UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES THE BARTRAMIAN SANDPIPER OR UPLAND PLOVER. A Useful Bird, now in Danger of Extermination. SPECIAL REPORT ON THE DECREASE OF CERTAIN BIRDS, AND ITS CAUSES, WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR BIRD PROTECTION, EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH. PREPAKED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. THE DECREASE OF CERTAIN BIRDS, AND ITS CAUSES, WITH SUGGESTIONS FOR BIRD PROTECTION. BY EDWARD HOWE FORBUSH, ORNITHOLOGIST TO THE BOARD. In the pursuit of an inquiry regarding the destruction of birds by the elements, which was authorized by this Board in 1903, some evidence was obtained relating to a decrease in the number of birds from other causes. It was asserted by correspondents that the extermination of certain species was already imminent, and That many others were rapidly decreasing in numbers. The secretary of the Board, upon being informed of this evidence, authorized an investigation of the alleged decrcu.se and threatened extirpation of useful birds, with a view to determine what species had suffered most, and whether it would be practicable to furnish them better protection. Four hundred circulars requesting infor- mation were prepared and sent out in July. They were mailed to naturalists, officers of the Audubon Society, cor- respondents of the Board of Agriculture, secretaries of game protective associations, taxidermists, officers of the Massachusetts Commissioners on Fisheries and Game, sports- men, market hunters, principals of academies, and intelli- gent observers generally. It was intended to compile the evidence, when received, into the form of a bulletin ; but this proved impracticable, on account of the vast amount of material returned in answer to the inquiry. It was finally decided to prepare a special report on the subject. Some of the circulars returned contained little informa- tion, but two hundred and seventeen of them furnished data of more or less value. Several correspondents sent excel- lent annotated local lists. About one hundred letters also 195892 430 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. were received. Most of the reports and letters were from Massachusetts, representing every county of the State, but a few came from other States. A list of observers and cor- respondents is appended to this report. TIIE DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS BY THE ELEMENTS. The unusual weather of 1903-04 was the evident cause Ufa recent •scarcity of certain species mentioned in many cases by correspondents. This additional evidence of the effects of the June storms of 1903, or of the winter of 1903-04, will be presented (1) as a sequel to the report of last year, and (2) in order that the results produced by the elements in less than two years may not be confounded with those effected by other and more continuous destructive forces. In glancing over the reports for 1904, it becomes evident at once that the destruction of eggs and nestlings by the June storms of 1903 caused, jjo_.great noticeable and gener- ally observed decrease of many species in 1904. This may be accounted for in part by the fact ( 1 ) that some of the species affected rear more than one brood in a season, and so were able to bring up young either before or after the storms; and in part by the theory (2) that a large share of the young birds reared each season never return from their southern journey, but succumb to accidents and fatalities on the way ; therefore a great mortality among the nestlings of one season may not have a very noticeable effect the suc- ceeding year. Trained observers, however, noted in their localities a marked decrease of certain breeding warblers, chimney swifts and swallows, although a few reported swifts and swallows as common or abundant. On some of the mead- ows overflowed in 1903 red-winged blackbirds and marsh wrens were much reduced. Long-billed marsh wrens have nearly disappeared from certain meadows where they were formerly common. Bobolinks, orioles and vireos are men- tioned particularly as scarce locally the past season. Night hawks and whip-poor-wills have disappeared from some local- ities. Mr. Thomas M. Burney of Lynn reports a 75 per No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 431 cent decrease in warblers. Mr. Rufus H. Carr of Brockton reports breeding black-and-white warblers, prairie warblers and redstarts in about half their usual numbers, martins gone, swifts comparatively scarce, and the barn swallow the only swallow commonly seen. Most of the common birds appeared in about their usual numbers in the migrations, but no considerable flight of the warblers, which nest mainly north of Massachusetts, was reported. As in 1903, these warblers were again compara- tively scarce in their migrations. The flight seemed very light in Bristol, Plymouth and Middlesex counties, where I watched it. Mr. Louis Cabot reports warblers as uncom- mon at North-east Harbor, Me., but common at Grand River, Can. This is a typical report ; but some few observ- ers report birds generally as more numerous than in 1903. Mr. Outram Bangs tells me that in Wareham, where, he believes, all the tree swallows were killed by the storms in 1903, the nesting-boxes were occupied again in 1904 by this species, probably by newcomers. Chimney swifts are re- ported quite generally as absent, rare or reduced in numbers. Mr. Geo. E. Whitehead of Millbury records that " upward of five hundred " dead swifts were taken from a factory chimney in that toAvn in 1903 ; and