coming into favor as a game bird on
the big prairies of the Northwest. Indeed it already
takes rank in many localities as the equal of the wild
goose, not only as a game bird, delighting the eye and
the heart of the sportsman, but also as a table delicacy
of excellent flavor. In October they come down upon
the wheat and corn fields of Minnesota, Dakota, North-
ern Iowa, and Nebraska in immense droves. Indeed
they frequently alight in the fields of unhusked corn in
such destructive throngs that the farmer is compelled
to go forth musket in hand to the defence of his crops.
The sportsman, however, has no complaint to offer at
this state of affairs, and he is a far more dangerous

323

324 THE CRANES

enemy to the sand-hill than is the blustering crop-
owner.”

For my part I do not care much for this sport. I
have only seen the cranes in sufficient numbers to make
it worth while to go in pursuit of them on ground
where the best varieties of ducks were abundant, and
the ducks are better marks to test one’s skill and vastly
better eating.

The cranes are large birds, and, as they come flapping
up to the decoys or sail overhead, seem to be going
much slower than they really are. I do not regard
them as difficult marks, but the sportsman must hold
well ahead of a passing bird or he will certainly shoot
behind him.

I have never tried but once to stalk the sand-hill
crane. Upon that occasion we were driving on the
plains, when we observed a flock of cranes feeding
upon a marshy tract a long distance away. I stopped
the driver (a Sioux Indian) and we held a consultation
as to the propriety of stalking them. The Indian was
quite anxious to try the shot, and asked for a gun and
permission to do so. I was desirous of seeing him un-
dertake their approach and was confident of his suc-
cess, but never having shot a crane I finally decided to
try for the shot. Putting a tall bunch of grass or
rushes between me and the birds, I worked carefully
toward them. They took flight at long range, but the
heavy charge I sent after them brought one down with
a broken wing. It fell far out on the marsh, which was
overgrown with tall rushes, and since I had no dog I
was unable to recover it.

Mr. Wells, writing for Forest and Stream, says that

THE CRANES 325

he once stalked a flock of white crane on the Platte,
using a cow as a screen to get within range.

The sand-hill crane is abundant in the autumn and
winter in California, but not nearly so much so as in
former years. Many are shot on the prairies and sold
in the San Francisco markets. Dr. Maberry says that
they are there highly esteemed as an article of food.

It is well for the sportsman to remember that the
crane will show fight when wounded, and is quite a
formidable antagonist. There are many instances on
record when they have attacked both man and dog,
and great care should be exercised in approaching
them. The quick thrust from the long, sharp bill may
cause an ugly wound or put out aneye. It is well to
give a wounded crane the second barrel.

The white crane is found in Texas and Florida, and
is said to be seen occasionally up the coast as far as
the Middle States.

Dr. Coues says: “ This tall and stately white bird, of
the most imposing appearance of any in this country, I
have only seen on the broad prairies or soaring on
motionless pinion in spiral curves high overhead. Its
immense stature is sometimes singularly exaggerated
by that quality of the prairie air which magnifies dis-
tant objects on the horizon, transforming sometimes a
weed into a man or making a wild turkey excite suspi-
cion of a buffalo. The most fabulous accounts of a
crane’s size might readily arise without intentional de-
ception. I have known a person to mistake a sand-hill
crane for one of his stray mules and go in search; and
another enthusiastic teamster once declared that some
he saw were ‘ bigger than his mule team.’ Once while

326 THE CRANES

antelope-shooting on the prairie my companion—a
good hunter—and myself saw what we took to be an
antelope standing quietly feeding with his broad white
stern toward us and only about five hundred yards off.
We attempted for at least fifteen minutes to flag the
creature up to us, waving a handkerchief on a ramrod
in the most approved style. This proving unavailing,
my friend proceeded to stalk the game, and crawled on
his belly for about half the distance before the ‘ ante-
lope’ unfolded his broad black-tipped wings and
flapped off, revealed at length as a whooping crane.”

I was once shooting mallard on the margin of a
Western lake, with an army ofhcer. The day was
warm and bright, and, after a short morning flight, the
ducks ceased to move about, and we retired to a slight
elevation, ate our luncheon, and reclined in the grass
to smoke our pipes and tell tales of shooting game of
all sorts. A large flock of white cranes arose from the
marsh and flew directly toward us, ascending, however,
as they came, far beyond our range. When quite
overhead, in the azure sky, their white feathers gleam-
ing in the sunlight, they proceeded to go through
many graceful evolutions, flying about in a circle,
forming sides and crossing over and back and dancing
in mid-air to their own loud music. We were much
entertained by their performance, and observed them
until the exhibition was ended and they continued
their flight until quite out of sight.

I have upon other occasions observed these birds
feeding about the margins of rivers and ponds, and
have tried a long shot at them but never with success.

XLVII
THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS

HE rails are related, ornithologically, to the

cranes. There is a decided difference from the
sportsman’s point of view. Cranes, as we have ob-
served, are the most majestic and stately of our birds,
wary and difficult to approach at all times. The rails,
on the other hand, are most of them diminutive in
size, and all of them arise but a few feet from the gun,
literally fluttering out of the grass and presenting
marks so easy as to be uninteresting.

The clapper-rail and the king-rail are the two
largest birds; the clapper inhabits the salt marshes,
being rarely seen in the interior. The king-rail fre-
quents the fresh-water marshes. Two other rails, the
Carolina, or sora, and the Virginia rail, are worthy of
the sportsman’s attention. These are not much larger
than sparrows. The rest of the rails might well be
spared on account of their insignificance.

The Carolina, or sora, is the most abundant, and
thousands are found scattered about, feeding in the
reeds, rushes, and wild rice of tide-waters and in the
interior. They come in immense numbers to the
marshes about western rivers and lakes, and I have
shot many of them on the grounds now owned by the
Chicago clubs, and at the St. Clair flats, and at many
other places in the East and West.

The clapper-rail and the king-rail are much less

327

328 THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS

abundant, and are usually found at long intervals on
the same grounds frequented by the smaller varieties.
A bag of one hundred or more of the smaller birds is
not uncommon in a day, or on one tide, but I doubt if
anyone ever made a bag of any size of the larger
birds. I have never killed many of the larger birds
in a day.

All the rails have long, slim bodies, and seem to be
built especially to move quickly through the rushes
and wild rice where they are always found. They
run with remarkable rapidity, and it is difficult to put
them up. The rails have short, rounded wings and fly
with an apparent effort just above the tall reeds, often
dropping back into them after going but a few yards.
So labored is their flight that it is not easy to under-
stand how they make their long migration north and
south. That they are capable of a_ long-sustained
flight is evidenced by their alighting on ships miles
from the land.

The rails are the easiest of all marks that fly from
the sportsman’s gun.

The season for rail shooting is the early autumn.
The method of pursuit is everywhere the same. The
sportsman takes his stand in a light, flat-bottomed
boat, which is propelled through the rushes by a punter
with a long pole. The start, on tide-water, is made as
soon as the water is high enough to float the boat in
the wild rice, and as the boat glides along the birds
are driven into the air at short range, and since they
are usually very abundant the shooting is very rapid.

Dr. Lewis, who wrote of this sport when only muz-
zle-loading guns were used, advised the taking of two

THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 329

guns, since it was necessary to load and fire so rapidly
that the gun soon became too hot to load and handle
without danger.

Rail shooting is a lazy sport compared to the tramp
across fields, but there isa charm about the boat-ride
through the tall, waving, yellow rice, down long av-
enues of open water and across through the reeds,
where the punter earns his wages driving the boat and
retrieving the birds. The vast stretches of yellow rice
harmonize well with the bluest skies and fleecy clouds
reflected in the water-ways. The shooting is always
rapid. Many double shots are made, and when one
fairly has his “ sea-legs’’ on there are few misses.

When I first began to shoot rails I went out with a
youthful companion, and we took turns punting the
boat and shooting the birds. I quite enjoyed the
cruising about in the fresh, salt air, and, not caring
much for the game, willingly took my turn at the pole.
An occasional shot at a duck added interest to the
sport, and I would advise the rail shooter always to
have a few shells in a convenient pocket ready for in-
stant use on the larger game. The larger rails are
easily killed with the small shot (No. 10, or smaller)
used on the soras. Since the shots are all at short
range a half-load of powder will be sufficient and less
likely to damage other shooters who may be moving
about over the same ground.

Dr. Lewis was very fond of this sport, and has given
us records of large bags containing hundreds of birds
made on one tide. As soon as the water subsides suf-
ficiently to prevent the moving of the boat the sport is
of course at an end,

330 THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS

In the West, the shooting, when it is practised at all,
is the same. The start and finish, of course, are not
dependent upon the tide, but we may go at any time
where the water is sufficient to float a boat.

I was once shooting ducks with a friend in the
marshes in Northern Indiana. It was in September,
and the migrating ducks had not come from the North
and the local ducks were quite wild from much shoot-
ing. One day when they were not flying well I went
off to some good snipe grounds, and my companion
instructed his punter to move him about in the wild
rice while he shot at the rails. Although most of his
shot was too large he made a bag of about one hun-
dred birds in a very few hours’ shooting. I have no
doubt I could have killed a thousand birds on many
Western marshes if the daylight had been long enough
and I had cared to do so.

Success does not usually attend the sportsman who
tries for the rails afoot. They run so rapidly through
the reeds and rice that it is almost impossible to flush
them. I have shot them along the western prairie
sloughs when snipe-shooting, walking close to the
taller grasses in the slough and taking an occasional
shot as a rail fluttered out. An industrious little span-
iel will flush some birds where the ground is such that
he can move rapidly.

There are thousands of the small rails in the rushes
of the St. Clair flats, and I often bagged a few of them,
driven up by my spaniel, when snipe-shooting.

Few sportsmen in the West, however, make a prac-
tice of shooting rails. There are still too many ducks,
cock, snipe, sandpipers, and plover, to say nothing of
the upland birds.

THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 331

I have shot an occasional king-rail on the St. Clair
flats and on other snipe grounds, but believe I never shot
more than three or four ina day. I do not remember
ever having missed one. They are even easier marks
than the soras, since they are several times as big.

Rails are excellent marks for young sportsmen to
begin on. The shots are so numerous that a boy will
soon learn to handle the gun and gain confidence in his
ability to shoot at flying marks. Mr. Alford, in a
clever paper in The Century, some years ago, gave us
an account of a father giving his boy ‘a day with the
rails.”

1 have often, when in a duck-blind, observed the
rails running about quite near at hand and have seen
the little soras run out on the lily-pads floating on the
pond hardly a gun-length from my ambush.

Rails have been taken in the South at night by the
light of a torch, the birds being struck down by a
paddle as they fluttered out of the grass. Eels and
catfish are said to prey upon the unrecovered dead and
wounded birds.

The cry of the rails is a harsh chatter which sug-
gested the name crake applied to several of the smaller
species. When alarmed the nearest rails sound their
creaking cackle, which is soon taken up by all the
others in the vicinity, and the rattling noise is sounded
on all sides. The noise sounds something like kek!
kek! kek! repeated rapidly.

When they first arrive the rails are in poor condi-
tion, but they soon become very fat and are regarded
as excellent food. Dr. Lewis says they are delicious
for the table, ‘‘in truth we are very partial to this bird,

332. THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS

and when in good condition prefer it to most other
kinds of game; at all events we can eat more rails and
partake of them more constantly without feeling tired
of them than any other game bird. They are particu-
larly tender, rich, juicy, and delicate, and do not clog
the stomach by quantity or satiate the appetite by daily
indulgence.”

The king-rail is equally good on the table. I not
long ago took a lot of them to an excellent cook, and
he cooked them after I was seated at the table, and I
must say I have seldom eaten better birds. If they
would only fly faster and stronger they would be
game magnificent.

As the larger birds become scarce the Western sports-
men will, no doubt, give more attention to these birds,
and there isa goodly lot of them on all the marshes
now owned by the duck-clubs.

The common rail or sora is about the size of a spar-
row, and is of a dark bluish-gray color, something like
the common coot or mud-hen. The Virginia rail is
about the same in size, but isa brown bird marked with
yellowish gray and black. The king-rail is four or five
times as large, but is identical in color and markings
with the Virginia rail. The clapper-rail is about the
size of the king-rail, but not nearly so good to eat.
The flesh, notwithstanding all the arts of the maitre de
cuisine to the contrary, says Dr. Lewis, is unusually
insipid, dry, and sedgy, and consequently holds out but
slight inducements to the epicurean sportsman to in-
terrupt them in their secluded retreats. Descriptions
of the different rails, including the little black and yel-
low crakes, will be found below. Their comparative

THE RAILS AND REED BIRDS 333

size, their pattern and markings, appear in the illus-
trations.

THE REED-BIRD

The reed-bird of the sportsmen is the familiar bob-
olink, seen in the summer in the northern fields. It
changes its plumage and assumes an inconspicuous
dress toward the end of summer, and, going south in
flocks, appears in the wild-rice marshes where it soon
becomes very fat. Dr. Lewis praises its flesh and re-
fers to it as a bird much prized by Philadelphia sports-
men, but for my part I should like to see it protected
at all times. It is usually shot with the rails on the
same grounds. Reed-birds fly in flocks and it is easy
to knock down a large lot of them at a shot; it not
being uncommon, according to Dr. Lewis, to kill four
or five dozen from a well-directed fire of a double
gun. Once, he says, thirteen dozen were picked up,
the result of a raking fire poured into a flock from an
old fowling-piece that “ scattered most confoundedly;”
but this, he adds, “was by no means the largest number I
have heard of, but I give this record as well authenti-
cated, and within the bounds of credence.”

Reed-birds are often taken in nets, and sell well in
certain markets.

They are about as good game birds as the smaller
rails, but the rails are never seen on the lawn and are
only found in the marshes, while the bobolink not
only has a cheerful song but is an ornament to the
fields, and so I say he should be eliminated from the
list of game by legislation.

OV Te
WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES

OME years ago in a magazine article I referred to
the fact that Forester had excluded all pigeons and
doves from his list of game, and remarked that on this
point we did not agree. Applying the criterion of a
game bird, that he be everywhere shot by sportsmen,
and good to eat when shot—the pigeons and doves all
appear to be game birds. “Swallows,” I observed,
“are excellent marks, for example, but are not used
as food, but the wild pigeon and wild dove are highly
prized by epicures, and command good prices in the
markets. They are, too, swift flyers, and are often
taken in a most sportsman-like manner in the stubble
and corn, and from blinds. The shooting of the doves
in the hemp-fields of Kentucky is a recognized form of
sport, and I have heard sportsmen say they prefer doves
to partridges. Audubon says their flesh is remark-
ably fine, tender, and juicy, especially when the birds
are fat, and by some is regarded as superior to that of
either the snipe or the woodcock. That talented
writer, the late Fred Mather, once took issue with
me in Sports A field, insisting that Forester was right
and that the dove certainly was not a game bird.
He went so far as to express surprise that I shot swal-
lows, and made a sentimental defence of the dove.
334

WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 335

In reply I called his attention to the fact that there
was nothing to warrant his conclusion that I shot swal-
lows—as a matter of fact, my shooting trips for the
most part had been to places where the best birds pre-
vented my using ammunition upon many inferior game
birds, which would be, however, considered prizes in
Mr. Mather’s neighborhood. A /ortiorz I had no use
for swallows. I also called his attention to the fact
that Forester included the tuneful swan of poetry (the
bird which he had no doubt observed floating grace-
fully on many cemetery lakes) in his list of game, and
urged that (if sentiment were to govern) he first strike
the swan from the Forester list. President Harrison
about that time had been shooting swans as the guest
of one of the clubs at Currituck.

As a matter of fact the dove is a pugnacious bird not
deserving of sentiment, and no more tame than the
partridge or Bob-white is at certain seasons. Although
doves may occasionally nest in an orchard near the
house, in the early autumn they are soon seen flocking
together and feeding on distant fields where the sports-
man will find it difficult to stalk them, and by no means
easy to shoot them from ambush. The partridges may
be found equally tame in summer, even nesting in
kitchen gardens. I have had excellent sport with both
pigeons and doves and consider them far better game
(both as marks and food) than most of the shore birds
or waders.

Dogs, both the setters and pointers, recognize the
doves as game birds and often point them in the corn-
fields when the weeds are sufficiently high for the
birds to lie to them. The shooting is then similar to

330 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES

partridge shooting, a little more difficult, since the
doves arise at a longer range.

There are in all twelve pigeons and doves in North
America. They are all good game birds, but most of
them are comparatively rare, having a limited range,
like the plumed and crested partridges.

Only two of these birds are known to Eastern sports-
men, the passenger pigeon, now extinct, and the Caro-
lina dove. The band-tailed pigeon is very common on
the Pacific slope. The others are given but little
space, since they are only seldom shot by sportsmen,
and in fact but little is known about some of them.

THE MOURNING DOVE; CAROLINA DOVE

There is no more reason for calling the common
wild dove the Carolina than there is for calling the
Bob-white the Virginia partridge. This dove is found
throughout the United States, from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. In the summer it is quite tame, like the par-
tridge. Doves build their nests in the spring about
the farms, often in the orchard trees quite near the
house. I had a pair several seasons in an apple-tree
not fifty feet from my door. On the great plains of
the West the doves, in the absence of trees, build their
nests on the ground. .

The dove is marked somewhat like the wild pigeon
and has the same long wings and tail and flies with
great rapidity. The noise made is not a whirring, but
a whistling noise, which is more pronounced in the
dove than in any other of the game birds, excepting
possibly, the golden-eye, often called the whistler. It
is of a gray-blue color above and has a dull red breast,

WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 337

the prevailing tints on shoulders and back suggesting
the familiar term, “‘ dove-color.”

The doves are migratory in the Northern States and
partly so in the Middle States. They are often seen in
country roads procuring gravel and dusting them-
selves. The doves feed on seeds, grain, the smaller
acorns, and have been accused of consuming peas in a
garden. They use large quantities of gravel, and a
knowledge of this need suggests to the sportsman a
good place for his blind.

