PART TWO
FEATHERED GAME
FEATHERED GAME
IT is out of the question to treat the signs and tracks of birds with the same thoroughness as those of mammals, because the tracks of several birds reproduce exactly those of domestic fowls, and those made by young birds of one kind may look like those of old birds of another variety. A description of bird tracks will, however, be found interesting, and perhaps useful at certain times, especially by the inexperienced hunter.
The locality where a given track is seen is the main point to be considered. Tame turkeys and domestic chickens do not, as a rule, venture great distances from the barnyard, so if tracks similar to theirs are seen far from human habitation, it is usually safe to conclude that wild birds made them. In the case of waterfowls, however, even the consideration of the locality, under certain circumstances, does not exclude errors; so the hunter, if he sees tracks from which he might deduce the presence of these birds in his immediate locality, should employ his resources to find out for certain whether his deductions are correct or not. The descriptions are of necessity limited, and the reader should study the illustrations as the more important part of the matter.