that during the season of 1904 he watched a large chimney formerly frequented by many swifts, and never saw one enter it. In my own experience, in parts of Bristol, Plymouth and Middlesex counties swifts were either much reduced or rare locally throughout the season until the flight in August, when they were seen in numbers in some localities. At that time, one afternoon, I saw about thirty birds in Billerica, which were more than I had seen elsewhere ; but the next morning only one was seen. Messrs. William Brewster and Ralph Hoffman report .swifts as common in Cambridge and Belmont respectively. The birds had a good breeding season in 1904, and probably most species will soon recover from the check they received by the June storms of 1903, except, perhaps, the purple martins, which seem to have been almost absent from Mas- sachusetts in the breeding season of 1904. Martins were looked for in April as usual. A few birds were reported, 432 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. unusually early, from six localities. These were thought to be some of the breeding birds which had escaped the catastrophe of 1903; but so far as can be learned, they all disappeared. Their probable fate may be inferred from the story of ]\Irs. Frank H. Watson of Concord. Mr. Watson has two large bird-houses which have been well filled with martins for years, but, apparently, the birds all died during the storms of June, 1903. Mrs. Watson says that two pairs of martins came to the boxes earlier in April, 1904, than usual, but were not seen during, or after, the cold wave and snowstorm which followed the 19th, when some five inches of snow fell. Later, Mr. Watson exam- ined the bird-houses, and found three of the birds dead within. Twenty-six observers from the different counties of Mas- sachusetts report majPlms^a^^a^vjin^^isappejared ; three report them as nearly extinct ; five, as rare ; eight, as rare and de- creasing; one, "as usual." In response to letters of in- quiry sent out later to these and others, it was learned that nearly all the reports referred to migrating birds. Further extensive correspondence leads to the belief that we have no fully authenticated record of the breeding of the purple martin in Massachusetts this season, except in five localities. Mr. Robert O. Morris speaks of four small colonies in or near Springfield, which are still in existence, but one of these has decreased one-half in numbers. Miss Emily B. Adams, also of Springfield, speaks of two colonies, prob- ably some of the same, but says the birds are being gradu- ally driven from their boxes by the English sparrows. Mr. F. H. Mosher writes from Shawmut post-office in New Bed- ford that a single pair of birds reared their young there. Mrs. Mary R. Stanley of North Attleborough, in the same county, and near the Rhode Island line, says the martins are nearly extinct there, but are still breeding at West Attleborough, where her brother saw two birds feeding their young. Col. John E. Thayer says martins are still breed- ing at Lancaster ; and Mr. William Holden states that a few pairs of birds occupied, and probably bred in, one bird- house in Leominster. Capt. A. B. C. Dakin of Concord No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 433 states that a single pair of martins were resident at a neighbor's bird-house, but failed to raise any young. This may be accounted for by the fact that the English sparrows, wEichTare notorious for killing young martins, occupied the same domicile. Mr. Fred. C. Dodge says that martins, which arrived ten days later than usual, occupied a small nesting-box near his house in Beverly, and thinks they probably bred. We have records, therefore, of martins breeding in but three counties in the State, — Hampden, Bristol and Worces- ter, — with the probability that they bred in Essex County. What prospect is there that the species will eventually increase in numbers, and reoccupy its old breeding places? It seems probable (1) that some martins may have survived and bred in places not reached by this inquiry ; the few birds left may form the nuclei of new martin colonies. Probably also (2) martins breeding in parts of northern New England, and migrating through Massachusetts, may, in time, overflow into this State. (3) Martins are said to be breeding still in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, not far from the Massachusetts line ; and there is some probability that these colonies may spread over our borders, although their numbers are much reduced. Mr. Robert Curtiss of Stratford, Conn., where martins were abundant in the spring of 1903, says that only one was seen there in 1904 ; but Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright says they are still breeding at Stamford. Mr. Morris reports that martins are numerous at Windsor Locks, Conn., about twelve miles south of Springfield, Mass., and, as numbers of them probably migrate up the Connecticut valley, the repopulation of Massachusetts by martins may be expected to progress as rapidly there as anywhere. It seemgjbo be believed^however, by most careful observers that the mar- tinsjwere diminishing in__Ma.ssachusetts before 1903. For this decrease the English sparrow was largely responsible. The sparrows are now occupying most of the boxes where the martins formerly dwelt, and, when firmly intrenched therein, they may be able to prevent the martins from re- taking the boxes. On the other hand, the decrease of 434 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. martins and swallows is likely to be followed by an increase of the insects on which they feed. This will prob- ably attract these birds into the State, and favor their breed- ing ; but, unless boxes are generally put up for the martins, and the English sparrows kept out, the martins may never again become common in Massachusetts. The June storms of 1903 will long be remembered as the chief cause of the passing of these beautiful and useful birds. 