In the late summer and fall the doves resort to the
stubble and corn-fields in the North and to the hemp-
fields in the South, and soon become very fat and in
excellent condition for the table. They are usually
seen in pairs early in the summer and should on no
account be shot until September, when they are found
in small flocks. These combine together into larger
flocks when they move southward.

Dr. Coues found this bird abundant in Arizona in
summer. A friend and shooting companion in Col-
orado informed me that they often had fine sport with
the doves in the early autumn, but we were after
larger game and I did not shoot them there. They |
are shot by Southern sportsmen as they fly in the
morning and at evening, and great numbers are often
taken by a single gun. | have had considerable sport
when they were abundant and comparatively tame,
walking them up in the stubble and corn-fields, and
have often seen the dogs point them.

Doves are usually, however, shot from ambush. In
the morning and evening they seek the margins of
streams and ponds to drink, preferring those where

338 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES

the gravel is abundant and when the sportsman finds a
place much frequented, he may have great sport shoot-
ing from a blind.

I once discovered the doves using a gravel point at
the lower end of an island which had a few swamp
willow bushes within easy range of their drinking
place. Using the willows as my blind I concealed my-
self with a retriever, and soon the birds began to arrive
and the shooting commenced. They came in small
flocks, more often two or three together, or singly,
and as they darted over the high river bank and came
down to the island on swift wings they presented diffi-
cult marks, and those killed usually fell in the stream
on either side of the narrow island. The birds kept
coming from the fields on either side for several hours,
the shooting was rapid and my retriever was most of
the time in the water, but he enjoyed it as thoroughly
as | did.

The day was fine, it was September, and there was
a suggestion of frost in the shadows and a genial
warmth in the sun. At the end of the afternoon I had
some twenty odd birds, and my friend, whose gun I
heard banging froma point below me on the river, was
even more successful and made double my score. The
doves were fat and tender, having fed almost exclu-
sively on wheat, and the farmer’s wife made for us a
pot-pie, putting in a dozen birds. Had Forester or
Fred Mather partaken of the shooting and the pie I
believe I could have easily induced them to add the
dove to their list of game birds.

A few years ago, when shooting partridges on the
neck of land between the White and Wabash Rivers, I

WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 339

found the doves quite abundant and shot many of
them. They were, however, but an incident to the
other sport. I did not go out of my way to shoot
them, preferring to follow the dogs where the par-
tridges were plentiful.

In some of the States the dove is no longer a game
bird, being protected at all times by laws passed under
the influence of a sentiment which has nothing to sus-
tain it. Our dove does not go about carrying olive
branches. He is not the color of doves used as a dec-
oration at funerals and to adorn tombstones. He is
no more tame, or friendly, or beautiful than the par-
tridge who whistles “ Bob-white.” As a songster he is
not a success. I prefer the cheery whistle of Bob-
white to his mournful note. He flies well, is a diffi-
cult mark, and is very good to eat. He is, in every
sense, a game bird, but would be better could he be
induced to lie more often to the dogs.

THE PASSENGER-PIGEON.

The common wild pigeon, the passenger-pigeon of
the ornithologists, is a beautiful bird of a gray-blue
color above with a red breast and with bright irides-
cent feathers on the neck, reflecting red and bronze.
It has a black bill and feet of lake red. These pigeons
inhabited the continent of North America from the
Alantic to the Great Plains, and from the Southern
States to the sixty-second parallel of north latitude in
the interior. I made the statement some years ago, in
writing for a magazine, that the passenger-pigeons
were not found on the Pacific Coast. The editor soon
had numerous letters from the Pacific States calling

340 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES

his attention to the fact that I had made a great error.
One of the writers from California spoke of the birds
as being a nuisance to the farmers. The editor, like
all editors, liking a controversy, published these let-
ters and wrote me a friendly note, saying that my arti-
cles had been remarkably free from error, but that I
seemed to be in for it this time. I insisted, however,
that I was right, and the matter was referred to the
Governor of California, who referred it to the Acad-
emy of Sciences, and at the last the matter went to the
Smithsonian Institution, and the editor mailed me a
letter from that authority which said there were no
records of the passenger-pigeon on the Pacific Coast.
To the average person a pigeon is a pigeon, but there
are great differences in these birds, both in size, mark-
ings, and habits. I have seen the wild passenger-
pigeons so numerous for days at a time that they
literally reached from the southern horizon to the
northern horizon, like clouds in the sky, and cast sim-
ilar shadows on the earth. I was reminded of Cooper’s
line, “ You may look an hour before you can find a hole
through them.”

I have had some excellent sport with the wild |
pigeons. The pigeons are extremely fond of beech-
nuts, and when feeding in the woods of Ohio the flocks
would fly from one woodland to another and I shot
them usually from ambush as they passed.

It was as difficult to estimate the number of the pass-
ing birds as it is for an astronomer to count the shoot-
ing stars on an August night. Audubon attempted to
count the different flocks one day, but after counting
one hundred and sixty-three flocks in twenty minutes

WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 341

he gave it up as impracticable. The air, he says,
seemed full of pigeons and the light of noonday to be
obscured as by an eclipse. Multitudes were destroyed,
and for many days the entire population seemed to eat
nothing but pigeons. The flapping of the wings
sounded like distant thunder. Wilson says the noise
was so great as to terrify their horses and that it was
difficult for one person to hear another speak. He
counted ninety nests on one tree.

The wild pigeons vanished suddenly. There has
been much speculation as to the cause. The failure of
their food, which largely consisted of beech nuts, the
overshooting, the trapping, and the robbing of the
nests have all been advanced. I am of the opinion
that the combination of these causes was necessary to
exterminate the pigeons. The netting and the rob-
bing of the nests did the most damage. The shooting,
when every firearm in a neighborhood was out, was
excessive, and the cutting down of the forests de-
stroyed vast areas of feeding ground. There are afew
specimens remaining in captivity. I believe they have
been bred in confinement. Would that there were
enough to restore the flocks to the woods! Such res-
toration by the Agricultural Department or the State
game authorities would interest me more than the im-
portation of foreign birds.

The wild pigeons were not only used as food, but
thousands were taken alive to be used in shooting-
matches. Mr. Stephan, of the Cincinnati Zoological
Gardens, once saw eight thousand wild pigeons in
crates at the Dexter Park shooting grounds to be used
as targets in a live-bird shooting-match.

342 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES

The nets made to capture wild pigeons were often
as large as eighteen by forty feet ; they were placed on
baited ground and sprung by means of spring-poles.
As many as sixty dozen were taken often at a single
throw of the net. Those taken in the morning and at
evening, says Lieutenant Simpson, were males, and all
taken near midday were females. The reason was found
when it was observed that the male and female divided
the labor of incubation. Meantime the bombardment
of guns and weapons, and missiles of all sorts, includ-
ing sticks and stones, went on, and it is no wonder the
race was destroyed.

Wild pigeons fly with a speed almost incredible.
Birds killed in the State of New York were found to
contain the undigested grains of rice that must have
been taken in the distant helds of Georgia and South
Carolina, proving that they passed the intervening
space in a very few hours. <A single pigeon, at full
speed, passing a blind, was a more difficult mark than
a wild duck. As in duck-shooting, a number were
often killed from a flock with the use of both barrels.

| shot pigeons for several years every autumn, or
late in the summer, in Northern Ohio. I had one ex-
cellent stand in a large clearing overgrown with the
Canada thistle and full of pokeberry bushes, upon
which the pigeons were feeding. It was a picturesque
place, shut in on all sides by forests which had never
felt the axe. Thethistles grew everywhere among the
wild grasses and poke-bushes, and their red plumes,
with the white daisies and the yellow mustard, sug-
gested at a short distance a vast garden of flowers.
Throughout the clearing, at intervals, stood the tall,

WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 343

gray trunks of dead trees, and the pigeons flew out
from the woods to their branches, and, after surveying
the ground for a moment, dropped into the bushes to
feed on the purple berries. After observing them for
a time at the fence, I noticed that most of the birds
came in at one corner of the field and I took my stand
there in perfect concealment among the thistles. From
my blind I soon saw a flock of pigeons coming from the
forest on swift pinions, and as they passed I gave them
both barrels and killed several of them. A single bird
followed, throwing his weight into his downward flight.
But at the report of the gun he fell far out into the
thistles. I never made a better shot, since the bird
attempted to pass behind my back, and was a right-
hander. The flight continued for several hours, begin-
ning earlyinthe day. My shooting at birds coming in
alarmed those which had arrived from other directions,
and which were on the ground feeding, and these flew
up to the branches of the dead trees, and then left for
the woods, often passing within range. At times the
shooting was very rapid.

Toward the middle of the day the flight slackened,
the intervals between the flocks became longer, and, as
I sat in my blind and observed the sunlight on that field,
I made good resolutions to bring the color-box and
white umbrella and leave the gun at home. The pred-
atory instinct is, however, often stronger than the
artistic. Good resolutions were often broken, and |
decided many mornings—against the umbrella and in
favor of the gun.

There was another flight at evening when the birds
returned to feed, and in the middle of the day I some-

344 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES

times startled them in the dense woodlands. I pre-
ferred for once, however, ambush to pursuit, since the
result of the latter method was a sitting mark. The
birds were wild and wary, difficult to approach within
range,and when they took wing went through or over
the heavy foliage with a noisy rush of wings, but were
at most times invisible.

Shooting through an opening in the leaves at a single
bird, I was often rewarded with some four or five,
which had been unseen in the heavy foliage when the
shot was fired. Such shooting will do for beginners,
but does not interest those fond of shooting at a flying
mark. I had similar sport with the pigeons one autumn
in the oak groves of Northern Illinois, shooting ona
pass between two groves. They were quite abundant
that year in the trees about the ravines in the village of
Lake Forest, north of Chicago, and I shot many there
without leaving the village.

A small flock of pigeons or a single pair is occasion-
ally reported in some newspaper as having been seen
in the Northwest, but it is doubtful if there is a live
passenger pigeon at large to-day. There are but a
very few in captivity.

The pigeons are gone, but the lesson taught by their
disappearance remains. Insufficient legislation, insuffi-
cient enforcement of existing laws for bird protection,
a lack of public sentiment in favor of the birds, caused
the annihilation of this race of food birds.

Mr. Leffing well well says: “It wasn’t done by sports-
men, for no man having the heart of a sportsman could
go into a roost of pigeons and strike down the innocent
fledgling with a club while its mouth was crying for

WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES 345

food, and its mother circled around it trying to win it
with piteous cries to take wing and fly with her away
from this threatening danger.”

He might have added that it was not the sportsman
who spread the nets and sewed the eyelids of the
stool-pigeons with silken threads, so they would per-
form to his liking when tolling their kind to destruc-
tion. It was not the sportsman who shipped the birds
in barrels to the market, or in crates to the shooting-
matches.

THE BAND-TAILED PIGEON.

The band-tailed pigeon is a Western bird, and is
found only west of the Rocky Mountains in the United
States. Itis a very common bird in the woods of Ore-
gon and California, where it feeds largely on acorns.
It affords considerable sport to the gunners on the
Pacific Coast. It is a large, fine bird, excellent as
food, and flies rapidly, arising from the ground with a
loud flapping noise like tame pigeons. It goes to the
stubble fields for grain, and may be shot as it flies in
and out of the fields. The flocks are often large, con-
taining hundreds of birds. When not much shot they
are not very wild, but, like other game, they are quick
to learn, and soon become extremely wary and difficult
to approach.

Dr. Suckly says the Indian name of this pigeon is
hubboh—a good imitation of its call—and that he pre-
fers it to the pigeon ofthe Eastern States.

Dr. Coues found this pigeon in Arizona, but says it
is not abundant there.

346 WILD PIGEONS AND DOVES

THE WHITE-WINGED DOVE.

White-winged doves are so called from the white
mark on their wings. They are about the same size
as the Carolina dove, and afford excellent sport in
Arizona. Iread recently of over one hundred being
taken bya single gun in a day, which is quite too many,
but indicates their abundance. The law should limit
the bag to twenty-five birds per diem, or perhaps less.
The citizens might then occasionally have a dove pie
without danger of exterminating the birds. The white-
wings have but a limited distribution, and may be said
to be distinctly a Southwestern bird. It is remark-
able that this particular part of the country should
have the greatest variety of feathered game.

THE GROUND DOVE.

This is the smallest of all the doves, being not much
larger than a sparrow. It flies swiftly, like the Caro-
lina dove, with the same whistling sound. This bird
is distributed from the Carolinas to Southern Arizona
and Southern California.

There are several other pigeons and doves indigenous
to parts of the United States, but confined to such
small areas, or being so few in number, as to be unim-
portant to sportsmen. These are referred to in the
appendix.

APPENDIX

THE following descriptive notes, numbered to cor-
respond with the bird portraits, will enable the reader
to identify any bird which he is permitted to kill at
certain seasons. The robin and the meadow-lark are
legal game in a few Southern States, but the writer
does not so regard them.

The popular and techical names are those given in
the check-list of the American Ornithological Union,
with but few changes. The color descriptions, mark-
ings, and measurements are for the most part from
the following ornithological works: “ North American
Birds,” Baird, Brewer and Ridgway; “ North Amer-
ican Shore Birds,” “The Gallinaceous Birds,’ and
“ Wild Fowl or Swimmers,” three instructive books by
D. G. Elliot; “The Birds of Eastern North America,”
by Chapman, and the works of Audubon, Wilson, Coues,
Apgar, Forester, Lewis, Trumbull, and others referred
to in the text. I am indebted to Zhe Auk, to Forest
and Stream, The American Field, Sportsman's Review,
Recreation, Outing, Shooting and Fishing, Field and
Stream, Sports A field, Out of Doors, The Nattonal Sports-
man, and other periodicals to which credit has been
given. I am, too, much indebted to the American Mu-
seum of Natural History, New York, and the Smith-
sonian Institution, Washington, for many mounted
specimens.

347

348 APPENDIX

BOOK I

THE GALLINACEOUS BIRDS—THE TURKEYS, PHEASANTS, GROUSE,
AND PARTRIDGES.

Note.—Quails are gallinaceous birds, but as we have observed in the text,
there are no quails in North America. Bob-white, the quail of many North-
ern sportsmen, is a true partridge, and is now so listed in the check-list of
the American Ornithological Union. Gallinaceous birds are often called Ra-
sores (Latin rasor, a scraper), from their scratching like chickens for food.
The birds of this order found in America are classified by the ornithologists as
Phasianide, the turkeys and pheasants, and Tefraonide, the grouse and part-
ridges.

1. The English Pheasant.—PAasianus colchicus.
The Common Pheasant.
This bird is very similar to the Mongolian pheasant (No. 2), but not
so handsome, and without the white collar on the neck.
Haé.—England, where it was introduced over eight hundred years
ago from China. Recently introduced into many of the United States.

2. The Mongolian Pheasant.—Pasianus torguatus.
Ring-neck Pheasant.

Male.—Forehead, deep green; crown, fawn color glossed with
green ; white stripe over eye ; naked skin of sides of head scarlet, dotted
with minute black feathers; throat and neck, green reflecting purple ;
white collar about the neck; back, black with crescentic marks of
buffy white ; breast, chestnut reflecting purple ; tail, long and barred
with broad black bands.

Female.—Smaller ; similar in shape; yellowish-brown color.

Hab.—Many of the United States, where introduced from China ;
first on the Pacific Coast, in Oregon.

3. The Wild Turkey.—Jeleagris sylvestris.

Resembles the common domestic turkey, but is far handsomer.
The plumage shines with metallic colors, gold, green, and bronze and
reddish-purple predominating. Head and neck naked, red ; legs, red
and spurred ; bill, red; long tuft of coarse bristles pendent from breast
of male; tail, dark chestnut. Length, about 4 ft.* wing, 21 in.
Weight from 12 to 38 pounds, possibly heavier.

Female.—Smaller ; plumage less brilliant.

APPENDIX 349

Hab.—Wooded districts of Central, Western, and Southern States,
except Florida; west to Texas and Wisconsin.

(a) Florida Wild Turkey (Meleagris sylvestris osceola).
A smaller turkey.
Hab.—Southern Florida.

(6) Elliot's Rio Grande Turkey (Meleagris sylvestris ellioti).
Hab.—Southeastern Texas and Northeastern Mexico.

Note.—The turkey is indigenous to North America alone, This bird is
named turkey since it was erroneously supposed to have been introduced into
England from Turkey.

See The Auk, January, 1899.

4. Prairie Hen.— 7ympanuchus Americanus.
Pinnated Grouse.

General color brown, barred with black and buff; black tuft of
feathers on sides of neck ; throat and cheeks buff, throat marked with
brown spots ; under parts white, barred cross-wise with brown; tail
brown ; large sac of loose skin, capable of inflation, on neck. Length,
18 in. ; wing, 9 in.

Female.—Similar, without neck sac. Length, 17% in. ; wing, 834 in.

Hab.,—Prairies of the Mississippi valley; south to Louisiana and
Texas ; east to Kentucky, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Ontario; west
through eastern portions of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska,
Kansas, and the Indian Territory; north to Manitoba. General tendency
to extension of range westward and contraction eastward. Migration
north and south in Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri.

Mr. W. B. Mershon, of Saginaw, Michigan, who goes to shoot in the Dakotas
each season, says: Of late the prairie-chickens have increased, and the sharp-

tailed grouse have decreased, so on our recent trip, out of ninety birds killed
probably three-fourths of them were prairie-chickens.

(a) Lesser prairie hen (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus).

A smaller and paler bird; pattern and markings the same as No. 4.
Hab.—FEastern edge of the Great Plains, from Western and prob-
ably Southern Texas northward through Indian Territory to Kansas.

(6) Atwater’s prairie hen (Tympanuchus americanus atwateri).

Similar to preceding.
Hab.—Coast region of Louisiana and Texas,

350 APPENDIX

5. Heath Hen.— 7ympanuchus cupido.

This bird has the same pattern, color, and markings as the common
prairie grouse, and was until recently regarded as identical with it.
Only expert ornithologists can distinguish the birds.

Hab.—lIsland of Martha’s Vineyard. (Formerly Southern New
England and parts of the Middle States.)

