The gallinaceous game birds of North America

Front matter

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Preface

No group of animals is more important to man than the one comprising the gallinaceous birds — the source from which has been derived the countless varieties of domesticated fowl distributed throughout the world.

As articles of food they are of inestimable value, and the birds enter largely into the various accounts of trade. But beside the commercial aspect, which is important enough, the species present other attractions that appeal most strongly to those for whom this book was especially written, the sportsmen — viz., the pleasure they yield in the chase, and the incentive they provide for action and effort, when, in the leafy aisles of the whispering- forests, or in the thickets, and along the banks of the leaping stream, or on the open sky-encircled prairie, man in his quest for these game-like creatures, aided by his faithful dog, finds renewed health and strength to wrestle with the toils and troubles of his daily life. For accomplishing this result alone, even if in all their life and death they yielded no other, these birds were not created in vain.

The favorable reception given to my book on the " Shore Birds " has encouraged me to write the life histories (as my opportunities have enabled me to become familiar with them) of possibly the most attractive feathered creatures, certainly so from the sportsman's point of view, which our country possesses. The water fowl to some may appear more desirable, a few are really game, and I would be the last to speak or write disparagingly

VI PREFACE.

of them; but the environment of the Ducks and Geese suffers in comparison with that of gallinaceous birds, and the beautiful pictures of high-bred dogs, seeking and pointing game, are lacking in the pursuit of the webfooted quarry.

The construction of the present volume is precisely similar to that of the " Shore Birds," and first is given the common name of each bird, or, if there are more than one, that most generally employed. Then follows an account of the habits and economy of the species, and a short life history; after which comes the Latin name succeeded by the geographical distribution, and a description of both sexes when necessary, and of the young whenever possible.

In the Appendix will be found the Keys to the Families, Subfamilies, Genera, and Species, arranged in the same simple manner as those published in the " Shore Birds," and which will enable anyone with a little patience to ascertain to what species an unfamiliar example may belong. Excepting perhaps the Ptarmigan, the various species of gallinaceous birds are more easily recognized from each other, in illustrations printed only in black and white, than are those, of the " Shore Birds," and the various Keys will be found perhaps less necessary, and only really required in the cases of the group above mentioned, or in closely allied species of Prairie Grouse.

The author's experience among the game birds has been very extensive, gained from a familiar acquaintance with them in their haunts extending over many years. With a few exceptions, he has observed all the species contained in this book in the various localities they frequent throughout North America, and in the proper season representatives of most of them have fallen to his gun. Unlike the majority of the " Shore Birds," omit-

PREFACE. Vll

ting a few species and those mainly among the Ptarmigan, Partridges and Grouse breed within the limits of the United States, and their habits in the nesting season can be observed by anyone who may be sufficiently interested to visit those parts of our country in which the birds are to be found.

Their nests are similar in construction, but the eggs vary greatly in coloration, and some, like those of the Ptarmigan, are strongly characteristic and unmistakable in their markings. The eggs of the Partridges are usually of one color and unspotted, those of the Grouse and Turkeys more or less covered with spots, which differ in hue from the ground color.

Having provided in the work on " Shore Birds " a map which gave the position and name of all the different portions of a bird's plumage, it does not seem necessary to issue another for the birds contained in this, a companion volume, for the arrangement of the plumage in all birds is the same, although the shape of the feathers may be very different, and the terms by which these are known do not vary.

The plates which adorn the volume are the production of the clever pencil of Mr. Edwin Sheppard, who illustrated the " Shore Birds," and like those drawings, these, executed with equal fidelity, will be of the utmost assistance in helping those unfamiliar with the species to recognize their specimens without difficulty.

The Latin names employed, except when reasons are given in the articles or in the Appendix for changing them, are those of the last edition of the Check List issued by the American Ornithologists' Union.

The author sincerely trusts that this book will prove to be of value to all sportsmen, and help bring to their memories halcyon days amid the game birds in tangled brake

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or open prairie, and that the student, desirous of learning the ways of life and variations in dress of one of the most gallant and attractive groups of birds living to-day, may find some profit and instruction in a perusal of its pages. My thanks are due to my friends Professor Allen and Mr. Chapman of the New York Museum of Natural History, to Mr. R. Ridgway of the Smithsonian Institution, and to Mr. Whitmer Stone of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, for the loan of specimens of the various species from which the illustrations in this volume have been made.

Table Of Contents

Preface, . . v

List of Illustrations, xi

Introduction, . . xiii