'Thft ftflfaftfr flf fthtt hard winter of li>03-04 upon our resi- dent birds seems not to have been very serious except with a few species. The bob-white, or quail, has been nearly ex- terminated over much of the State. The ruffed grouse, or partridge, although considerably reduced in many sections, appears to have bred well in the western half of the State in 1904, and has done well locally in the eastern counties. Many dead blue jays were found during the winter, and in some sections jays, crows and chickadees seem to have been much reduced in numbers, but this is by no means universal. I found jays somewhat reduced in Wareham , but crows had increased. Both crows and jays were considerably reduced in Concord, while chickadees were not so common as usual in either place. Some reports from south-eastern Massa- chusetts indicate a scarcity of flickers and meadow larks, but this is seldom noticed elsewhere. Screech owls suffered severely, and were driven by stress of weather into barns and dove-cotes, where they fed on mice and'~3oves. Mr. A. M. Frazar, the Boston taxidermist, informs me that he had about forty of these birds brought to him, most of which had been taken in dove-cotes. Some were picked up dead. He also received about twenty Acadian or saw- whet owls, that were found dead either in the streets of Boston or in the country districts. Many observers report a recent scarcity of screech owls, while others report them as nu- merous. My own notes show them to have been rather rare in 1904 where in 1903 they were quite common. Superintendent Charles P. Price of the Middlesex Fells Reservation found several barred owls apparently frozen to death during the winter ; they were fat, and therefore had not starved. No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 435 Evidently the bob- white suffered more than any other bird from the hard winter of 1903-04 ; but as many have been introduced since by the Massachusetts Fish and Game Pro- tective Association, and others were carried through the winter by feeding, there are birds enough now to restock the State, if they can be protected. It is fair to conclude, therefore, that, excepting, perhaps, the purple martin, no species has suffered a lasting or per- manent check from the action of the elements in 1903 or 1904. THE EARLY ABUXDAXCE OF BIRDS ix MASSACHUSETTS. No investigation into the decrease of birds and its causes can be conducted intelligently without some knowledge of the relative abundance of the different families of birds at the time of the first settlement of the country. Had we any full and trustworthy account of the animals of New England, from the pen of some naturalist of the seventeenth century, we could better understand the changes that have occurred in the bird fauna of New England since the dis- covery of the country. As it is, we must derive our infor- mation from the brief, fragmentary and rather unsatisfactory accounts written by some of the early voyagers and settlers. We shall learn little of the smaller land birds of the coun- try from these narratives; but all agree that there was " greate store" of water birds, "sea fowle" and game birds. rom Archer's relation of ' ' Captaine Gosnol's voyage to the north part of ^^ynjftt" rna.da iu 1COO, we learn that the " penguin " (great auk) was found on our shores. This bird evidently was once abundant at certain points on the coast. Early historians refer to birds now extirpated from this region as then existing in great numbers. Swans, cranes, wild turkeys, snow geese, passenger pigeons and other birds, now either rare or extinct here, were then found in great abundance. There were also then, as now, "divers sorts of singing birds whose notes salute the ears of travel- lers with an harmonious discord." Capt. John Smith credits the land with an incredible 43(5 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. abundance of fish, fowl, wild fruits and good timber. Francis Iligginson writes : " Fowls of the aire are plentiful here. Here are likewise aboundance of turkies often killed in the woods. — This country doth abound with wild geese, wild duckes, and other sea fowle, that a great part of the winter the planters have eaten nothing but roastmeat of divers fowles which they have killed." * Josselyn writes that he has known ' ' twelve score and more of sanderlins " to be killed at two shots. f Morton says there was " greate store " of swans in the Memmack River at their seasons, also "greate store" of cranes in the country. He also speaks of two Indians hav- ing seen a thousand turkeys in less than a day in the woods.J AVilliam "Woods speaks of the turkeys as being in flocks of forty, sixty and one hundred birds. He says the set- tlers shot, for their own use, those which went by their doors. He speaks of vast flocks of wild pigeons passing over where he was, and of " seeing neyther the beginning nor ending, length or breadth of these Millions of Millions. The shouting of the people, the rattling of gunnes and the pelting of small shotte could not drive them out of their course and so they continued for four or five houres together." He describes great flights of Brant, gray geese, white geese