6. Sharp-tailed Grouse.—Pediocetes phasianellus.

General color brownish gray. ‘Top of head, neck, and entire upper
parts, black, barred and mottled everywhere, except on top of head,
with buff, the bars narrow. White spots on the wings, under parts
white, spotted with black on the throat and front of neck. V-shaped
marks on breast and flanks, fewer and smaller on abdomen. Legs and
toes covered with hairy light-brown feathers. Bill, blackish brown.
Length, 16 in.; wing, 844 in. Weight about 2 pounds.

Female,—Same as male, perhaps slightly smaller.

Hab.—l\nterior of British America, from Lake Superior and Hudson
Bay to Fort Simpson.

(a) Columbian Sharp-tatled Grouse (Pedtiocetes phasianellus co-
lumbianus).

Hab,—Plains of the Northwestern United States and British Co-
lumbia to central portions of Alaska; northward -chiefly west of the
main Rocky Mountains; eastward in Montana and Wyoming ; south-
ward to Utah, Northern Nevada, and Northeastern California. Same
in pattern and color as the preceding; it would require an expert to
distinguish them.

(6) Prairze Sharp-tailed Grouse (Pediocetes phasianellus campes-
tris).

Hab.—Plains and prairies of the United States east of Rocky
Mountains north to Manitoba; east to Wisconsin and Illinois; south
to New Mexico. A very similar bird to the others; somewhat lighter ;
sometimes Called “ white-belly.”’

7. Ruffed Grouse.—Bonasa umbellus.

General color brown. al/e.—Upper parts varied with yellowish
brown and gray, barred with black on back, wings, head, and neck ;
lower part of back and rump gray, spotted with buff and brown; tufts
of long, broad feathers on each side of the neck black, tipped with light

APPENDIX 351

brown reflecting metallic green ; throat buff ; buff on chest ; under parts
white, barred with brown; tail gray or yellowish brown crossed by
black and buff bars ; broad black band near end of tail. Legs feath-
ered to middle of tarsus, Bill, maxilla, black; mandible, horn color.
Length, 16 in. ; wing, 7% in.

Female.—Similar ; smaller, with small neck tufts or none at all.

Hab,—¥Eastern Nova Scotia and Southern Canada; west to Minne-
sota; south in the mountains to Northern Georgia, Mississippi, and
Arkansas,

(a) Oregon Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus sabini).

Hab.—Coast ranges of Northern California, Oregon, Washington,
British Columbia. Intergrades with preceding. Similar in appear-
ance and habits.

(6) Canadian Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus togata).

Hlab,—The spruce forests of Northern New England, Northern
New York, and the British Provinces; west to Oregon, Washington,
and British Columbia; north to James Bay.

(c) Gray Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus umbelloides).

Hab.—Rocky Mountain region of the United States and British
America, north to Alaska, east to Manitoba.
Note.—The different ruffed grouse all have the same habits, and are so much

alike as to be the same when pictured in black and white. The slight color
differences are local or climatic, and of no importance,

8. Dusky Grouse.—Dendragapus obscurus,
Blue Grouse.

General color slaty blue; head dark brown behind, dull rufous on
forehead ; throat white mottled with black; sides of head black; tail
rounded, black and tipped with broad gray band; legs feathered to the
toes; bill horn color. Length, 20 in.; wing,g% in. Weight, about 3
pounds (1 pound heavier than prairie grouse, sharp-tailed and ruffed
grouse).

Female.—Upper parts mottled with black and buff; throat buff ;
under parts slate gray. Length, 17 in.; wing, 834 in.

Hab.—F¥From Central Montana and Southeastern Idaho to New
Mexico and Arizona; eastward to the Black Hills, South Dakota, and
westward to East Humboldt Mountains, Nevada.

352 APPENDIX

(a) Sooty Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus fuliginosus).
Hab. —Northwest coast mountains from California to Sitka; east
to Nevada, Western Idaho, and portions of British Columbia.
Said to be darker than No. 8, and to have narrower band on its tail.

(2) Richardson's Grouse (Dendragapus obscurus richardsonit).
Hab.—Rocky Mountains, especially on the eastern slopes from Cen-
tral Montana, Northern Wyoming, and Southeastern Idaho, into Brit-
ish America to Liard River.
Very similar to other dusky grouse; tail without terminal gray band.

9g. Canada Grouse.—Dendragapus canadensis,

General color black or grayish black; upper parts gray, barred
with black; wings gray-brown mottled and barred with black and
brown; under parts black, effectively marked with white; throat black
with speckled white border; long white marks on sides; legs feath-
ered to the toes; bill black. Length, 14% to 16 in.; wing, 7 in.

Female.—Smaller, more brown and gray in color.

Hab.—British America east of the Rocky Mountains and west in
Alaska to the Pacific Coast at Kadiac and St. Michaels; southeastward
to Northern Minnesota, Northern Michigan, Northern New York, and
Northern New England.

(a) Franklin's Grouse (Dendragapus franklinii).
Very similar in size, pattern and color-markings to No. 9; dis-
tinguished by the broad white bars at the end of the upper tail coverts.
Hfab.—Northern Rocky Mountains from Northwestern Montana to
the coast ranges of Oregon and Washington, and northward in British
America, reaching the Pacific Coast of Southern Alaska (Lat. 60° N.).

10. White-tailed Ptarmigan.—Zagopus leucurus.
Winter, plumage white. Legs and feet feathered.

11, White-tailed Ptarmigan (see No. 10).—S.wmmer.

Summer, plumage is mottled brown, black, and gray ; under parts
white ; often more or less white on wings. In spring and autumn the
birds are more or less white, as the change from summer to fall plumage,
or winter to spring plumage, takes place. Length, 14 in. ; wing, 7 in.

Hab.—Alpine summits of the mountains of Western North
America from New Mexico to Liard River, British America; west on
the highest ranges of Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

Distinguished from all other ptarmigan by the white tail.

APPENDIX 353

(a) Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus).

Similar to No. 10. White in winter, mottled gray and brown in
summer ; tail black, extreme base and tip white. Length, 14 in. ; wing,
74% in.

Hab.—Atrctic regions. In America, south to Sitka, and the British
provinces ; breeding ranges restricted to the Arctic and sub-Arctic re-
gions. Accidental in New England (Bangor, Me., and Essex County,
Mass.).

(6) Allen’s Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus Allent).

Similar to (a).

Hab.—Newfoundland.

(c) The Rock Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris).

Similar to (a).

Hab.—Arctic America, except the northern extremity, from Alaska
to Labrador and Gulf of St. Lawrence, portions of Greenland, Aleu-
tian Islands.

(d) Reinhardt’s Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris Reinhardti).

Hab.—Greenland, western shores of Cumberland Gulf, and northern
extremity of Labrador.

(e) Welson’s Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris nelsont).
Hab.—In Alaska and some adjacent Aleutian Islands.

(f) Turner's Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris atkhensis).
FTab.—Atkha, one of the Aleutian Islands.

(g) Welch's Ptarmigan (Lagopus welchi).
Hab.—Newfoundland.

(h) Townsend's Ptarmigan (Lagopus rupestris townsend).
Hab.—Aleutian Islands, Kyrka and Adak. (Elliot, not in check-list.)

(2) Evermann's Ptarmigan (Lagopus evermannt).
Hab.—lIsland of Attu. (Elliot, not in check-list.)

Note.—All of these birds from the sportsman’s point of view are grouse,—
white in winter, gray and brown in summer, and mottled or piebald in the spring
and late summer, when the change in the plumage is taking place. I doubt if
the most expert ornithologists would agree in naming them were a bag contain-
ing them all in the spring or fall plumage presented for identification. Their
combined habitat or geographical distribution given above will indicate to
sportsmen where they may expect to shoot a white grouse.

354 APPENDIX

12. Sage Grouse.—Centrocercus urophasianus.

Top of head and neck grayish buff, barred with black; chin, throat,
and cheeks white ; throat spotted with black ; upper parts light brown
or gray, barred with-black, dark brown, and gray; tail longer than
prairie grouse, twenty feathers graduated to a point; chest gray, barred
with blackish brown; bill black. Length, 28 in.; wing, 13 in.
Weight, 5 to 8 pounds.

Female.—Similar, but much smaller.

Hab.—Sage regions of the Rocky Mountain plateau, and westward,
chiefly within the United States, but north to Assiniboia and the dry
interior of British Columbia; east to North Dakota, South Dakota,
Nebraska, and Colorado; south to Northern New Mexico, Utah, and
Nevada; west in California, Oregon, and Washington to the Sierra
Nevada and Cascade Range.

13. Scaled Partridge.—Callipepla squamata,

General color slate blue, feathers bordered with black, giving the
bird the scaled appearance which suggested name. Head brown or
brownish gray ; top of crest white, throat pale buff, hind neck and
upper parts of back and breast slate blue ; wings and back pale
brown ; bill black. Length, 9% in.; wing, 5 in.

Female.—The same.

Hab,—Table-lands of Mexico, from the Valley of Mexico north to
Central and Western Texas, Santa Fé, New Mexico, and Southern
Arizona.

(a) Chestnut-bellied scaled partridge (Callipepla sguamata castanei-
gastra).
Similar to No, 16, except more or less extensive patch of chestnut
on belly.
Hab.—Northeastern Mexico and lower Rio Grande Valley.

14. California Partridge.—Lophortyx cali fornicus,

General color blue ; crest black, narrow at base, wider at end; fore-
head buff; occiput dark chestnut, bordered on sides with black, fol-
lowed by white line ; line from bill to eye white ; chin and throat black
bordered with white ; back of neck, breast, and upper back blue ; belly
buff; abdomen chestnut ; bill black. Length, ro in. ; wing, 44 in.

Female,—Similar, not so handsome; crest shorter and brown ;
colors more subdued.

APPENDIX 355

Hab.—Coast region of California, south to Monterey. Introduced
in Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.

(a) Valley partridge (Lophortyx californicus vallicola).

General appearance same as No, 14; said to be more grayish blue
or paler in color,

Hab,—Interior valleys of California and foot-hills of the Sierra
Nevada; east to Panamint Mountains, south to Cape St. Lucas.

15. Gambel’s Partridge.—Lophortyx gambeli.

Top of head chestnut ; forehead black crossed by narrow white
line between eyes, white stripe behind the eye bordered with black
above ; throat black bordered with white; upper parts and tail blue ;
wings with brownish tinge; lower part buff ; abdomen black ; plume
black, feathers wider at ends; bill black; feet and legs gray. Length,
10 in. ; wing, 4% in.

Female.—Similar ; throat dark buff; shorter crest.

Hab.—Western Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Southern Utah and
Nevada, Southern California in the Colorado Valley, and southward
into Northwestern Mexico.

16. Mountain Partridge.—Orcortyx pictus.

Top of head, sides of neck, and breast slate blue ; upper parts and
wings deep olive brown; crest, long straight black feathers ; chin
white; throat chestnut bordered with black and white ; middle of belly
white ; tail olive brown mottled with black ; bill black. Length, 1o in. ;
wing, 5% in.

Female,—Similar ; crest feathers shorter.

Hab.—Pacific Coast region from San Francisco Bay north to Wash-
ington. Introduced on Vancouver Island.

(a) Plumed partridge (Oreortyx pictus plumiferous).

Closely resembles No, 16; habits the same.

Hab,.—Sierra Nevada (both slopes) east to Panamint Mountains
and to Mount Magruder, Nevada; south in the coast ranges from
San Francisco Bay to Lower California.

(4) San Pedro partridge (Oreortyx pictus conjints).

Another similar bird.
Hab.—San Pedro Mountains, Lower California.

356 APPENDIX

17. Bob-white.—Colinus virginianus.

General color brown, marked with black ; throat and stripe over the
eye white; top of head and neck dark brown; back, rump, and upper
tail coverts brown ; breast and under parts white with black markings;
bill black ; legs and feet gray. Length, 9% in. ; wing, 4% in.

Female.—Similar; throat and stripe over the eye buff, instead of
white.

Hab.—Fastern United States and Southern Ontario, from South-
ern Maine to the South Atlantic and west to central South Dakota,
Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Eastern Texas. Of late years has
gradually extended its range westward along lines of railroad and settle-
ments ; also introduced at various points in Colorado, New Mexico,
Arizona, Utah, Idaho, California, Oregon, and Washington. Breeds
throughout its range.

(a) Florida Bob-white (Colinus virginianus floridanus).

Pattern and markings the same as No. 17; somewhat darker and

smaller bird.
Hab. —F lorida.

(6) Texan Bob-white (Colinus virginianus texanus).

Pattern and markings the same as No. 17; smaller and more gray
in color.
Hab.—Southern and Western Texas and Mexico,

(c) Masked Bob-white (Colinus ridgwayt).

Head black, mixed with chestnut on top, white line over eye; throat
back instead of white; same habits; same whistle. Length, 8% in.
Hab.—Southern Arizona to Sonora, Mex.

Note.—There are a number of other Bob-whites described by ornithologists
as more or less different from No. 17. These are found south of the Rio
Grande in Mexico and Central America. The differences are unimportant to
sportsmen.

Mr. Rene Bache (quoted in Sportsman's Review, May 23, 1903) claims that
the partridge Bob-white is easily tamed and that it breeds readily in captivity.
The matter is of the utmost importance to sportsmen who are interested in
game preserves. Mr. Bache says: ‘‘ The birds may be kept in flocks at liberty
like any other domestic fowl, requiring only to be sheltered during the cold
months. ‘Their natural increase is large, the species being remarkably prolific.
A few wild birds to start with are easily obtained, and if captured in the early
winter may be expected to lay in the following spring and again in the early

APPENDIX 357

fall. The female produces two broods a year, of fifteen or sixteen young ones
each, and it is rare for an egg to fail to produce a bird. By slowly removing
some of the eggs from the nest, after the first few have been laid, the output
can be increased to fifty or even sixty eggs for a season, the extra ones being
hatched under a hen. Experiments have been made with incubators for hatch-
ing quail (partridge) eggs, and with some degree of success, but the hen serves
admirably for the purpose. It should be a hen of gentle disposition and light
weight, so as not to smash the treasures confided to her, and a bantam seems to
be well adapted for the business.” Mr. Bache describes at length the method
of rearing the young, but his story would be more satisfactory if it were accom-
panied with some statement of facts concerning those who have experimented
with partridge domestication. A general opinion has prevailed that these birds
were ot easily tamed and that they did #o¢ breed in confinement. The editor
of the Review, says, however : ‘‘ In future years it is probable the breeding of
quail (partridges) for stocking depleted resorts will be conducted in a system-
atic manner by the game and fish commissioners of nearly all the States.”
Our partridges are far better game birds than the imported pheasants, to which
much time and attention has been given. Partridges can without doubt be
raised in considerable numbers in a wild state on farms where they are cared
for and protected at all times. I should be glad to see the evidence that they
can be bred in captivity.

““No person shall shoot at any quail except when they are flying "—Ohio
laws, 1902. This would be a good law for all the States. The word part-
ridge should be used in the statute however. Since there are no quails in
America a conviction under the Ohio law would be hardly possible.

18. Massena Partridge.—Crytonyx montezuma.

Forehead black with white stripe passing upward from nostril; top
of head brown barred with black ; short, thick crest brown; triangular
black patch beneath the eye; head marked with white as pictured ;
upper parts brown barred with black ; sides of breast and flanks dusky
black spotted with white, resembling small guinea-hen; bill black.
Length, 834 in.; wing, 5 in.

Female.—Brown, upper parts barred with black, black spots on
lower chest and flanks.

Hab.—Table-lands of Mexico, from the City of Mexico north to
Western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona.

358 APPENDIX

BOOK II

WILD-FOWL OR SWIMMERS,—THE SWANS, GEESE, BRANT, DUCKS,
AND MERGANSERS, Anatide.

19. Whistling Swan.—Cygnus columbianus.

Plumage white ; feet and bill black. Length about 53 in. Easily
distinguished from Trumpeter Swan (No. 20) by smaller size and by
yellow spot near the eye. Young birds for first five years are gray, be-
coming lighter each year.

Hab.—North America, Arctic regions to Gulf of Mexico.

20. Trumpeter Swan.— Cygnus buccinator.

Plumage white; feet and bill black. Length about 63 in. Distin-
guished from Whistling Swan by size and weight and by absence of
yellow spot near the eye. Young birds gray.

Hab.—Interior North America west to Pacific Coast, Arctic regions
to Gulf. Accidental on Atlantic Coast. Breeds in North Dakota and
some other Northern States.

Note.—The young swans are fairly good to eat; as they grow older they are
less desirable. ‘To cook a swan:

‘« Take three pounds of beef, beat fine in a mortar,
Put into the swan,—that is when you've caught her,
Some pepper, salt, mace, some nutmeg, an onion
Will heighten the flavor in Gourmand's opinion.
Then tie it up tight, with a small piece of tape,
That the gravy and other things may not escape.

“To a gravy of beef good and strong I opine
You'll be right if you add a half pint of port wine.
Pour this through the swan, yes, quite through the belly,
Then serve the whole up with some hot currant jelly.”
—REv. J. C. MATCHETT.

21. Cackling Goose.—Branta canadensis minima.

Same as No. 23, excepting smaller size. Length about 24 in.
Hab.—Alaska to California ; occasional in Mississippi Valley.

22. Hutchins Goose.—Branta canadensis hutchinsit.
Same as Canada goose No. 23, only smaller. Length about 30 in.
Largest Hutchins goose will rarely equal in size the smallest Canada

goose. (Elliot.)
Hab.—Western North America, Mississippi Valley to Pacific Coast ;

rare on Atlantic Coast.

APPENDIX 359

23. Canada Goose.—A#ranta canadensis.
Common Wild Goose.

Head and neck black; triangular white patch on each cheek ex-
tending over throat; upper parts brown, the feathers tipped with light
brown; rump, tail, and primaries black; lower parts gray, white in
anal region ; bill, legs, and feet black. Average size, 38 in. Young
birds have white cheek patches speckled with black.

Hab.—North America, Arctic regions to Gulf of Mexico, Atlantic
to Pacific.

(a) White-cheeked Goose (Branta canadensis occidentalis).

Very similar to Canada goose; more or less distinct white collar
at base of black neck. Length, 33 to 36 in.
Hab.—Alaska to California.

24. Black Brant.—Aranta nigrans.

Head, neck, upper part breast, abdomen and tail black ; bill, legs
and feet black; white collar on neck interrupted behind ; upper parts
and wings dark brown; crissum, sides of rump, upper and under tail
coverts white ; abdomen and breast blackish. Length about 25 in.

Hab.—Western North America, Arctic region to Lower California.

25. Brant Goose.—Sranta bernicla.

Head, neck, breast, back at base of neck, and tail black; patch of
white on either side of head; upper parts brownish gray ; under parts
grayish white ; pure white about and under tail ; rump brownish black ;
bill, legs, and feet black. Length, 24-30 in.

Hab.—FEastern North America, chiefly about Atlantic Coast ; rare
in Mississippi Valley.

26. Emperor Goose.—Philacte canagica.

Head and back of neck white ; throat and forepart of neck brown-
ish black; feathers on lower part of neck, with a small white spot at
tip; back and under parts bluish gray ; lower back and upper tail cov-
erts bluish gray; bill pale purplish; legs and feet orange. Length,
26 in. Young: head and neck brownish black.

Hab.—Coast and islands of Alaska.

27. Ross Snow Goose.—Lxanthemops rossi.

Plumage white, except primaries, which are black. Bill, legs, and
feet red. Length about 33 in.
Hab.—Arctic regions to Southern California, east to Montana.

360 APPENDIX

28. Lesser Snow Goose.—Chen hvperboreus.

Same as greater snow-goose (No. 31), only smaller. Length about
25 in.

Hab.—Western North America from Valley of Mississippi to Pa-
cific Coast; Alaska to Southern California.

29. Blue Goose.—Chen Carulescens.

Head and upper part of neck white ; breast, back, and wings gray-
ish brown; wing coverts and rump bluish gray; under parts white ;
tail brownish gray; bill pale pinkish; legs and feet red. Length about
28 in. Young, like adult, except head and neck grayish brown.

Hab.—Interior North America, Hudson Bay to Gulf of Mexico; not
on Pacific Coast.

30. White-fronted Goose.—A4nser albifrons.

Head and neck brown, except forepart of head white; back and
wings grayish brown, tipped with white; primaries black; rump
slate brown; lower parts grayish white; bill, legs and feet orange.
Length, 28 in. Young: no white on head.

Hab.—North America; rare on Atlantic Coast.

31. Greater Snow Goose.— Chen hyperboreus nivalis.

Plumage white except primaries, which are black ; bill purplish red ;
legs and feet orange red. Young: head, neck, and upper parts gray.
Length, 34 in.

Hab.—Arctic Sea to Gulf, Valley of Mississippi to Atlantic Ocean.

32. Fulvous Tree Duck.—Dendrocygna fulva.

Head yellowish brown, darker on top ; ring of black feathers with
white centres on middle of neck; lower part of neck yellowish brown ;
back black barred with cinnamon; tail black; throat buffy white ;
under parts cinnamon; upper part breast yellowish brown; legs and
feet slate blue; bill bluish black. Length, 20 in,

Female.—Similar to male.

Hab.—States of Nevada, California, Louisiana, Texas, Mexico.
Accidental in Missouri and North Carolina.

33. Black-bellied Tree Duck.—Dendrocygna autumnalis,

Head gray, cinnamon on top; chin and throat gray white; neck,
upper portion breast, back and scapulars cinnamon brown; middle
back, rump, and upper tail coverts black; white tint on wing; lower

APPENDIX 361

parts and sides of breast yellowish brown; abdomen and flanks
black ; bill red; legs and feet flesh color. Length, 19 in.
Female.—Resembles male.
Hab.—Southwestern States nearest Mexico; south through Mex-
ico to South America.

34. Canvas-back.—A/ristonetta valisneria.

Head dark chestnut red, black on top; upper part of back, chest,
rump, upper and lower tail coverts black; back and sides white, with
narrow waved black lines which give back gray or canvas appearance,
similar to that of redhead, only waved black lines in latter are wider,
causing back to appear darker; bill black and sloping gradually from
outline of head; legs and feet gray ; tail black. Length, 20 in.

Female.—Head, neck, chest, and upper part of back dark brownish-
red, darkest on top; rest of back and sides dark brown; bill and feet
same as male.

flab.—North America. Breeds in Northern United States.

35. Ringed-neck Duck.—/uligula collaris.

Similar to lesser scaup (No. 38), excepting a more or less well-de-
fined chestnut red collar or ring around middle of neck. Length about
17% in. Intermediate in size between scaup and lesser scaup.

Hab.—North America. Breeds in Northern United States,

36. Labrador Duck.—Camptolemus labradorius.
Pied Duck.

Centre of crown black ; rest of head, throat, and upper neck white;
back black; wing white except primaries fuscous ; front and sides of
upper breast white; lower breast and belly black. Length, 20 in. ;
wing, 8% in.

Hab,—Formerly North Atlantic Coast, breeding from Labrador
northward, and in winter migrating southward to Long Island ; doubt-
less now extinct.

Formerly not unusual to see them in Fulton Market, New York.
The cause of this duck’s extinction is unknown.—Chapman. See also
paper on this species, Zhe Auk, Vol. VIII. (1891), pp. 201-16.

37. Scaup Duck.—Fuligula marila,
Blue-bill.
Black-head.
Head, neck, foreparts of back, and chest black, with green reflec-
tions on head and neck; lower back, rump, upper and lower tail cov-

362 APPENDIX

erts black; middle of back, sides, flanks, and anal region, white waved
with black lines; tail blackish brown ; belly white; bill, legs, and feet
bluish gray, Length about 19 in.

/emale.—Yorehead and sides of bill at base white; rest of head,
neck, and breast dark brown; upper parts dusky brown; belly white ;
bill, legs, and feet same as male.

ffaé.—North America; breeds in North Dakota and other Northern
States.

38. Lesser Scaup Duck. —/wiigude ajinis,

Same in pattern markings as preceding (No. 37), excepting reflec-
tions on head, which are said to be purple instead of green; smaller.
Length about 16 in,

#faé.—North America. Breeds in Northern United States,

39. Redhead.—.#tAvia Americana,

Head and neck chestnut red, redder than that of canvas-back, and
glossed with purple at times; upper back, rump, and upper and lower
tail coverts black ; back and sides white with black waved lines wider
than those of canvas-back and more like those of black-head or scaup
duck ; tail dark brown; bill blue; legs and feet grayish blue. Length
about 19% in.

Female.—Head and neck pale brown; back grayish brown ; bill
and feet same as male.

Hadb.—North America. Breeds in Northern States,

40. Buffle-head Duck,.—Chariiometia albeola,
Butter-Ball.

Head black with metallic green or purple reflections, with broad
white band from behind eye to top of head; feathers of head puffed
out, giving head large appearance; back and rump black ; lower part
neck, under parts and patch on wing, white ; tail dark gray; legs and
feet flesh color, Length about 14% in.

Femade.—Head and neck dark brown with white patch on cheeks ;
upper parts blackish brown; upper part, breast, sides, anal region, and
lower tail coverts dull gray; rest of under parts white; bill dusky ;
legs and feet bluish gray.

#Yab.—North America.

4t. Surf Scoter.— (Ademia perspiciliata,

Plumage black, except triangular spot on forehead, with point for-
ward and another on nape, white; bill red orange, Length, 21 in,

APPENDIX 363

Female.—Vrownish black with white patch on lores and another
behind ears.

Hab,—North America from Atlantic to Pacific; south to Florida,
Ohio River, Lower California.

42. Hooded Merganser.—/ophodytes cucullatus,

Head, neck, and back black; crest white ; white patch on wing di-
vided by black bar; rump dark brown ; in front of wing, on sides of chest,
two black and white crescentic bars, pointed at one end; under parts
white; bill black; legs and feet yellowish brown; iris yellow.
Length, 18 in,

Female,—Uead, neck, and upper parts grayish brown; crest
brown; patch on wing white crossed by black bar; under parts white ;
tail dark grayish brown; bill black; mandible orange; feet light
brown; iris hazel, Length, 16% in.

Hab.—North America. Breeds throughout its range.

43. Red-breasted Merganser.—Merganser serrator.

Head and crest black reflecting green and purple; white ring
around neck; lower back and rump gray mottled with black and
white; wing mostly white crossed by two black bars; lower neck and
upper breast pale cinnamon streaked with black; under parts white;
bill red; legs and feet orange red. Length, 22% in.

Female.—NWead and neck brownish buff or cinnamon; white patch
on wing divided by black bar ; throat and under parts white ; bill, legs
and feet similar to male.

Hab.—Northern parts of both hemispheres.

44. American Merganser.—Mverganser americanus.

Head and neck black, reflecting green; upper parts black; rump
and tail coverts gray ; wing white with black bar; under parts salmon
color, which fades after death (Elliot); tail gray; bill and feet red.
Length, 26 in,

Female.—Nead and neck reddish brown; chin and throat white ;
under parts ash gray; white speculum on wing. Length, 22% in.

Hab.—North America, breeding in United States.

45. Golden Eye.—Clangula clangula.

Head and upper part of neck glossy green with purple reflections ;
large white spot between bill and eye; lower part of neck, upper part

364 APPENDIX

of back, greater wing coverts and under parts white; rest of upper
parts black ; bill greenish black; legs and feet orange. Length, 20 in.

Female.—Head and upper neck brown; collar on neck white ;
back blackish brown; under parts white.

Hab.—North America.

(a)—Barrow's Golden Eye is a similar bird. Head bluish black, reflect-
ing green. Found only in interior, from Arctic regions south to New York,
Colorado, etc.

46. Long-tailed Duck.—avelda glacialis.
Old Squaw.

Male, winter plumage.—Head, white, gray on sides; neck, back
and upper parts of back and chest white; middle back, rump, upper
tail coverts and wings black; scapulars pearl gray; tail black on
median feathers, central pair elongated, outer feathers white; breast
and upper part abdomen brown; bill orange; legs and feet bluish
gray.

Summer.—Head, neck, and upper parts sooty black, except lores ;
forepart, cheeks and sides of forehead mouse gray; under parts and
flanks white ; bill black with broad rose-pink band crossing in front of
nostrils ; legs and feet pale bluish white. Length, 21 to 23 in., depend-
ing on tail feathers.

Female, winter plumage.—Head, neck, and lower parts white, ex-
cept forehead and crown dusky ; upper parts dark brown ; tail grayish
brown ; central pair not elongated as in male.

HYab.—Northern hemisphere. North America, Arctic Sea to
Florida and California.

47. Harlequin Duck.—/istrionicus histrionicus.

Head and neck dark gray glossed with violet, marked with white
stripes and spots; forehead, crown, and nape black; upper parts slaty
blue, grading into blue-black on lower part of rump and upper tail
coverts ; breast and abdomen gray; sides and flanks rufous; specu-
lum deep bluish violet; bill gray ; legs and feet bluish gray. Length,
1734 in.

Female.—Head, neck, and upper parts dark brown; head marked
with white spots before and behind the eye; breast, sides, and flanks
reddish brown; abdomen white; bill, legs and feet dark bluish gray.
Length, 17 in.

Hab.—North America, from Arctic regions to Middle States and
California.

APPENDIX 365

48. Ruddy Duck.—Zrismatura jamaicensis.

Upper parts of head, including eye and nape, glossy black ; sides of
head and chin white ; throat, neck, back, upper tail coverts, scapulars,
and flanks bright reddish chestnut; lower back and rump grayish
brown; tail brownish black; under parts white; bill, legs, and feet
grayish blue. Length, 16 in.

Female.—Upper head dark brown; cheeks brown, white stripe
from below the eye to nape; upper parts dusky brown; lower parts
silvery white; bill blue; legs and feet bluish gray. Length about
15% in.

Hab.—North America, except Alaska. Breeds from Hudson Bay
to Guatemala.

49. Masked Duck.—Womonyx dominicus.

Head, excepting throat and chin, black; nape, throat, neck, back,
scapulars, and upper tail coverts dark cinnamon; lower back and
rump dark brown spotted with black; breast dark cinnamon grading
into reddish buff; wings dark brown with white speculum ; under tail
coverts cinnamon blotched with black ; tail dark brown; bill and eye-
lids pale blue ; legs and feet brown. Length about 15 in.

Female.—Head buff, light on chin and throat; top of head black ;
stripe from base of bill through eye to occiput, and one from gape to
occiput black; neck buff mottled with brown; upper parts black;
wings dark brown; speculum white; primaries and tail brownish
black ; under parts ochraceous spotted with black on breast; bill horn
brown. Length, 13 in.

Hab.—Tropical America from West Indies and Northern South
America to Lower Rio Grande, straggling as far as Massachusetts
and Wisconsin. An accidental visitor only to United States. Related
to Ruddy Duck, but does not go in as large flocks. Flesh is as good as
that of Ruddy. Expert diver, and difficult to recover when wounded.

50. White-winged Scoter.—Oidemia deglandi.

Entire plumage black, except small spot under eye and speculum on
wing white ; bill black, red, and white ; legs andfeet scarlet. Length,
20 in.

Female.—Sooty brown; white spots on head; bill dusky; legs
and feet duller than those of the male, flesh color tinged with black.

Hab.—wNorthern portions North America on both coasts, south to
Chesapeake, Southern Illinois, Lower California.

366 APPENDIX

(a) American Scoter (Oidemia americana).

Entire plumage black, no speculum; bill, black and orange on
basal half; legs and feet black. Length, 18 in.

Female.—Sooty brown; bill black, sometimes marked with yellow ;
legs and feet olive brown. Length, 18 in.

Hab.—North America, Arctic region to New Jersey on east coast,
California on Pacific; Great Lakes. Accidental in Missouri.

51. King Eider.—Somateria spectabilis.

Top of head gray, cheeks pale green; head, throat, neck, upper
part of neck, wing coverts, and large patch on each side of rump white ;
line along base of bill, spot beneath the eye, and broad V-shaped
mark from chin along sides of throat, black; breast dark cream color ;
lower back, rump, and rest of under parts black ; tail brownish black.
Length, 23 in.

Female.—Head, chin, throat dark buff streaked with brown; chest
and sides light buff ; back and under parts blackish brown ; tail black ;
legs and feet dull ochre. Length, 23 in.

Hab.—Arctic regions, south on Atlantic to Georgia, Great Lakes.
Not found on Pacific south of Alaska.

Note.—The Pacific Eider and the Spectacled Eider are similar birds, found
only in Alaska.

52. American Eider.—Somateria dresseri.

Top of head black with white stripe on occiput ; cheeks, chin, throat,
and neck black; lesser and middle wing coverts and patch on either
side of rump white; greater wing coverts and secondaries brownish
black; lower part of back, rump, upper and under tail coverts, and
under parts below breast, black; breast cream color; tail brown ; bill
olive green; legs and feet green. Length, 22 in.

Female.—Plumage brown ; head streaked with narrow black lines;
bill, legs, and feet like male. Size same.

Hab.—North America from Labrador to Delaware on Atlantic
Coast; occasional on Great Lakes.

(a) Eider (Somateria mollissima).
Very similar to No. 52, the description of one answers well for the
other.

Hab.—Northeastern coast North America, south to Massachu-
setts.

APPENDIX 367

53. Blue-winged Teal.—Querguedula discors.

Head and neck gray, black on top and chin; crescent-shaped mark
of white on head between bill and eye; back gray with bars of buff;
wing, patch metallic green with white bar. in front; lesser wing cov-
erts pale blue; lower back and tail dusky with white patch on each
side of tail; under parts and sides reddish buff; bill black; legs and
feet yellow. Length, 15 in.

Female.—Head and neck dusky gray, black on top; chin and throat
white; upper parts dusky, barred with V-shaped buff marks; wing
coverts blue, like male; no green wing patch; bill black; legs and
feet pale flesh color. Length, 15 in.

Hfab.—North America in general, but chiefly the Eastern Province;
north to Alaska, and south to the West Indies and Northern South
America; breeds from the Northern United States northward.

54. Cinnamon Teal.—Querguedula cyanoptera.

Head, neck, and lower parts chestnut, darker on top; wing coverts
pale blue; wing patch green with white bar above; bill black; legs
and feet orange. Length, 17 in.

Female. —Similar to female blue-winged teal, but more reddish.
Length, 16% in.

Hab.—Western America from Columbia River South to Chili,
Patagonia, and Falkland Islands ; East in North America to the Rocky
Mountains ; casual in Mississippi valley.

55. Dusky Duck.—Azas obscura.

Head and throat buff, streaked with dusky black on top and back
of neck; remainder of plumage dusky black, paler beneath; wing
patch violet, sometimes reflecting green, edged with black ; bill yellow;
legs and feet orange red. Length about 22 in.

Female.—Same as male.

#faé.—Eastern North America from Labrador to Florida (where re-
placed by Florida dusky duck (a) below) ; west to Valley of Mississippi.

Hab.—F lorida.

(a) Florida Dusky Duck (Anas fulvigula).
Same as preceding, from sportsman’s point of view. Same in ap-
pearance ; somewhat smaller.
(6) Mottled Duck (Anas fulvigula maculosa).

Similar to Florida dusky.
Haé,—F€Eastern Texas, Louisiana, north to Kansas.

368 APPENDIX

é
56. Green-winged Teal.—Wettion carolinensis.

Head and neck chestnut, broad green band from eye to nape, ter-
minating in black tuft ; chin black; back and sides waved with white
and black narrow lines; lower back brownish gray ; broad white bar in
front of wing; wing patch green bordered below by black bar tipped
with white; breast red spotted with black ; belly white ; bill black ;
legs and feet gray. Length, 14% in.

Female.—Chin and throat buff; wing same as male; upper parts
dusky ; breast dark buff and spotted ; bill black; legs and feet gray.
Length, 14% in.

Hab.—North America, breeding chiefly north of the United States
and migrating south to Honduras and Cuba.

(a) The European Teal (anas crecca).

An occasional visitor to our shores, is very similar to the American
green-winged teal.