and wild ducks ; and says the gray geese stayed all winter in these waters, while the others were seen only in spring and fall. He asserts that some have killed a hundred geese in a week, and fifty ducks or forty teal at a shot. The " humilities " or "simplicities" as he calls them, referring to shore birds, large and small, could be driven in a herd like sheep, and shot " at a fit time," after which the living would settle again among the dead. "I myself," he says, " have killed twelve score at two shootes." Morton says that he has often had one thousand geese be- fore the muzzle of his gun, and that the feathers of the geese he had killed in a short time paid for all the powder and shot he would use in a year. He speaks of seeing forty " par- tridges" in one tree and sixty "quail" in another. Un- * " New England's plantation," by Francis Higginson, p. 11. f "Account of two voyages to New England," 1638-63, by J. Josselyn. } Morton's " New English Canaan," p. 74. No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIKDS. 437 doubtedly these were the same species that are now gener- ally known in Massachusetts by these vernacular names. Geese were fed to the dogs and pigeons to the hogs ; but, notwithstanding the great waste of bird-life, no appreciable effect on the abundance of the birds was noticed during the first years of settlement, for Woods says that, in spite of the shooting and the ' ' frighting of the fowle " . . . "I have seene more, living and dead, the last yeare than I have done in former yeares." * THE DECREASE OF BIRDS IN PAST CENTURIES. The great auk soon disappeared. The great cranes, both brown and white, birds of the open country, were anni- hilated by the settler's rifle. The Canada goose, which was once found in the State throughout the year, and probably bred about the inland ponds and marshes, was driven out, and became a mere migrant in spring and fall. The wild turkey and heath hen were hunted away to the deep woods ; but geese, ducks, shore birds, passenger pigeons and ruffed grouse still existed in abundance until the early part of the nineteenth century. An old gentleman named Greenwood, a responsible man, who was once keeper of the Ipswich Light, told me in 1876 that in the early part of the century (I have no memo- randum of the date) he, with his father and brothers, had to get oxen and sled to haul home the birds, mainly geese and ducks, which they had killed in one day about Thanks- giving time near the mouth of the Ipswich River. Dwight tells us, in 182 l,f that there were then hardly any wild animals remaining besides a few small species ; that wild turkeys had greatly lessened in numbers, and in the most populous parts of the country were not very often seen; that grouse were not common, but that water-fowl still existed in great abundance. This brief glance at two centuries of the history of Mas- * William "Woods' "New England's prospect," from which this was taken, was first printed in London in 1634. t Dwight's "Travels in New England and New York," 1821, Vol. I., pp. 52-65. The grouse spoken of here is probably the heath hen, as Dwight and other writers mention this bird as the grouse or pheasant, — a bird distinct from the partridge, or ruffed grouse, and never as common. 438 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. sachusetts game birds and their destruction brings us to a time within the memory of a few persons now living, and almost within the scope of the present inquiry. In the first volume of the "Memorial History of Boston," published in 1880, Dr. J. A. Allen, one of the most emi- nent of American naturalists, writes of the birds of eastern Massachusetts as follows: "The great auk, the Labrador duck, and five or six other species, have long since disap- peared from southern New England. All the larger species and many of the shore birds have greatly decreased, as have likewise most of the smaller forest birds. The few that haunt cultivated grounds have doubtless nearly maintained their former abundance." In 1898, Director William T. Hornaday, of the New York Zoological Park, made an inquiry into the decrease of birds and mammals in the United States. He estimated, from reports received by him from naturalists in many parts of the country, that birds had decreased on the average 46 per cent in thirty States and Territories within the fifteen years then just past, while their reduction in Massachusetts was estimated at 27 per cent. This report has been widely quoted, and very generally credited by the public. THE DIFFICULTY OF ACQUIRING ACCURATE INFORMATION. It is difficult to get accurate information as to the increase or decrease of bird-life in a region so large as the State of Massachusetts. A conclusion one way or the other cannot safely be formed by any individual unaided, except in regard to a limited territory with which he has been familiar for a series of years. Such a conclusion, when formed, is merely an opinion, and the personal equation inevitably comes in to bias it. Some people are naturally optimistic, and their reports show it; or they have recently begun to study birds, and see more of them now than in former years. Others are pessimistic, or have become imbued with the popular belief that our birds are rapidly being exterminated. Some are elderly people, who do not, perhaps, see nor hear so clearly as in their youth, and are not so much afield, and so do not notice so many birds as in their younger days. No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 439 Some reports coine from closely populated regions, where many causes operate to destroy or drive out the birds ; others come from more sparsely peopled regions, where the birds and their natural enemies are not so much interfered with. These personal or environmental differences tend to produce contradictory reports. Where there is conflicting testimony, it must be carefully weighed, and all contradic- tions considered by the one who has to render the final ver- dict. In this, the evidence of those experts who for years have kept careful notes of the number of birds seen should have the most weight. A SUMMARY OF REPORTS, BY COUNTIES. Below is a summary, by counties, of the reports regard- ing the gain or loss in numbers of birds in the State for the past ten to forty years. The questions asked were : — Map of Massachusetts, marked to show the localities from which reports have been received. 1. Are birds decreasing in your locality, county, or in the State generally ? 2. How do their numbers compare with those of ten years ago? Three-fourths as many, one-half, one-third, or do they remain about the same ? 3. Has the decrease (if any) been continuing for twenty, thirty or forty years, or longer ? 440 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Some correspondents failed to answer these questions, and others, answered rather indefinitely. The definite answers received are tabulated below. Seventy-three of those who regard birds generally as diminishing in num- bers estimate the percentage of decrease as follows : one, 10 per cent; one, 12^ percent; twenty-one, 25 per cent; one, 30 per cent ; six, 33^ per cent ; thirty-three, 50 per cent; five, G6| per cent; three, 75 per cent; two, 90 per cent. Eleven state that birds are decreasing somewhat, but give no estimate of the percentage ; those also who regard birds in general as increasing give no percentages. It is im- possible, therefore, with the figures at hand, to arrive at the average opinion as to the percentage of decrease of the birds in the State, to say nothing of the facts in the case. To get at even an approximation of the facts, other methods must be employed. The table shows that a large share of the reports were pessimistic, and on its face, perhaps, presents a darker picture than the facts will warrant. A Tabulated Statement, by Counties, of the Reports regarding the Decrease of Birds. COUHTT. Number reporting that Birds are decreasing. Number reporting thatBirdsare holding their Own. Number reporting that Game Birds are decreasing and Song Birds increasing or holding their Own. Number reporting Birds increasing. Berkshire, . 9 1 3 Hampshire, . 6 4 1 - Hampden, 8 6 1 1 Franklin, . 3 5 1 _ Worcester, . 20 8 2 1 Middlesex, . 17 6 4 5 Essex, .... 12 4 4 2 Norfolk, 5 4 1 1 Suffolk, 4 1 - 1 Barnstable, . 2 - - - Plymouth, . 5 2 1 2 Bristol, 3 6 1 1 Dukes, . . _ 1 - _ Nantucket, . - - 1 - Total for State, 94 48 20 14 No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 441 It will be seen by the above table that ninety-four corre- spondents report birds as decreasing ; only sixty -two report them as either holding their own or increasing. If we add to this number, however, the twenty who regard game birds or other larger species as diminishing, and song birds or the smaller species as stationary or increasing, we shall have eighty-two who believe that the smaller species are either stationary or increasing, against ninety-four who believe all birds are decreasing. Xext, we find that forty-three who report birds as rapidly diminishing live in or near the larger cities, where the principal causes of this diminution are most active. There are, then, only fifty-one persons, out- side of the influence of the cities, who find birds generally decreasing, to eighty-two who find the smaller birds at least holding their own. This being the case, it seems probable that the smaller birds in general have not decreased greatly in Massachusetts, as a whole, in recent years, except in and near the centres of population. Undoubtedly there are fluctuations in the numbers of certain species over large areas. There are also local fluctuations in the numbers of most species. Certain birds will be rare in a locality for a year or two, and then, perhaps, plentiful again. The re- ports plainly show such oscillations ; but it may be doubted if there is any great and general decrease in all the smaller species. Mr. Hornaday, by pursuing a similar method of inquiry six years ago, arrived at a somewhat different conclusion. How can this discrepancy be explained? In the first place, Mr. Hornaday apparently based his Massachusetts report on the statements of only eleven people, as against those of two hundred who have responded to the present inquiry. In the second place, seven out of his eleven correspondents lived in or near cities, where birds were, or had been, de- creasing. But it may be said that the testimony taken by him was more in the nature of selected expert evidence than that obtained in the present inquiry. To meet this objection, extracts from thirty-five reports have been selected. These observers may be said to belong to the same class as those 442 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. from whom Mr. Hornaday received his information. The names of three of his correspondents appear in this list. Circulars were sent to the other eight, but they failed to return them. EXPERT EVIDENCE. Nantucket County. — Mr. George H. Mackay of Boston, well known as an authority on Massachusetts sea-fowl, wild- fowl and shore birds, who is very familiar with Nantucket, says that shore birds generally are decreasing ; some