57. Wood Duck.—.£x sponsa.

Head dark green, reflecting purple and blue, with long crest;
white line over eye to end of crest ; broader white line below the eye,
continued along lower edge of crest; breast chestnut marked with
arrow-shaped white marks; throat white; back dark brown glossed
with bronze green; wing coverts steel blue; lower breast and abdo-
men white; tail black; bill red; legs and feet yellow. Length, 18 in.

Female.—Head gray; space about eye and throat white; back,
rump, and upper tail coverts bronze; bill red; legs and feet yellow.
Length, 18 in.

Hab.—Temperate North America ; breeding throughout its range.

58. Mallard.—Azas boschas. é

Similar to green-headed duck of barn-yards. Head and neck green,
white collar; back brown with narrow waved lines of lighter brown ;
wings slate brown; speculum or wing patch purple, crossed at each
end with black bar succeeded by white bar; breast chestnut; under
parts silvery gray with waved lines of black; tail coverts black; tail
white ; bill greenish yellow; legs and feet orange red. Length about
22 in.

Female.—Dusky brown with buff markings; wing patch purple.
Size, bill, feet, and legs same as male.

Hab.—Northern portions both hemispheres ; breeds throughout its
range.

APPENDIX , 369

59. Widgeon.—Mareca americana.

Female.—Top of head black, feathers margined with white ; upper
parts dusky barred with buff; wing coverts gray, edged with white ;
wing patch black and green; bill, legs, and feet same as male.
Length, 18 in.

Hab.—North America.

60. Widgeon (See 59).

Male.—Head dull light buff speckled with black, white on top
(from which named baldpate); green patch behind the eye ex-
tending on neck; back vinacious undulated with black; wing
coverts white; black bar across wing; wing patch green and black;
lower breast and abdomen white ; bill gray blue, tip black; legs and
feet gray. Length, 19 in.

Young male similar to female (No. 59).

Note.—The Widgeon is sometimes called bald-face. ‘‘ Went a ducking be-
tween breakfast and dinner and killed two mallards and five bald-faces,.’’—
Washington's Diary.

Widgeon when much shot at on the feeding grounds will leave the bays in the
daytime and return to feed at sun-set or later. I recently heard them at Back-
bay, Currituck, long after sun-set, sounding their low, sweet, musical whistle as
they passed overhead, returning to the bay.

61. Sprig-tail.— Dafila acuta.
Pin-tail.

Head and upper neck brown, metallic reflections on sides; white
stripe on sides of neck, extending to white under parts ; back and sides
of flank waved with narrow white and gray lines; cinnamon bar across
wing ; wing patch reflecting bronze green, black bar and white tip;
tail feathers brown on outer webs, gray on inner, central pair long,
extending beyond the others (hence name pin-tail duck) ; bill bluish
gray ; legs and feet brownish gray. Length, 26 in.

Female.—Head yellowish white streaked with gray, rufous on top
streaked with black ; back of neck dusky streaked with buff ; bill blu-
ish gray; legs and feet gray. Length, 20 in.

Hab.—Northern Hemisphere. In North America breeds from the
northern parts of the United States northward and migrates south to
Panama and Cuba.

370 APPENDIX

62. Shoveller.— Spatula clypeata.

Head and neck green; upper part back and breast white ; middle
back brown; rump and upper tail coverts black glossed with green ;
wing coverts blue; narrow white band across wing; wing patch
green; under parts chestnut; bill black; legs and feet orange red.
Length, 19 in.

Female.—Head and neck buff streaked with gray, brownish white
on top; wing coverts blue; wing patch green; under parts reddish
buff ; bill olive brown; legs and feet orange. Length, 19 in.

#faé.—Northern hemisphere, Alaska to Texas, not common on At-
lantic Coast.

63. Gadwall.—Chaulelasmus streperus.
Gray Duck.

Head light buff, rufous on top spotted with black and brown ; up-
per part back and breast marked with crescent-shaped black and
white bars, the former most prominent; back, scapulars, and flanks
undulated with slate color and white; wing gray; wing patch white,
black stripe in front ; vent and under tail coverts black ; rest of under
parts white ; bill bluish black ; legs and feet orange. Length, 20 in.

64. Gadwall (See 63).

Female,—Head tawny spotted with brown and buff; chin and
throat yellowish white; wings like male with white wing patch (but
little or no black in front) ; bill dusky orange; legs and feet dull yel-
low. Length, Ig in.

Hab.—Arctic regions to Mexico. Breeds in Northern States.

BOOK III

THE SHORE BIRDS OR WADERS, ORDER Limicol@, LITERALLY MUD-
DWELLERS—THE SNIPES, SANDPIPERS, PLOVERS, AND OTHER
WADING BIRDS.

65. Wilson’s Snipe.—Gallinago delicata.

Head black on top, striped with buff; neck buff with black spots;
back black with brown and buff lines; breast buff spotted with brown;
bill gray, 2%-3 in. long. Length, 10%-11% in.; wing, 5-5 % in.

Hab.—North and Middle America, breeding from the Northern
United States northward. South in winter to West Indies and South
America,

APPENDIX 371

Often called Jack snipe, English snipe, marsh snipe, shad-bird or
shad spirit.
(a) European Snipe (Gallinago gallinago.)
Somewhat similar. Listed in check-list of the American Ornitho-
logical Union since specimens have been taken in Greenland.

66. Knot.— 77ringa canutus.

Top of head dark brown streaked with white; back gray; rump
and upper tail coverts white barred with black ; under parts white.
In summer the throat, breast, and sides of the abdomen are cinnamon ;
middle of abdomen white ; bill, legs, and feet black. Length, 10 in. ;
wing, 6% in.

Hab.—Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeds in high northern latitudes,
but visits the southern hemisphere during its migrations. Not found
on Pacific Coast of America south of Alaskan peninsula.—Elliot.

67. Bartramian Sandpiper.—Sartramia longicauda.

General color brown, variegated with black and buff ; head buff on
sides streaked with brown, black on top; back black marked with
buff ; throat and under parts buff marked with brown on breast and
flanks ; bill brownish black; feet and legs yellowish gray. Length,
12 in.; wing, 6% in.

Hab.—North America, mainly east of Rocky Mountains; south in
winter to South America.

68. Dowitcher.—Macrorhamphus griseus.
Red-breasted Snipe.

General color reddish or gray brown. Similar in size and length
of bill to Wilson’s snipe (No. 65). Head and upper parts mixed with
buff, brown, and white ; abdomen and belly white.

Hab.—Eastern North America, breeding far north; south in win-
ter to South America.

(a) Western Dowitcher, Long-billed Dowitcher (Macrorhamphus
scolopaceus).
A Western variety and similar to No. 68, with bill somewhat
longer.
Hab.—Mississippi Valley and Western Province of North America
from Mexico to Alaska. Less common but of regular occurrence
along the Atlantic Coast of the United States.

372 APPENDIX

69. American Woodcock.—Philohela minor.

General color brown, more gray in the autumn; head brown, dark
brown line from bill to eye; top of head black, crossed by narrow buff
lines ; upper parts variegated with reddish brown, black, and gray ;
under parts reddish buff; bill brown, 244-3 in. long; feet and legs
gray. Length, 1014-1134 in.

Hab.—¥astern North America, north to British Provinces; west-
ward to Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska. Southern States in winter. Colo-
rado, not common.

(a) European Woodcock (Scolopax rusticola).
A much larger bird than No. 69. Easily distinguished by its size.
Hfab.—An occasional visitor to Eastern North America.

70. Pectoral Sandpiper.— 77inga maculata,

Head and upper parts pale gray; rump brownish black; breast
and sides buff streaked with brown; under parts white; bill black;
legs and feet buff. Length, 8'-9 in.; wing, 5-5 # in.

Hlab.—The whole of North America, the West Indies, and the
greater part of South America. Breeds in the Arctic regions.

71. Hudsonian Godwit.—ZLimosa hemastica.

Head, back, and sides of neck grayish white; back black marked
with buff, gray, and white ; upper tail coverts white ; tail black, base
and tip white; throat white streaked with black; lower parts dark
chestnut narrowly barred with black; bill flesh color; feet and legs
gray blue. Length, 14-16 in.; wing, 8 in.

Hab.—fastern North America, and whole of Middle and South
America. Also in Alaska. South in winter to South America.

72. Marbled Godwit.—Zimosa feda.

Head and neck buff streaked with black; upper parts reddish buff
barred with black; white stripe from bill to above the eye; throat
white ; under parts rufous barred with brown; bill flesh color on basal
half, brown black on remaining parts; feet gray. Length, 16%-20%
in.; wing, 83¢ in.

Hab.—North America generally, breeding in interior from Iowa
and Dakota north; south in winter to Guatemala, Yucatan, Cuba, etc.

73. Black-necked Stilt.—Aimantopus mexicanus.

Forehead, spot above and below the eye, chin, throat, front and sides
of neck, under parts, rump and tail coverts white ; rest of head, hind

APPENDIX 373

neck, back and wings black; tail ashy white; easily distinguished by
extremely long red legs; bill black.

Female.—Back and scapulars brownish slate. Length, 15 in.;
wing, 9 in.

Hab.—Temperate North America from the Northern United
States southward to the West Indies, Northern Brazil, and Peru.
Rare in Eastern United States, except Florida.

74. American Avocet.—Recurvirostra americana.

Head and upper breast cinnamon; chin white; back brownish
black; easily distinguished by long pale blue legs and feet of same
color. Length, 15%-1834 in. ; wing, 8% -9 in.

In winter head, neck, and breast are white.

Other names : white snipe, blue stocking.

H{ab.—Temperate North America, north to Saskatchewan, south
to Central America. Rare in Eastern United States.

75. Hudsonian Curlew.—Numenius hudsonicus.

General color grayish brown above ; under parts buff or yellowish
white ; sides of head buff marked with narrow streaks ; crown brown
with stripe of buff ; brown stripe from bill to ear coverts; bill brown-
ish black; feet and legs black. Length, 17 in.; wing, 9% in.

Hfab.—All of North and South America, including the West In-
dies. Breedsin the high North and winters chiefly south of the United
States.

Note.—Curlews are easily distinguished from the other waders by their bills,
which curve downward.

76. Eskimo Curlew.—Numenius borealis.

General color, upper parts black margined with buff or yellowish
white; under parts yellowish white or buff, the breast streaked ; top
of head black marked with buff ; black line from bill to ear coverts ;
rest of head and neck buff; bill brownish black; legs brown.
Length, 13% in. ; wing, 8% in.

Resembles No. 75, but is easily distinguished by its smaller size.

Hab.—Eastern North America, breeding in the Arctic regions and
migrating south throughout South America.

77. Pacific Godwit.—ZLimosa capponica baueri.

Upper parts brownish gray; lower parts reddish buff barred on
flanks and under tail coverts with brown; top of head and hind neck

374 APPENDIX

streaked with blackish brown; bill brown, flesh color on basal half,
Length, 16 in.; wing, 83¢ in.

#Haé.—Shores and islands of the Pacitic Ocean from New Zealand
and Australia to Kamchatka and Alaska. On American coast re-
corded south of Alaska only from La Paz, Lower California.

78. Long-billed Curlew.—Numenius longirostris.

“The giant among waders,” easily distinguished by its size. Up-
per parts reddish buff streaked on head and neck; under parts light
buff; sides barred with black; bill black; legs and feet gray-brown.
Length, 2 ft.; wing, 10% in. Often called sickle-bill and sickle-bill
curlew.

Hab.—Temperate North America, migrating south to Guatemala,
Cuba, and Jamaica. Breeds in South Atlantic States in winter.

79. Willet.—Symphemia semipalmata.

Upper parts brownish gray; back barred with black; breast and
sides barred with brownish gray; belly white; bill black; feet and
legs gray. Length, 16 in. ; wing, 83¢ in.

Hab.—Temperate North America, south to the West Indies and
Brazil.

(a) Western Willet (Symphemia semipalmata speculifera).

Slightly larger than No. 79, not easily distinguished.
Hab.—Western North America to Mississippi Valley; occasional
on Atlantic Coast.

80. Ruff.—Pavoncella pugnax.

Male.—FEasily distinguished by large ruff on neck; neck and breast
reddish brown; abdomen and under tail coverts white; much varia-
ation in color in different specimens. Length, 1234 in.; wing, 7% in.

Female.—Without ruff; upper parts grayish brown; back barred
with brown; bill brown; legs and feet yellow.

Hab.—Northern parts of Old World, straying occasionally to East-
ern North America.

81. Greater Yellow-legs.— 7otanus melanoleucus.

Upper parts gray marked with black; breast spotted with black ;
sides barred with black; belly white; bill black; feet and legs
Naples yellow. Length, 14-15 in.; wing, 8 in,

APPENDIX 375

Hab.—America in general. Breeding from Iowa and northern
Illinois, etc., northward, and migrating south to Chili and Argentine
Republic.

(a) Yellow-legs (Totanus flavipes).

Similar to No. 81, only smaller. Length, 11 in.; wing, 6% in.
Always more abundant than the larger birds.

Hab.—North America in general, less common in the West than
in the Eastern provinces. Migrating south in winter to Southern South
America.

Note.—I have seen the yellow-legs more abundant in North Dakota than
anywhere in the East.

82. White-rumped Sandpiper.— 7ringa fuscicollis.

Upper parts black, edged with rufous; in winter brownish gray;
throat white ; neck, breast, and sides streaked and spotted with black;
bill, feet, and legs greenish black. Length, 7% in. ; wing, 5 in.

Hab.—Eastern North America, breeding in the high North. In
winter the West Indies, Central and South America south to the Falk-
land Islands; occasional in Europe.

83. Sanderling.—Calidris arenaria.

Upper parts dark gray with black markings, centre of feathers
black ; throat and upper breast spotted with black; under parts
white ; white bar on wing; bill, legs, and feet black. Length, 8 in. ;
wing, 5in. Often called surf-snipe, beach bird and ruddy plover, usu-
ally found on sea-shores.

Hab.—Nearly cosmopolitan. Breeding in the Arctic and Subarctic
regions, migrating in America south to Chili and Patagonia.

84. Baird’s Sandpiper.— 7vinga bairdii.

Upper parts and top of head gray, variegated with black ; sides of
head and breast buff streaked with brown; throat and under parts
white ; bill, feet, and legs black. Length, 7% in. ; wing, 434 in.

Hab.—Nearly the whole of North and South America, but chiefly
the interior of North and the western portions of South America, south
to Chili, Patagonia. Breeds in Alaska and on the Barren Grounds.
Rare along the Atlantic Coast, and not yet recorded from the Pacific
Coast of the United States.

376 APPENDIX

85. Stilt Sandpiper.—Micrepalma himantopus.

Top of head, back, and sides of neck gray; back gray; under
parts white, streaked with gray on neck, breast, and lower tail coverts.
In summer top of head is black streaked with yellowish white; line
from bill to eye rufous; bill black; legs and feet greenish gray.
Length, 7%4-9% in. } wing, 5-514 in.

Haé.—Eastern Province of North America from Arctic regions to
South America in winter.

86. Purple Sandpiper.— 7>inge maritima,

Summer.—Top of head, neck, back, rump, and scapulars blackish
brown; white bar on wing; throat white; breast grayish brown ;
rest of under parts white. J) ?¢er—Upper parts black, reflecting
purple ; under parts white; flanks streaked with brown; legs and
feet yellow ; bill brown. Length, 8 in. ; wing, 43¢ in.

Haé.—Northern portions of the Northern Hemisphere ; in North
America chiefly the northeastern portions; breeding in the high
North, migrating in winter to the Eastern and Middle States, the Great
Lakes, and the shores of the larger streams in the Mississippi Valley.

87. Spotted Sandpiper.—Actiiis macularia,

Upper parts brownish gray; head and neck streaked with black ;
back spotted with black ; back browner in winter; under parts white
spotted with black; legs and feet gray; bill black edged with yellow.
Length, 7% in.; wing, 4 in.

Haé.—North and South America, from Alaska south to Southern
Brazil. Breeds throughout temperate North America; less commonly
on the Pacific Coast. Occasional in Europe.

88. Buff-breasted Sandpiper.— 7 ryngites sudruficollis.

Upper parts grayish brown; under parts pale buff ; bill black ; legs
and feet yellowish green. Length, 8 in. ; wing, 5}4 in.

Hab.—North America, especially in the interior. Breeds in the
Yukon district and the interior of British America, northward to the
Arctic coast; South America in winter as far as Uruguay and Peru.

89. Red-backed Sandpiper.— 7ringa alpina paci fica,

Upper parts brown marked with black ; wings brownish gray ; breast
light gray; black patch on middle of belly; lower belly white ; bill
black ; legs and feet black. Length, 8 in.; wing, 434 in.

HYaé.—North America in general, breeding far north; Eastern
Asia,

APPENDIX 377

90. Solitary Sandpiper.— 7o/anus solitarius.

Upper parts olive brown; back spotted with white; breast streaked
with black; in winter upper parts grayish brown; belly white; bill
greenish brown; legs and feet olive green. Length, 8% in.; wing,
5% in.

Hab.—North America, breeding occasionally in the Northern
United States, more commonly northward, and migrating southward
as far as the Argentine Republic and Peru.

git. Wandering Tattler.—//eteraclitis incanus.

Head, neck, and upper parts dark gray ; throat white spotted with
gray; under parts white barred with gray; bill black; feet and legs
greenish yellow. Length, 8 in.; wing, 6% in.

Hab.—Pacific Coast of America, from Norton Sound, Alaska, to
Galapagos, and west to Kamchatka and Hawaiian Islands; also the
Eastern group of Polynesia.

92. Belted Piping Plover.—“gialites meloda circumcincta,

Upper parts gray ; forehead and under parts white; black band on
breast and black band on forehead. Similar to No. 93.

Hab.—Mississippi Valley, breeding from Northern Illinois north to
Lake Winnipeg; more or less frequent eastward to the Atlantic
Coast.

93. Piping Plover.— “gialites meloda.

Upper parts pale green; forehead and under parts white; ring
around neck white; band on either side of breast, black; band on
forehead black ; bill orange, tip black; legs and feet orange. Length,
7 in. ; wing, 434 in.