species have fallen off from 66 per cent to 98 per cent in sixty years. Other species have not decreased so much, or re- main about the same. He has noticed no general decrease among the smaller land birds. Bristol County. — Mr. F. H. Mosher of Dartmouth re- ports that some species are decreasing, others remain about the same, and a few seem to be increasing. He says the decrease of certain species has been progressing for at least twenty years. Mr. Arthur C. Bent of Taunton says that, generally speaking, birds are not materially decreasing. In some few cases they are, but the numbers remain about the same as a whole. Mr. Elisha Slade of Somerset says that in his locality practically all native species are decreasing. The decrease has been continuing spasmodically, he says, for forty years. He estimates the falling off of certain spe- cies within thirty years as follows : quail, ruffed grouse, herons and night-hawks, 50 per cent ; mourning doves, purple martins and house wrens, 75 per cent ; bank swal- lows, barn swallows, flickers, swifts, warblers and thrushes, 30 per cent. Plymouth County. — Mr. Arthur Curtis Dyke of Bridge- water reports some species as certainly decreasing. Among these he mentions, mainly, swallows, birds of prey, game birds and wild-fowl. Mr. Rufus H. Carr of Brockton says : " Not appreciably decreasing, except certain species. Game birds and herons, one-third ; hawks and owls, one-fourth." Norfolk County. — Mr. Henry B. Bigelow of Cohasset says : "I believe that birds are decreasing only slightly in this locality. There is a great yearly variation in numbers. A great decrease in shore birds and water-fowl took place No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 443 about five years ago." Mr. Frank Blake Webster of Hyde Park writes : "I see no decrease in twenty years. Wood- cock seem scarce." Mr. I. Chester Horton of Canton be- lieves that quail, grouse, screech owls, purple martins, house wrens, barn swallows, whip-poor-wills and indigo birds are diminishing, while bluebirds are increasing. Mr. R. M. Baldwin of Wellesley Hills writes that in Wellesley there is a marked decrease in larger birds, a possible in- crease in the smaller. Mr. F. H. Kennard of Brookline says : "In Brookline they are decreasing ; swallows driven out by building up of town." Suffolk County. — Mr. Homer Lane Bigelow of Boston says that from 1889 to 1897 there was an annual decrease, but since then, with exceptions (i.e., 1903), there has been a gradual increase. Mr. F. H. Allen of Boston ex- presses a disbelief in any general -decrease in the number of birds in the region he is best acquainted with, although cer- tain species are driven out of their accustomed haunts by the extension of city influences into the country, the cut- ting down of woods, etc. Mr. C. S. Day of Boston, who is also acquainted with conditions in Chathamport, Barn- stable County, says birds are decreasing. " I should judge about one-half. I have noticed the decrease particularly the last fifteen years." Hawks, owls, the swallow family, game birds, the house wren, the swift and shore birds are the birds most particularly mentioned as decreasing. Essex County. — Mr. F. C. Dodge of Beverly says that in the last three years there has been an increase, previous to that a decrease. He says there are not so many birds in the city as formerly, but about the same number in the nearby country. (All observers but one from Beverly re- port some increase in birds there.) Mr. Reginald C. Rob- bins of Boston states that, in Essex County, wilderness birds only are decreasing ; suburban birds remain about the same ; others fast decreasing locally, but holding their own in favorable spots. Mr. J. A. Farley says: «* Speaking from ten years' experience in certain towns in southern Essex County, should say, on the whole, birds remain about the same ; horned owls, sharp-shinned hawks and red-tailed 444 BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. hawks are a good deal reduced." Dr. Charles W. Town- send, from twenty-eight years' experience, mainly in two towns in Essex County, concludes that shore birds have decreased considerably ; but, notwithstanding smaller birds have decreased about the cities, they are holding their own very well in the country. Middlesex County. — Mr. C. J. Maynard of Newtonville, a field naturalist of many years' experience, says: "Many species have decreased at least one-half. Some hold their own. A few have considerably increased. Excepting in a few species, I do not see much decrease in the last ten years. Swallows are going fast." Mr. Ralph Hoffman of Belmont writes : " The larger birds (hawks, herons, grouse) are decreasing; the smaller birds are about the same. Grouse no longer occur." Mr. Philip T. Coolidge of Watertown writes : " Some species are decreasing. Fully three-fourths as many birds as ten years ago. Bob- whites, hawks, the larger owls, ducks, shore birds, gulls and terns suffer much from shooting." Mr. E. F. Holden of Melrose says : " Birds have decreased within ten years, also within two years ; perhaps three-fourths as many as ten years ago, possibly less." Mr. William Brewster of Cambridge and Concord, the leading ornithologist of New England, who has been afield much for the past forty years, says : " Birds do not appear to be decreasing generally, but there has been a decrease among swallows, martins, nighthawks, game birds, birds of prey, certain water-fowl and waders. I should say that the decrease in woodcock, partridges, wood ducks, certain other of the ducks and many of the waders (plover, sandpipers, etc.) had been continuing ever since I can remember, or upwards of forty years." Mr. C. E. Bailey of North Billerica says that birds are much re- duced in numbers in his locality. Miss Elizabeth S. Hill of Groton, who has kept a careful annual record, says that some birds are increasing and some decreasing, but that for the past ten years the per cent of increase is the larger. Her list shows that the principal decrease is found among the herons, ducks and birds of prey ; the increase is mainly among the smaller species. No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 445 Worcester County. — Dr. C. F. Hodge of Worcester re- ports birds as increasing rapidly on his premises, and he believes there are more in the city than three or four years ago. Dr. Hodge is a professor in Clark University, and a leader in nature study at Worcester. He takes a careful bird census each year, destroys the English sparrows and other enemies of birds, puts up bird-houses, feeds birds, and teaches the children not to molest them, — all of which may account for the increase of birds in his vicinity. Mr. William S. Perry of Worcester, who has had a long experi- ence as a field ornithologist, sportsman and teacher, and who is familiar with many towns in northern Worcester County, says: "Some species have remained about the same for the last thirty years ; others are exterminated ; others are decreased one-half. Most show decrease, some increase." Dr. Lemuel F. Woodward of Worcester, whose observations have extended over more than thirty years, believes that hawks, owls, eagles, game birds, nighthawks, swallows, warblers and thrushes are decreasing. Col. John E. Thayer of Lancaster writes that he has been in the woods nearly every day between March 15 and July 1 for the past eight years. He says that, with the exception of four spe- cies, birds have not decreased in his locality. Mr. Charles E. Ingalls of East Templeton, who has had a large experi- ence as a field observer, and has travelled much about the State, says that birds are decreasing in his town, county and State. He says a gradual decrease has been apparent for thirty or more years, accelerated during the last ten years. Mr. C. E. Stone of Lunenburg believes that insectivorous birds are rather on the increase. "A few species, notably the game birds, are not as plentiful as formerly." Hampshire Count//. — I have received no report from any ornithologist in this county, so present the reports of ob- servers in whose judgment I have confidence. Prof. Wm. P. Brooks of Amherst writes : " Should say birds are not decreasing in this vicinity." Dr. H. T. Fernald, also of Amherst, having consulted with Prof. R. F. Nelligan in regard to game birds, believes there is some decrease, but assigns the weather as one cause. 446 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. Ilampden County. — Mr. Robert O. Morris of Spring- field says that, generally, birds are not decreasing in his vicinity. He speaks of a decrease in owls, hawks and herons. Mr. F. H. Scott of Westfield thinks birds are not decreasing there. ' ' Some years ago a scarcity of some of the smaller birds was apparent ; recently there lias been an increase among many." Berkshire County. — Mr. J. M. Van Huyck of Lee thinks birds are decreasing, but the decrease is assigned mainly to the larger species ; the smaller species seemingly are on the increase. Hawks, owls, eagles, game birds and herons have decreased much, according to his observations. On the whole, the above-mentioned observers apparently have not seen a great decrease in the numbers of the smaller birds except in the case of a few species ; but the older observers record a considerable diminution within forty to sixty years among game birds, water-fowl and shore birds. My own experience as a resident of the suburbs of Worcester and Boston, if taken alone, might lead me to believe that the smaller native birds have fallen off much within the last thirty years throughout the State, as they certainly have in those cities ; but in many of the country districts I find the majority of the smaller species still in nearly the same numbers as thirty years ago. I do not find small birds as numerous in Plymouth and Bristol counties, or in sections of Middlesex County, as they were in Worces- ter County thirty years ago. The fertile soil of Worcester, one of the richest agricultural counties in the world, sup- ports more birds to the acre than the sandy soil of Plymouth and Bristol counties, or the gravelly hills of some parts of Middlesex. The large number of cities in eastern Massa- chusetts, with their ever-increasing population flooding the surrounding country, must have had a seriously restrictive effect on the bird-life of this section. No one will question the fact that the sum of bird-life must have been somewhat reduced in this region by the growth and expansion of the cities, and the destructive and repellent forces which radiate from them into the surrounding country ; but, outside of a No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 447 certain radius from each city, the conditions of bird-life still remain much the same (for most of the smaller species) as they were in much of the city itself forty years ago. This may be illustrated by the experience of Dr. L. F. Wood- ward of Worcester. He says : "I am confining my obser- vations of bird-life to two localities : first, my home in the centre of the city of Worcester ; second, the grounds and adjacent country about the Quinsigamond Boat Club at Lake Quinsigamond. First, the