Hab.—Eastern North America, breeding from the coast of Vir-
ginia northward to Newfoundland ; in winter, West Indies.

94. Semipalmated Plover.— Zvialites semipalmata.
Ring-neck Plover.

Under parts and ring around neck white, except band on the breast
encircling neck black; back brownish gray; spot under eye white;
bill yellow, black tip; legs and feet flesh color. Length, 63 in. ;
wing, 434 in.

Hab.—Arctic and Subarctic America, migrating south throughout
tropical America, as far as Brazil, Peru, and the Galapagos.

378 APPENDIX

95. Black-bellied Plover.—Charadrius squatarola.

Upper parts black bordered with white; tail white barred with
black ; sides of head, neck, and under parts black, except white lower
belly; bill black; legs and feet gray. Length, 11 in.; wing, 7% in.

Hab.—Nearly cosmopolitan, but chiefly in the northern hemisphere ;
breeding far north, and migrating south in winter; in America to the
West Indies, Brazil, and Colombia.

Note.—George H. Mackay (The Azk, Vol. IX., p. 146) says: ‘‘ The black-
bellied plover is in a great degree a tide bird, seeking a large portion of its food
on those extensive sand flats left by the receding waters.’’ And (p. 148) Mr.
Mackay says: ‘‘I judge they [the black-bellies] have zever been very abundant
in America."" I remain of the opinion, however, that the black-bellied plover
are certainly as abundant in some of the Western States as they are on the At-
lantic Coast, if not more so, Mr. A. Henry Higginson (Oxting, December,
Ig02, p. 278) says: ‘‘On May 2ist we were driving along near a ‘coolie’
which ran in from Lac aux Morts [North Dakota], when we saw what we took
to be a bunch of golden plover feeding near the water. My assistant went after
them while I sat in the wagon and held the horse. The plover saw him and
flushed before he got in range, flying directly over my wagon. I managed to
drop one, and when I went to pick it up I found that it was an old black-belly,
with a breast as black as jet and a very white back. On May 25th we went
down to Lake Irwin, about ten miles from our camp, after any shore birds that
might chance to be there. Lake Irwin has hard, sandy shores, an ideal place
for black-bellies, and we found them in abundance. We got a great series of
these birds, showing the variation in plumage, which is very great. A few old
males seemed to like to stay alone, but most of them were iz flocks of one hun-
dred or more.”

96. Pacific Golden Plover.—Charadrius dominicus fulvus.

Very similar to No. 97, following. Length, 1o¥% in.; wing, 6% in.

Note.—‘‘ It is extremely difficult to distinguish the Pacific from the American
golden plover, the only difference being its smaller size and more golden
hue.’’—Elliot.

HTab.—Breeding, from Northern Asia to the Pribelof Islands and
coast of Alaska and south in winter through China and India to Aus-
tralia and Polynesia.

97. American Golden Plover.—Charadrius dominicus.

Upper parts black, with golden dots, by which it is easily distin-
guished ; sides of breast white; sides of head and under parts black.
Length, 10% in.; wing, 7 in.

Hab.—Arctic America, except coast of Bering Sea, migrating south-
ward throughout North and South America to Patagonia.

APPENDIX 379

98. Snowy Plover.— Zvialites nivosa.

Forehead and under parts white; band across crown, and broad
patch on either side of breast black; bill black. Length, 6% in.; wing,
4% in.

Hab.—Western United States, from California east to Kansas
and Western Gulf States; in winter both coasts of Central America
and Western South America to Chili; Western Cuba.

99. Wilson’s Plover.—“Zgialites wilsonia,

Lores, front of crown, and band on breast black ; rest of under parts
and forehead white ; back brownish gray. Length, 7% in.; wing,
4¥% in.

Hab.—Coasts of North and South America from Long Island and
Lower California southward. Casual to Nova Scotia.

100. Surf-bird.—Aphriza virgata.

Head, neck, and breast mottled with black and white; white bar
on wing; white rump; bill black; legs and feet yellow. Length, 10
in. ; wing, 7 in.

Hab.—Pacific Coast of America from Alaska to Chilt.

ror. Black Turnstone.—Avrenaria melanocephala.

Head, neck, and back brownish black; spot in front of and be-
hind the eye white; throat and chest blackish brown; under parts
white; bill black; legs and feet greenish yellow. Length, 9 in.;
wing, 6 in.

Hab.—Pacific Coast of North America from Point Barrow, Alaska,
to Santa Margarita Island, Lower California; breeding from Alaska
south to British Columbia.

102. Mountain Plover.—“Zgialites montana.

Forehead and stripe over eye white ; stripe from bill to eye black;
upper parts grayish brown; under parts dull white; bill black; feet
and legs orange. Length, 8¥ in. ; wing, 6 in.

Hab.—Chiefly the Plains from Central Kansas to the Rocky Moun-
tains; north to the British boundary from Kansas; westward, espe-
cially in winter, to Central and Southern California. Accidental in
Florida.

103. Turnstone.—Arenaria interpres.

Top of head, back of neck, chin and throat, and upper back to
sides of breast white, streaked on crown with black; head marked

380 APPENDIX

with black; back black; rump white; bill black; feet and legs
orange red. Length, 9 in. ; wing, 6 in.

Hab.—Nearly cosmopolitan. In America from Greenland and
Alaska to Straits of Magellan ; more or less common in interior of
North America on the shores of Great Lakes and the larger rivers.
Breeds in high latitudes.

104. Least Sandpiper.— 7ringa minutilla.
Peep.

Upper parts black, edged and tipped with buff or rufous ; upper
throat white; neck and breast white or buffy, streaked; belly and
sides white ; bill, legs and feet black. Length, 6 in.; wing, 3¥% in.

Hab.—The whole of North and South America, breeding north of
the United States. Accidental in Europe.

105. Semipalmated Sandpiper.—Zreunetes pusillus.
Ox-eye ; peep.

Upper parts black margined with brownish gray; breast streaked
or spotted with black; under parts white ; bill, feet, and legs black.
Length, 6% in. ; wing, 334 in.

Hab.—Eastern North America, breeding north of United States.
South in winter to South America and West Indies.

106. Aleutian Sandpiper.— 77inga couesi.

Head, neck, and back black; wings gray brown ; white bar across
wing; rump brownish black; throat, neck, and under parts white
streaked with brownish black ; bill gray black; feet and legs yellow.

‘Tn winter resembles purple sandpiper so closely that it is impossible to give
recognizable character to distinguish them apart.’’—Elliot.

Hab.— Aleutian Islands and coast of Alaska, north to Kowak River,
west to Commander Islands, Kamchatka. Length, 71%4-9 in. ; wing,

4¥%-5 in.

107. Curlew Sandpiper.— 7ringa ferruginea.

Upper parts brownish gray; sides of head and throat white streaked
with gray. In szmmer back and scapulars are black margined with
rusty ; sides of head, neck, and breast rufous; bill, legs, and feet green-
ish black. Length, 81% in. ; wing, 5 in.

Hab.—The Old World in general ; occasional in Eastern North
America and Alaska.

APPENDIX 381

108. Western Sandpiper.—Zreunetes occidentalis,
Similar in size and pattern to semi-palmated sandpiper ; bill longer.
Hab.—Chiefly Western Province of the United States, occasional
eastward to the Atlantic Coast; breeding far north and migrating in
winter to Central and South America.

109. Wilson’s Phalarope.—Palaropus tricolor.

Female.—Larger than male. In winter, upper parts gray; rest of
plumage white. In s#mmer, head light gray on top; white line over
eye ; throat and under parts white ; legs, feet, and bill black. Length,
9%-I0 in. ; wing, 5% in.

Madle.—Smaller and duller.

Hab.—Temperate North America, chiefly the interior; to South
America in winter.

110. Northern Phalarope.—Pialaropus lobatus.

Female.—Larger than male. Winter, back and wings gray; chin,
throat, and under parts white. Swmmer, head, neck, and back gray ;
white spots above and below the eye; upper breast chestnut; chin
and under parts white ; legs and feet gray; bill black. Length, 7 in. ;
wing, 4 in.

Male.—Duller and smaller.

Hab.—Northern portions of Northern hemisphere, breeding in
Arctic latitudes. South in winter to the tropics.

111. Red Phalarope.—Crymophilus fulicarius.

Female.—Head, chin, forehead, and crown black; sides and line
around the eye white; back black; under parts and neck cinnamon ;
bill yellow, black at tip; legs and feet dull olive. Length, 714-8 in. ;
wing, 54-5% in. Wéénter, head, neck, and under parts white, except
occiput and around eyes black; back gray.

Male,—Similar, duller.

Hab.—Northern parts of northern hemisphere, south on Atlantic
Coast to Middle States; to South America on Pacific Coast.

112. Killdeer Plover.— “Zgialitis voci fera.
Killdee.

Forehead, throat, and belly white; spot behind the eye and ring
around the neck white; ring around the neck and band on the breast
black ; crown and back grayish brown; rump and upper tail coverts
rufous ; bill black; legs and feet grayish yellow. Length, 10% in. ;
wing, 6% in.

382 APPENDIX

Hab.—Temperate North America, breeding north to Newfound-
land and Manitoba, migrating to the West Indies and Central and
Northern South America and Bermuda.

113. American Oyster Catcher.—ematopus palliatus.

Head, neck, and upper breast black; back and wing coverts
brown ; upper tail coverts white ; base of tail white; lower breast and
belly white; bill red; legs and feet flesh color. Length, 17-21 in. ;
wing, 104 in.

Hab.—Sea-coasts of temperate and tropical America from New
Jersey and Western Mexico to Patagonia; occasional or accidental on
Atlantic Coast, north to Massachusetts and Grand Menon.

114. Black Oyster Catcher.—Yematopus bachmani.
Head and neck black; rest of plumage blackish brown ; bill red ;
legs and feet flesh color. Length, 17 in. ; wing, 9% in.
fTab.—Pacific Coast of North America from the Aleutian Islands
to La Paz, Lower California.

Note.—‘‘ Oyster catchers are generally maritime birds, and resort to the outer
beaches in search of clams, mussels, etc., exposed by the tide. ‘Their strong
bill is used as an oyster knife to force open the shells of these bivalves.'’—Chap-
man.

The Jacanas are the only remaining family of shore birds. Only
one of these, the Mexican Jacana is found in North America.

Hab.—Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, south to Central America.
Of no importance to sportsmen.

BOOK IV

CRANES, COOTS, RAILS AND REED-BIRDS, WILD PIGEONS AND
DOVES

115. American Coot.—/ulica americana.
Mud-hen, Crow Duck.

Plumage slate or blue black, paler below; edge of wing and under
tail coverts white; bill white; legs and feet gray green. Length, 15
in. ; wing, 714 in. Often called blue peter.

Hab.—North America from Greenland and Alaska southward to
the West Indies and Central America.

Note.—This bird is familiar to all duck shooters as the mud-hen. It flies
slowly a short distance above the water and is not a difficult mark. It was not

APPENDIX 383

considered a game bird a few years ago, but as ducks have vanished, sportsmen
shoot coots for the want of something better. It is said they are edible when
skinned.

116. Sand-hill Crane.—Grus mexicana.
Plumage slaty or gray brown; top of head bare but with black
hairs on dull reddish skin. Length, 40 in. ; wing, 213 in.
#fab.—Southern half of North America. Now rare near the Atlan-
tic Coast, except in Georgia and Florida.

(a) Little Brown Crane (Grus canadensis).

Similar to the sand-hill crane (No. 116), only smaller. Wing, 18%
in,

Hab.—Arctic and Subarctic America, breeding from the fur coun-
tries and Alaska to the Arctic Coast; migrating south in winter into
the Western United States.

117. Whooping Crane.—Grus americana.
White Crane.

Plumage white; primaries black ; top of head and sides of throat
dullred. Length, 50 in. ; wing, 25 in.

Hfab.—Interior of North America from the fur countries to
Florida, Texas, and Mexico, and from Ohioto Colorado. Formerly on
the Atlantic Coast at least casually to New England.

Note.—There are fifteen species of cranes in the world. The three above
given are those found in North America. Chapman says: ‘‘ Our species mi-
grate in flocks, but are solitary rather than gregarious at other times of the
year. Their voice is loud and and resonant."" Young cranes are palatable.
Old birds are more often tough and undesirable.

118. Black Rail.—Porzana jamaicensis.

Back and wings brownish black barred or spotted with white ; head,
breast and upper belly slate color; nape dark reddish brown. Length.
5 in.; wing, 2% in.

Hab.—United States. Wintering south to South America, north
to Massachusetts, Northern Illinois, and Oregon.

11g. Yellow Rail.—Porzana noveboracensis.

Plumage brownish yellow; upper parts black, bordered with buff ;
breast yellow ; middle of belly white; sides and lower belly brown,
barred with white. Arare bird. Length, 7 in.; wing, 35¢ in.

Hab.—Eastern North America, Nova Scotia, and Hudson Bay,
west to Utah and Nevada.

384 APPENDIX

120. Sora.—/Porzana carolina.
Carolina Rail.

Upper plumage olive brown ; base of bill and crown black ; breast,
throat, sides of head slate color ; flanks barred with black and white.
Length, 84 in.; wing, 434 in.

Hab.—North America, breeding from Illinois and New York north
to Hudson Bay. Wintering in the Gulf States and Northern South
America.

121. Virginia Rail.—allus virginianus.

Very similar in color and pattern to King Rail, No. 123. Upper
parts reddish brown marked with black; belly and sides barred with
white; much smaller than king rail. Length, 9 % in.; wing, 4% in.

Hab.—North America, breeding from Illinois and Pennsylvania
to Manitoba and Labrador, and wintering from same States to Cen-
tral America.

122. Clapper Rail.—Rallus longirostris crepitans,
Salt-water Marsh Hen.

Upper parts olive gray ; wings and tail brown; wing coverts pale
cinnamon ; throat white; sides and belly barred with white. Length,
14% in.; wing, 5 in.

Easily distinguished from king rail, since latter is much browner in
color.

/fab.—*astern and Southern States, in salt-water marshes ; breed-
ing from Connecticut southward.

(a) Flortda clapper rail. Same as 122, from sportsman’s point
(6) Loucsiana clapper rail. of view.

123. King Rail.—allus elegans,
Fresh-water Marsh Hen.

Upper parts brown marked with black; wings and tail olive brown;
throat white ; belly and sides barred with white; neck and breast cin-
namon. Length, 15 in.; wing, 6% in.

Hab.—Eastern United States in fresh-water marshes, breeding to
Missouri and Connecticut. Wintering from Virginia southward.
Strays north to Wisconsin and Maine.

(a) The Corn-crake.—(Crex crex).

About the size of the king rail, No. 123. General color brownish
buff, marked with dark brown or black on back; sides barred with

APPENDIX 385

white; middle of belly white; short bill. This rail is an Old World
species of casual occurrence in Eastern North America.

Note.—Rails have long, narrow bodies which enable them torun through the
reeds and marsh grasses. They are only found in marshes covered with reeds,
wild rice, or rushes. Their long toes enable them to run about on lily-pads,
floating grasses, and soft mud.

124. Ground Dove.—Columbigallina terrestris.

Top of head slate color ; glossed with blue on head and neck ; back
brownish gray; outer tail feathers tipped with white; forehead and
under parts vinaceous; easily distinguished by small size, about half
the size of the mourning dove or common wild dove. Length, 634 in. ;
wing, 34 in.; tail 2% in.

Hab.—South Atlantic and Gulf States, West Indies, and Northern
South America; breeding from South Carolina to Louisiana.

‘This dove frequents both pines and ‘hummocks,’ lake shores and old fields,
and in some Southern towns is a familiar bird of the quieter streets. By no
means shy. Favorite roosting places densely foliaged orange-trees."—Chap-
man.

125. White-winged Dove.—Welopelia leucoptera.

Plumage bluish gray; easily distinguished by large white patch on
wings ; outer under tail feathers tipped with white; sides of head and
neck iridescent green marked with steel-blue spot. Length, 12 in. ;
wing, 6% in. ; tail, 434 in.

Hab.—Arizona, New Mexico, Texas to Central America; occa-
sional in Florida.

126. Mourning Dove.—Zenaidura macroura,
Carolina Dove.

Slaty brown above ; under parts red on neck and breast, buff be-
low ; neck iridescent: tail long, 534 in. ; small black mark below the
ear ; under feathers tipped with white; resembles the wild pigeon,
but is smaller and brown on the rump instead of slate color; flies with
loud whistling sound, made by the wings; nests in trees, but on the
ground when there are no trees. Length, 11-13 in. ; wing, 534 in.

Hab.—North America, from Maine, Canada, and Oregon, south to
Panama and West Indies.

Note —Mr. Shields, the editor of Recreation, claims that the dove is not a
legitimate game bird and that it should not be killed at any time. He says:
“‘TIt is a beautiful and harmless creature, too pretty and too innocent to be re-

garded as game. There are few States in the Union where sportsmen continue
to kill these birds.” 7

386 APPENDIX

Ina recent bulletin of the United States Department of Agriculture, it is
stated that the dove is protected at all times in Maine, New Hampshire, Ver-
mont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Delaware, West
Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, lowa, Wyoming, Arkansas, and the District of
Columbia. Ohio has prohibited dove-shooting since the bulletin was issued.
It would seem that the States are inclined to follow Mr. Shields. Dove-shoot-
ing, however, is stilla very popular sport in most of the Western and Southern
States.

In Central and Southern Arizona in the summer, the white- winged dove is
found in great quantities. This is probably the finest shooting in the world.
Experienced wing-shooters are frequently able to kill a hundred of these swift
flying birds within an hour ortwo. ‘These birds are so numerous in the farming
regions as to be almost considered a pest at times.—Report of Governor Brodie
to the Secretary of the Interior.

127. Red-billed Pigeon.— Columba flavirostris,

Head, neck, and breast purplish wine-color; back olive brown, with
bronze reflections; other portions slate-colored; base of bill red.
Length, 14 in. ; wing, 734 in.

Hab.—Texas to Arizona.

128. Passenger Pigeon.—Lc/opistes migratorius.

Slate blue above ; throat and breast red, becoming white toward
tail ; under outside feathers of the tail white ; neck iridescent, reflect-
ing red, green, and purple.

Female.—Duller; neck less iridescent ; tail long, 84 in. Length,
15-17 in.; wing, 8 in.

Hab.—F¥ ormerly, North America from Atlantic to the ee Plains,
now extinct or nearly so.

Note.—The Ornithological Union has proposed that the term ‘‘ game" be
restricted to four orders. — Anatide, the swimmers /al/ide, the rails, coots,
mud-hens, Zimico/e, the shore birds, and Ga//ine, the turkeys, grouse, part-
ridges, etc. This excludes from the proposed game list, pigeons and doves,
and the cranes and reed-birds,

F. Henry Yorke, writing of the disappearance of the wild-pigeons, says :
‘‘ There is only one possible solution, and I believe it tobe atrue one, They
were drowned! At first I was skeptical on the point. Could they not rise above
or outride a storm, hang on, pay off or run before it? Many or most of them,
although exhausted, would reach a friendly shore. ‘They did not, and the stern,
hard fact remains, that in that manner they must surely have met their fate. A
report was current among the sailors and masters of ships, that from Key West
across the Gulf, ships plowed their way through dead pigeons, and that the
shores were lined with them." This occurred in 1883, Mr. Yorke says. But the
pigeons disappeared before that date in New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and
elsewhere,

APPENDIX 387

i29. Band-tailed Pigeon.—Columéa fasciata.

Head, neck, and lower parts ashy vinaceous purple, lighter on the
abdomen; above gray; olivaceous on the back, bluish on the rump ;
narrow half-collar of white across the upper portion of nape, feathers
beneath this dull metallic golden green reflecting bronze ; bill and feet
yellow.

Female.—Smaller and more gray.

Hab,—Pacific States of United States to table-lands of Meyico.

130. Zenaida Dove.—Zenaida zenaida.

Similar to the common wild dove, the mourning dove No. 126.
Tail shorter and more square, tipped with gray ; under parts vinaceous.
Length, 10-10% in. ; wing, 675 in.; tail, 3%-4 in.

Hab.—F lorida Keys.

131. Blue-headed Quail Dove.—Starnanas cyanocephala,

Upper parts reddish brown ; throat black; blue crowned ; white
line beneath the eye. Length, 11 in. ; wing, 54-6 in. ; tail, 44%4-5 in.
Hab.—West Indies, Florida Keys.

(a) The Quail Dove (Geotrygon martinica).

Plumage wine red iridescent ; under parts lighter, white toward tail;
white band below eyes. Length, 11 in.; wing, 6% in. ; tail, 5 in.

Hab.—West Indies, Florida Keys in summer. Very similar to
No. 131 both in habits and appearance.

Note—These doves are called quail-doves, since in form they resemble the
quail or partridge. They have short, broad tails without white tips to the
under feathers—

** A ground dove found in wooded regions."'"—Apgar.

132. White-fronted Dove.—ngyftila albifrons.

Upper parts brownish olive; head and neck iridescent metallic
purple and bronze ; forehead white; chin and belly white; breast wine
color. Length, 12 in.; wing, 6% in.; tail, 434 in.

Hab,—Southern Texas, Mexico, Central America.

133. White-crowned Pigeon.— Columba leucocephala,

Plumage slate color, with white crown, pale buff on female; neck
reflecting metallic green. Length, 12-14 in.; wing, 7% in.
Hab.—Southern Florida.

388 APPENDIX

134. Inca Dove.—Scardafella inca,

Upper parts grayish brown ; lower parts ashy lilac in front; rich
chestnut on wings; outer tail feathers tipped with white ; scaled ap-
pearance due to black marks on feathers. Often called sealed dove.
Length, 8 in. ; wing, 334 in.; tail, 4 in.

Hab.—Arizona and ‘Texas, Rio Grande Valley, south to Central
America,

Note.—Vhe distribution of the pigeons and doves in North America is some.
what similar to that of the partridges, We have observed that only one partridge
(Bob-white) has a general distribution over a large area, and that the remaining
partridges (the blue and scaled partridges) are distributed over a comparatively
small area im the Southwest and on the Pacific Coast. ‘There are twelve pig-
eons and doves in North Ameriea, Only one dove (the mourning dove) and
one pigeon (the passenger) were of general distribution, ‘The other pigeons
and doves are found on the Pacific Coast and in the Southwestern States, and
(a few of them) in Southern Florida and the Florida Keys, ‘There are several
blue pigeons and one scaled dove (the Inca dove) which has a scaled appear-
ance caused by the black feather markings like those of the scaled partridge,
‘The sealed partridge and the sealed dove are both found in ‘Texas,

In the South and West doves are sometimes baited, Food is distributed
daily in a certain field, and when the doves are in the habit of resorting to this
field they are shot from ambush as they fly in and out, ‘The baiting of doves is
prohibited by law in Georgia and perhaps elsewhere,

135. Bobolink.—Dolichonyx orysivorus,
Reed-bird, Rice-bird,

Male,—General color in spring black; nape yellowish brown ;
patch on side of breast, the scapulars, and rump white; bill blue-black.
Length, 74 in.; wing, 34 in. In autumn resembles female.

female, Yellowish beneath ; two stripes on top of head and upper
parts throughout, including wings, except back of neck and rump dark
brown feathers edged with brownish yellow.

Hab.—Kastern United States to Western plains. South to West
Indies in winter. North to Southern Canada,

(a) Western Bobolink (Dolichonyx orysivorus albinucha),
Hab.—Dakota, westward to Utah and Nevada, north to Manitoba,

Note.—'' There are no reed-birds in California, but a dozen species of spar-
rows and finches masquerade as such "— Ver Book, Department of Agricult-
ure, 1890.

Many sparrows and other small birds are sold as reed-birds in the Mastern
markets

APPENDIX 389

ivery one knows that our gleesome minstrel of the Northern meadows, who
fills the June air with bursting bubbles of tinkling melody and is called bobo-
link, changes his name and dress and goes South to be slain and eaten as the
reed-bird, and the practice is so old and appeals so strongly to man's most com”
manding organ that we must try to become reconciled to a flaming wickedness.
But we do rebel when we see our familiar friends the robins offered for sale in
the South, and we are ready to weep when we see wood-thrushes, divine
psalmists in the North, killed as legitimate quarry on the Gulf Coast, even
though they be shy and silent there, and, ludicrous to say, in some localities
known as swamp-quail,—L, 7! Sprague, in Outing.

I have placed the bobolink at the end of my list, a place most con-
venient to strike it off, and I hope before long this handsome song-bird
of the meadows will not be an object of pursuit.

I would urge the sportsmen of the Southern States to exclude the
robin and the meadow-lark from the game-list. I would, too, urge all
of the States to prohibit the shooting of the smaller shore birds which
are not desirable as marks or food, ‘The larger waders, such as the
avocet and stilt, which have become so rare as to indicate their exter-
mination, might well be protected at all times. The wood-duck and
the woodcock should be protected for a term of years, and the open
season for these birds should then be a short autumn (#0f summer)
season in the South as well as in the North,

In conclusion I would again urge the immediate establishment of
bird parks, wherethe game birds can find the safe refuge at all times
which they now have in the Yellowstone Park. I again urge all State
game officials not to devote their entire energies to the propagation of
fancy foreign fowls which can never survive in unprotected fields, but
to give their attention to the restoration of our native game birds, the
grouse and partridges, and to the protection of all game in the spring
of the year, insisting everywhere upon the passage of laws (where legis-
lation is needed) to stop the spring shooting, and looking well to the
enforcement of such laws,

Ohio has stopped the breeding of pheasants.

INDEX

ABBOTT, guoted, 269

Aleutian sandpiper, 380

Allen's ptarmigan, 353

American avocet, 316, 317, 373

American coot, 383

American eider duck, 202, 366

American golden plover, 307, 308-313,
378

American merganser, 241, 242, 363

American oyster catcher, 382

American scoter duck, 200, 201, 366

American woodcock, 248 -267, 372

Atwater's prairie hen, 349

Avocets, 316

BACHE, MR. RENE, 356

Baird's sandpiper, 375

Baldpate, 369

Band-tailed pigeon, 336, 345, 387

Bartramian sandpiper, 283, 371 ; shoot-
ing, 284-286

Bay bird shooting, 287-293; blinds,
288; decoys, 288; guns and cos-
tume, 292

Bay-birds, 248, 249

** Bay coot,”’ 200

Bay snipe, 248

Beach robin, 296

Beagles, 18

Bean goose, 153

Belted piper, 315

Belted piping plover, 377

Big black-head duck, 186

Big blue-bill duck, 186

Big broad-bill duck, 186

Big-headed snipe, 267

Black-bellied plover, 307, 313, 314, 378

Black-bellied sandpiper, 297

Black-bellied tree-duck, 160, 360

Black brant, 158, 159, 359

Black-breasted Bob-white, 108

Black-duck, 220-222 ; night shooting,
222, 223

Black-grouse, 100

Black-head duck, 186, 361

Black-headed Bob-white, 108

Black-mallard, 220, 221, 222

Black-necked stilt, 316, 318, 372

Black oyster catcher, 382

Black rail, 383

Black-tailed godwit, 298

Black turnstone, 379

Blinds, 288

Blue-bill duck, 186, 361

Blue goose, 154, 360

Blue-grouse, 96, 351; tameness, 97,
98; disappearance in winter, 99;
guns and shot for shooting, 99

Blue-headed quail dove, 387

Blue-winged teal, 225, 226, 232, 367

Bob-whites, 107, 109, 356

Bobolink, 388

Bogardus, guoted, 278

Boobies, 196

Brant, 158, 159, 359

Brant-goose, 158, 359

Broad-bill duck, 186

Brooks, Allan, quoted, 193

Brown crane, 323

Buff-breasted sandpiper, 376

Buff-breasted sheldrake, 242

Buffle-head duck, 193, 362; shooting,
194

Bull-head, 308

Burroughs, John, guoted, 100

Butter-ball duck, 362

391

392

CACKLING GOOSE, 153, 358

California mountain partridge, 107,
125-127, 354) 355

California valley partridge, 107, 125,
355; ‘running qualities, 127-129;
shooting, 128-130

Canada goose, 148, 359

Canada-grouse, 100-102, 352

Canadian ruffed-grouse, 60, 351

Canard notr, 220

Canvas-back duck, 171, 361; destruc-
tion, 172; food, 173, 174; methods
of shooting, 175, 176, 179, 180; inju-
rious effect of carp, 177, 178; curi-
osity, 179

Carolina dove, 336, 385

Carolina rail, 327, 332, 384

Carp, their effect on canvas-backs,
177, 178

Castalia Club, 26, 27

Chesapeake Bay dog, 18, 167

Chestnut-bellied scaled partridge, 132,
354

Cinnamon-teal, 225, 226, 230, 367

Clapper-rail, 327, 384

Cocker-spaniel, 18

Cody, William F., gzoted, 47

Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, 350

Common brant, 158

Common eider duck, 202

Common wild goose, 359

“* Coot-foot,’’ 318

Coots, 197; shooting, 197-199

Corn-crake, 384

Coues, E., guoted, 60, 79, 325

Coyolco’s Bob-white, 108

Crane Creek Club, 26

Cranes, 323-326, 383

Creek blue-bill ducks, 186

Creek broad-bill ducks, 186

Crow-duck, 382

Cumming, Mr., guofed, 175, 206

Curlew sandpiper, 380

Curlews, 294, 304, 305, 373, 374

DECoys, 288
De Guise, quoted, 57, 58

INDEX

Denny, Judge, 52

Denny, Mr. John, 52

Dipper duck, 194

Dogs, various kinds described, 14-16;
training, 16-18; cost, 19; for par-
tridge shooting, 120; for mallard
shooting, 215; for snipe shooting,
281

Doves, 334-336, 346, 385-388; shoot-
ing, 337-339

Dowitcher, 294, 295, 371

Drury, Professor, guoted, 5

Duck-call, 219

Ducks, 160, 161, 171 et seg., 360 e¢ seg,

Dunlin, 294, 297, 298

Dusky-duck, 220, 367

Dusky-grouse, 96, 351

EASTERN WILLET, 303

Eider duck, 197, 202, 203, 366
Elliot, guoted, 199

Elliot's Rio Grande turkey, 349
Emperor goose, 153, 359

English dunlin, 297, 298

English pheasant, 58, 348

English setter, 15

English snipe, 282, 371

Eskimo curlew, 305, 373
European golden plover, 307, 313
European ring-neck plover, 315
European snipe, 250, 371
European teal, 232, 368
European woodcock, 250, 267, 372
Evans, Mr. Wallace, guoted, 56, 57
Evermann’s ptarmigan, 353

FIELD PLOVER, 283

Fish duck, 243

Florida Bob-white, 107, 356
Florida clapper-rail, 384
Florida dusky duck, 367
Florida wild turkey, 46, 349
‘« Fool-hens,”’ 97

Forester, quoted, 284
Franklin’s grouse, 100, 352
Fresh-water marsh hen, 384
Fulvous tree-duck, 160, 360

INDEX

GADWALL, 370

Gadwall duck, 239, 240, 370

Gallinaceous birds, 41; methods of
taking, 42; characteristics, 42, 43;
varieties, 44

Gambels partridge, 107 ; range, 132;
described, 133, 355; trapping, 134

Game birds, destruction of, 28, 31, e¢
seq., protection of, 33-37

Game clubs, organization and regula-
tion, 21-27; New Jersey clubs, 28,
29

Game parks, 20, 21; necessity for,
195, 196

Game preserves, 20, 21

Godman's Bob-white, 108

Godwits, 298, 299, 372, 373

Golden back, 308

Golden-eye duck, 192, 193, 363

Golden plover, 308; shooting, 309-313

Goosander, 242

Gordon setter, 15, 16

Gray-backed snipe, 296

Gray-backs, 296

Gray crane, 323

Gray duck, 239, 370

Gray ruffed-grouse, 60, 351

Grayson’s Bob-white, 124

Greater snow-goose, 360

Greater yellow-legs, 294, 299-301, 374

Green-wing duck, 195

Green-winged teal, 225, 226, 368

Greenwood, Mr. Ralph, guoted, 296

Ground dove, 346, 385

Grouse, 60, 349-352, shooting season,
61, 62; destruction of, 62; shooting
in England and America, 63, 64

Guatemala Bob-white, 108

Guns, selection of, 9-12; accidents, 10;
use of, 12, 13; for partridge shooting,
115; woodcock, 261; snipe, 280;
bay-birds, 292 ; golden plover, 313

HARLEQUIN DUCK, 202, 364
Heath-hen, 71, 72, 350

Higginson, Mr. A. H., guoted, 378
Hooded-merganser, 241, 244, 363

393

Hornaday, Mr., 5

Howe, Dr. W. H., quoted, 143
Hudsonian curlew, 304, 373
Hudsonian godwit, 294, 299, 372
Hutchins goose, 153, 358

INCA DOVE, 388
Irish setter, 15, 16

JACANAS, 382
Jack curlew, 304
Jack snipe, 282, 294

KILL-DEER PLOVER, 247, 307, 381
Killdee, 381

King eider duck, 202, 366
King-rail, 327, 332, 384

Knot, 294, 296, 297, 371

LABRADOR DUCK, 361

Least sandpiper, 380
Leffingwell, Mr., guoted, 344
Lesser Canada goose, 153
Lesser prairie-hen, 349

Lesser scaup duck, 362

Lesser snow-goose, 156, 360
Lesser yellow-legs, 294, 301, 302
Lewis, Dr., guoted, 280

Little black-head duck, 186
Little blue-bill duck, 186

Little broad-bill duck, 186
Little brown crane, 323

Little ring plover, 307, 315
Little saw-bill duck, 244
Long-billed curlew, 304, 374
Long-billed dowitcher, 295, 377
Long-tailed duck, 201, 364
Louisiana clapper-rail, 384

MACKAy, GEORGE H., guoted, 378

Mallard duck, 208-210, 368; shooting,
211-218; abundance of, 211, 212,
216; dogs, 215; call, 219

Marbled godwit, 294, 298, 299, 372

Marlin, 299, 304

Marsh hen, 384

Marsh snipe, 371

394

Masked Bob-white, taq, 356

Masked duck, 365

Massena partridge, 107, 135, 136, 357;
range, 132; tameness, 136

May-bird, 296

Mergansers, 241-244, 363

Mershon, Mr. W. B., quoted, 349

Mexican Jacana, 382

Mexican turkey, 46

Miller, Mr., gvoéed, 59

Mongolian pheasant, 58, 348

Mottled-duck, 220, 367

Mountain partridge, 355

Mountain plover, 307, 314

Mourning dove, 385

Mud-hen, 382

Mud-snipe, 267

NELSON'S PTARMIGAN, 353
Nittany Club, a1, so
Northern phalarope, 318, 319, 38

OLD-SQUAW DUCK, 197, 201, 202, 364 ;
shooting, 197-199

Oregon ruffed-grouse, 60, 351

Ottawa Club, 23, 54

Ox-eye, 380

PACIFIC EIDER DUCK, 202

Pacific godwit, 298, 373

Pacific golden plover, 307, 378

Papabote, 283

Partridge, Bob-white, 356

Partridges, 106, 354-357; young, 110;
migration, 110, 111; in winter, 111,
112; range, 11a, 113; protection of,
113, 115-120; puns
and shot, 115, 119; habits, 121, ree;

114; shooting,

percentage killed, 123; albinos, 124.
Passenger pigeon, 336, 339, 386
Pectoral sandpiper, 291, 305, 306, 372
Peep, 380
Phalaropes, 318-320, 381
Pheasants, introduced into the United

States, 52; shooting, 53-55; breed-

ing, 56-58; Mongolian and English,

58, 352

INDEX

Pied duck, 36

Pigeons, 334-336, 339-345, 386, 387

‘Pil willet,”’ 303

Pin-tail duck, 236, 237, 309

Pinnated grouse, 340

Piping plover, 307, 315, 377

Plovers, 397-315, 377-379

Plumed partridge, 355

Pointers, compared with setters, 14

Pond sheldrake, 244

Prairie-prouse, 65, 66; shooting, 66-
71

Prairie-hen or chicken, 65, 349

Prairie pigeon, 283

Prairie sharp-tailed grouse, 350

Princess Anne Club, 26

Ptarmigan, 103, 352, 353;
104

Pueblo Bob-white, 108

Punters, 205, 206

Purple sandpiper, 376

wildness,

QuAIL, see Partridge
Quail-dove, 383

RAILS, 327,
328-332

Red-backed sandpiper, 297, 376

Red-billed pigeon, 386

Red-breasted merganser, 241, 243, 363

Red-breast plover, 296

Red-breasted snipe, 267, 294, 295, 371

Red curlew, 299

328, 383, 384; shooting,

Red-head duck, 18t, 182, 362; de-
struction of, 183, 184; shooting, 184,
185

Red phalarope, 318, 319, 384

Red sandpiper, 296

Reed-bird, 333, 388

Reinhardt’s ptarmigan, 353

Rice-bird, 387

Richardson's grouse, 352

Ring-neck duck, 187, 188, 361

Ring-neck pheasant, 58, 348

Ring-neck plover, 315, 377

Ring-plover, 307

Rio Grande turkey, 46

INDEX

River-ducks, 141; methods of shoot-
ing, 204-207

Robin snipe, 296

Rock ptarmigan, 353

Roosevelt, Robert, guoted, 214

Ross's snow-goose, 156, 157, 359

Ruddy-duck, 194-196, 365

Ruff, 374

Ruffed-grouse, 60, 88, 350; range, 89;
habits, 90, 91, 95; field merits, g1,
g2; feeding grounds, 94

SABINES RUFFED-GROUSK, 60

Sage-cock, 83; as food, 84, 85; habits,
85, 86

Sage-grouse, 354

Salt-water marsh hen, 384

Salvin's Bob-white, 108

San Pedro partridge, 126, 355

Sand-hill crane, 323, 324, 325, 383

Sanderling, 296, 375

Sandpipers, 283, 296, 297, 305, 375-
377

Saw-duck, 242

Saw-bill duck, 243

Sealed partridge,
chestnut-bellied,
135, 354

Scaup-duck, 186, 187, 361, 362; shoot-
ing, 188-191

Scoter duck, 199-201, 365

Sea-ducks, 141; shooting, 161-170

Sea saw-bill, 242

Semi-palmated plover, 307, 315, 377

Semi-palmated sandpiper, 380

Seton, quoted, 283

Setters compared with pointers, 14

Shad-bird, 371

Shad spirit, 371

Sharp-tailed grouse, 65, 350; range of,
73, 74; habits, 74-76; shooting, 76-
80; extermination of, 80, 81

Sheldrake, 242

Shields, Mr , guoted, 385

Shooting, english and American meth-
ods, 29-31; value of privileges in
England, 62, 63; sea-ducks, 161-170;

107 ;
132;

range, 132;
described,

395

river-ducks, 204-207; woodcock,
257-201 ; bay-birds, 287-293

Shore birds, 247-251; shooting, 287
293

Shoveler duck, 240, 370

Snipe, 248, 267, 268, 269, 370, 371;
shooting, 269-280; feeding grounds,
273-275 ; flight, 276

Snow-geese, 156, 157

Snowy plover, 307, 315, 379

Solitary sandpiper, 377

Sooty grouse, 352

Sora, 327, 332, 384

Southwestern partridge, 132

Southwick, Mr, Sidney, guoted, 323

Spaniels, 18, 260

‘*Spectacled coot,"’ 200

Spectacled eider duck, 203

Spike-bill duck, 241

Spike-tail duck, 236

Spoon-bill duck, 240

Spotted sandpiper, 376

Sprague, L. T., quoted, 389

Sprig-tail duck, 236, 237, 369

Spruce-grouse, 100; stupidity,
table qualities, 102

Starbuck, Mr., 4

Stellars duck, 203

Stilt sandpiper, 376

Stilts, 316, 372

Straight-billed curlew, 299

Stuart-Wortley, Mr. A. J., guoted, 30

Surf-bird, 379

Surf-scoter duck, 200, 362

Swallows, 334 :

Swans, 140, 145, 147, 358

Swimmers, 139

101;

TALLET, Mr., quoted, 223

Tattlers, 299

Teal, 225, 226, 367, 368 ; shooting, 227-
231

Tell-tales, 300

Texas Bob-white, 107, 356

Thompson, Mr. J. B., guoted, 117, 213

Townsend's ptarmigan, 353

Tree-ducks, 160, 360

396

Trumpeter swan, 145, 146, 358
Turkeys, 46-50, 348

Turner's ptarmigan, 353
Turnstone, 379

UPLAND PLOVER, 248, 283; shooting,
284-286

VELVRT SCOTER, 201
Virginia rail, 327, 384

WADERS, 247

Wandering tattler, 377

Welch's ptarmigan, 105, 353
Western bobolink, 388

Western dowitcher, 371
Western sandpiper 381

Western willet, 303, 374
Whimbrel, 304

Whistler duck, 192
Whistling-snipe, 267

Whistling swan, 145, 358

‘* White-belly,"”’ 350
White-cheeked goose, 359,
White crane, 323, 325, 326, 383
White-crowned pigeon, 387
White-fronted dove, 387
White-fronted goose, 154, 155, 360
White-rumped sandpiper, 375
White-tailed ptarmigan, 103, 352
White-wing scoter duck, 199, 200
White-winged dove, 346, 385
White-winged scoter duck, 365
Whooping crane, 323, 326, 383
Widgeon, 237; habits, 238, 369

INDEX

Wild-fowl, 139 ; migration, 140 ; abun-
dance, 141, 142; destruction of, 142,
143

Wild-goose, 148, 358-360 ; decoys,
148, 149; habits, 149; shooting, 150,
Ist

Wild pigeon, 339; abundance of, 340 ;
destruction, 341, 342, 344; shooting,
342-344

Wild swan, 145-147

Wild turkey, 46, 348; range, 46, 47;
shooting, 48, 49; disappearance of,
50

Willets, 294, 303, 374

Willow ptarmigan, 353

Wilson's phalarope, 318, 319, 381

Wilson's plover, 315, 379

Wilson's snipe, 268, 370

Winous Point Club, 26

Wood-cock, 248, 252-256, 372; shoot-
ing, 257-261; annual disappear-
ance, 261-263; grounds, 263, 264;
migration, 266, 267

Wood-duck, 233, 234, 368; shooting,
234, 235; destruction of, 235

Wood-grouse, 61, 64

Wood-snipe, 267

YELLOW-LRGS, 294, 209-302, 374, 375
Yellow rail, 383

Yelpers, 299

Yorke, F. H., quoted, 386

Yucatan Bob-white, 108

ZENAIDA DOVE, 387

5 i wey

BIRD PORTRAITS

PLATE I

PHEASANTS AND TURKEY.
1. English Pheasant. 2. Mongolian Pheasant.
3- Wild Turkey.

PLATE: UT

GROUSE.

4. Prairie-grouse. 5. Heath-hen.
6. Sharp-tailed Grouse. 7. Ruffed-grouse.
8. Dusky-grouse. g- Canada-grouse.

s a Blt 7 ©

12

GROUSE,
10, Ptarmigan, Winter. 11, Ptarmigan, Summer.
12. Sage-cock,

PLATE TV

PARTRIDGES.

13 Se et age yp 14. California Partridge.

15. Gambel’s Partridge. 16, California Mountain Partridge.
, . r

17. Bob-white, 18. Massena Partridge.

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a -
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7 a“
= ‘
7 7 ; ;
.
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7
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PLATE VI

ai. Cackling Goose, 22, Hutchins Goose,

23, Canada Goose,

PLATE VII

GEESE AND BRANT,

24. Black Brant. 25. Brant-goose.
26, Emperor Goose. 27. Ross Snow-goose,

PLATE VI

GEESE AND TREE-DUCKS.

28. Lesser Snow-goose. 29. Blue Goose.
30. White-fronted Goose. 31. Greater Snow-goose

32. Fulvous Tree-duck. 33. Black-bellied ‘lree-duck.

PLATE IX

SEA-DUCKS.

F 34. Canvas-back Duck.
35. Ring-neck Duck. 36. Labrador Duck.
37- Scaup-duck. 38. Lesser Scaup-duck.

PLATE X

SEA-DUCKS AND MERGANSERS.

39. Red-head Duck. 40. Buffle-head Duck.
41. Surf-scoter. 42. Hooded Merganser.
43. Red-breasted Merganser. 44. American Merganser.

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PLATE XI

46 47

49

SEA-DUCKS.

: 45. American Golden-eye
46. Long tail Duck. > 47- Harlequin Duck,
48. Ruddy-duck, 49. Masked Duck,

ee

—_

3)

PLATE XII

SEA-DUCKS.

50. White-winged Scoter
st. King Eider. sz. American Eider.

PLATE SUT

RIVER-DUCKS,

53. Blue-winged Teal. 54. Cinnamon Teal.
53. Dusky-duck. 56. Green-winged ‘Leal.
57. Wood-duck. 58. Mallard.

PLATE XIV

RIVER-DUCKS.,

PLATE XV

SHORE BIRDS.
5- Wilson’s Snipe. . Knot.
Dowitcher.

. Pecto

7. Bartramian Sandpiper.
g. American Woodcock.

NAD

ral Sandpiper.

PLATE XVI

SHORE BIRDS.
71. Hudsonian Godwit. 72. Marbied Godwit.
73. Black-necked Stilt. 74. American Avocet,

PLATE XVII

SHORE BIRDS.
75. Hudsonian Curlew. 76. Eskimo Curlew.
77. Pacific Godwit. 78. Long-billed Curlew.

PLATE XVIII

80 81

SHORE BIRDS,
79: Willet.

80. Ruff. 81. Greater Yellow-legs,

PLATE, XIX

SHORE BIRDS.

p 82. White-rumped Sandpiper.
Sanderling. 84. Baird’s Sandpiper.
Stilt Sandpiper. 86. Purple Sandpiper.

co co

wn Ww

PLATE AX

SHORE BIRDS.

87. Spotted Sandpiper.
88. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. 89. Red-backed Sandpiper.
oo. Solitary Sandpiper. gt. Wandering Tattler,

PLATE XXI

SHORE BIRDS.

92. Belted Piping Plover.
94. Semipalmated Plover.
96. Pacific Golden Plover.

93- Piping Plover.
95- Black-bellied Plover.
97- American Golden Plover.

PLATE XXII

100 101

SHORE BIRDS.

08. Snowy. Plover. 99. Wilson's Plover.
100, Surf-bird rot. Black Turnstone
», Mountain Plover. 103. Ruddy Turnstone,

PLATE XAITi

106 107

108 | a

SHORE BIRDS.
104. Least Sandpiper. 105. Semipalmated Sandpiper
106. Aleutian Sandpiper. 107. Curlew Sandpiper.
108. Western Sandpiper. 10g. Wilson’s Phalarope.

PLATE XALY

SHORE BIRDS.

110. Northern Phalarope.
111. Red Phalarope. 112. Kill-deer Plover.
113. American Oyster-catcher. 114. Black Oyster-catcher.

PLATE XXV

COOT AND CRANE.
115. American Coot, 116. Sand-hill Crane.

PLATE XXVI

CRANE.

117. Whooping Crane.

dN

118. Black-rail.
120. Sora.
122, Clapper-rail.

PLATE XXVII

RAILS

119. Yellow-rail.
121. Virginia-rail.
123. King-rail.

PLATE XXVIII

PIGEONS AND DOVES.

124. Ground-dove. 125. White-winged Dove.
126. Mourning Dove. 127. Red-billed Pigeon.
128. Passenger Pigeon. 129. Band-tailed Pigeon.

PLATE XXIX

PIGEONS, DOVES, AND BOBOLINK.

130. Zenaida Dove. 131. Blue-headed Quail Dove.
132. White-fronted Dove. 133. White-crowned Pigeon.
134. Inca Dove. 135. Bobolink.

SCRIBNER’S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS

By HARRIET L. KEELER
Our Northern Shrubs

With 205 photographic plates and 35 pen-and-ink draw-
ings. Crown 8vo, $2.00 nef (postage 16 cents).

This book isa companion volume to Miss Keeler’s very popular ‘‘ Our
Native Trees” and will prove equally helpful to the amateur. It is designed
not only for the general lover of nature, who wishes to identify and learn the
habits of our northern shrubs, but for those who are engaged in beautifying
public parks, boulevards, roadways, school yards, and railway stations.

The photographic plates are an important feature, making the identifica-
tion of shrubs easy.

Our Native Trees

AND HOW TO IDENTIFY THEM

With 178 full-page plates from photographs, and «62 text-
drawings. Crown 8vo, $2.00 wet.

CRITICAL OPINIONS

C. S. SARGENT, Professor of Arboriculture in Harvard University:

““Of such popular books the latest and by far the most interesting is by
Miss Harriet L. Keeler. . . . Miss Keeler’s descriptions are clear, com-
pact, and well arranged, and the technical matter is supplemented by much
interesting and reliable information concerning the economical uses, the
history, and the origin of the trees which she describes.”

“The value of a book of this character is not only enhanced by its
numerous illustrations, but positively dependent upon them, those in the
present volume being of unusual interest; and the book . . . is one which
should add new interest to the coming Summer for many to whom nature is
practically a sealed book, as well as heighten the pleasure of others to whom
she has long been dear.’’—WV. Y. Times Saturday Review.

SCRIBNER’S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS |

By H. E. PARKHURST
Trees, Shrubs, and Vines

OF THE NORTH-EASTERN UNITED STATES

With over 250 illustrations, maps, etc. $1.50 ze¢ (postage
12 cents).

A general account and explicit botanical details of all the native trees,
shrubs, and vines of this large area, as well as the most important of foreign
origin.

It is especially designed for those who have never studied botany, the
plants being so classified that, with the assistance of a few pages on plant
structure and without a microscope, the non-botanical reader can easily
familiarize himself with all the tree, shrub, and vine life around him, including
those, native and foreign, everywhere decorating our lawns.

How to Name the Birds

Illustrated. 16mo, leather, $1.00 wet.

“Mr. Parkhurst has compiled a convenient pocket guide to the birds of
the New England States, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He has
greatly simplified the common system of bird classification for the beginner by
omitting such details as are invisible at field range, and by emphasizing such
characteristics as color, size, and time of appearance.’’— Review of Reviews.

Song Birds and Water Fowl

Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50 ze¢.

“Tt will be welcome to the many friends his former book made. The
illustrations are the finest that have ever been printed in this country in black

and white, with the exception of another series by the same artist.”
—The Nation.

The Birds’ Calendar

Illustrated. 12mo, $1.50 sef?.

“A charming book. It contains a year’s individual experience.”
—The Outlook.

SCRIBNER’S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS

By ERNEST THOMPSON SETON
Lives of the Hunted

Illustrated by more than 200 drawings by the author. S8oth
thousand. $1.75 ef (postage 15 cents).

CONTENTS
Krag, the Kootenay Ram. Chink ; the Development of a Pup.
A Street Troubadour, being the Ad- The Kangaroo Rat.
ventures of a Cock Sparrow. Tito; The Story of the Coyote that
Johnny Bear. Learned How. .
The Mother Teal and the Overland Why the Chickadee Goes Crazy Once
Route. a Year.

*“Surely no more entertaining book could be devised for children of all
ages.” —Chicago Evening Post.

“The breadth of Mr. Thompson-Seton’s sympathy is the finest charm of
his work.” —Agnes Repplier.

Wild Animals I Have Known

With 200 illustrations from drawings by the author. 1o5th
thousand. Square 12mo, $2.00.

“Tt should be put with Kipling and Hans Christian Andersen asa classic.”
—The Atheneum.

““Mr. Thompson is now drawing the best mammals of any American artist.
This is artistic fidelity to nature in high degree. . . . Nothing of
equal simplicity could be more effective than these little marginal oddities and

whimsies. The book is thoroughly good, both in purpose and execution.”
—New York Evening Post.

The Trail of the Sandhill Stag

Written and illustrated with 60 drawings. Square 12mo,
$1.50.

“Bliss Carman, speaking of ‘ The Trail of the Sandhill Stag,’ says: ‘I had
fancied that no one could touch ‘‘ The Jungle Book”’ for a generation at least,
but Mr. Thompson has done it. We must give him place among the young
masters at once.’ And we agree with Mr. Carman.”—7Z7he Bookman.

| SCRIBNER’S BOOKS FOR NATURE LOVERS

By FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS
According to Season

TALKS ABOUT THE FLOWERS IN THE ORDER OF
THEIR APPEARANCE IN THE WOODS AND FIELDS

With 32 full-page illustrations in colors, from drawings by
ELsIE LOUISE SHAW, $1.75 ze¢ (postage 14 cents).

“Tt is a privilege to own such a book for its artistic charm, and its con-
tents well deserve their setting.” — Zhe Dzal.

“The charm of this book is as pervading and enduring as is the charm of
nature.’’—/V. Y. Times.

“Delightful talks upon the beauty of the changing year, and the parts
contributed to such pleasures by forest, grove, and stream.” — Zhe /nterior.

By MRS. WILLIAM STARR DANA

(FRANCES THEODORA PARSONS)

How to Know the Wild
Flowers

With 48 colored plates and new black and white drawings,
enlarged, rewritten, and entirely reset. Sixtieth
thousand. Crown 8vo, $2.00 nef.

“Tam delighted withit. . . . Itso exactly the kind of work needed
for outdoor folks who live in the country but know little of systematic botany
that it is a wonder no one has written it before.””—Hon. Theodore Roosevelt.

“Tt is not often that a book so suggestive of pleasure, pure and simple,
comes our way. So far as we recall books on flowers, it is the first that makes
country walks an intelligent joy for those who know nothing of botany and
who have eyes to see and minds to question." —7he Mew Vork Times.

“Every flower-lover who has spent weary hours puzzling over a botanical
key in the effort to name unknown plants, will welcome this satisfactory book,
which stands ready to lead him to the desired knowledge by a royal road.”

—The Nation.

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