city. Thirty years ago, robins, catbirds, tree swallows, chipping sparrows, vireos and summer warblers built in our garden ; now, nothing builds about the site of the house but the robins and chip- ping sparrows. For three years no young robins have been raised in our yard. The sparrows either destroy the nests, or the cats get the birds. The chimney swifts, which for- merly were fairly abundant about the site, are very much diminished, also the nighthawk. Second, at the Quinsiga- mond boat club grounds the English sparrows were abso- lutely exterminated three years ago, and are not a factor in bird-life in that particular region. The birds as a whole have become rather more numerous and much tamer than formerly. The white-breasted swallows, having abundant house accommodation, have increased, but this year have rather decreased. The chimney swifts, once quite numer- ous, were reduced this year to three individuals. Locally, the thrasher, veery and chewink have increased, as has also the field sparrow. The whip-poor-will, common up to three years ago, has practically disappeared ; and the king-bird, of which we have always had several pairs, has not appeared on our grounds this year. The grackles have markedly in- creased about the lake, while the red-wings have diminished. The purple martin disappeared from the city of Worcester, so far as I know, a year ago. I have talked with several good observers, none of whom has seen a single individual of this species this year. The mourning dove probably nested at the lake this year, as I have seen individuals occa- sionally during the spring and summer. This is the first time I have seen this bird for nearly twenty years. The spotted sandpiper has diminished. All birds have been pro- 448 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. tected from sparrows and cats, but not from grackles, crows, blue jays and other wild birds. I should say that numer- ically the birds were holding their own in that particular locality, but that individual species fluctuated, some years particular birds being numerous, while others which seem to be subjected to about the same perils are rare." As an epitome of bird-life, and the contrasting conditions affecting it in the city and country, Dr. Woodward's report is noteworthy. The main causes of the decrease of birds in the city are exhibited, and the reduction of the birds in the city with their comparative abundance in the near-by coun- try is made plain. In the one case the birds were subjected to city influences ; in the other they were protected from them, and given opportunity for breeding. The results in the latter case are obvious. A notable effect of the June storms of 1903 is apparent in the diminution of tree swal- lows, the extermination of the martins, and, possibly, also in the decrease of the whip-poor-wills, red-wings and king- birds. The fluctuations of species from year to year may be owing to natural causes operative everywhere, or to the malign influences emanating from the city not far away. He offers no explanation, but states the facts. They form the text for a treatise on bird protection. In the development of our civilization there have been evolved or introduced certain influences destructive to bird- life, such as trolley cars, improved firearms and the English sparrow. Taking such forces into consideration, together with the growth of cities, it is possible, perhaps, that we now have fewer of the smaller native birds in the State than forty years ago. Many of the larger species have been decreasing steadily. Along the coasts and in the densely populated regions, game birds, many shore birds and some water-fowl have lessened to such an extent that they are evidently doomed to extermination, unless better protected. So far I must agree with those who believe that our birds are being extirpated. But we must guard against too much pessimism. It is quite natural to remember the times in our youth when birds were very numerous, and forget the seasons when they were comparatively few. So one re- No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 449 members the cold winters and severe snowstorms of his childhood, and forgets the mild seasons. Similarly it seems, as we look back, that we had many tremendous flights of warblers in those days, but the records show •/ ' very few. Mr. Abbot H. Thayer of Monadnock, N. H., where many of the repressive forces which exist in eastern Massachusetts are almost unknown, who takes a very optimistic view of the matter, says that asking the public, or even so-called ornithologists, whether they find birds diminished, is as de- ceptive in its results as a look at the telegraph poles along a road. Just where the observer stands there is one pole or none, while a glance back down the road reveals a massed accumulation one against another, — all due to perspective. One's past, he says, is so well stocked with so many remem- bered sights of rare and beautiful birds that only a very philosophical mind can escape the impression that birds were formerly constantly in sight, whereas one really saw few in some seasons, as is the case to-day. Lest the conditions in Massachusetts regarding the smaller birds might prove exceptional, and the results of the inves- tigation misleading, the inquiry has been extended somewhat into other populous States of the Atlantic seaboard. The reports seem to indicate that with some exceptions the smaller birds are not generally decreasing in numbers in those States. Extracts from reports of some of the most competent observers are given below. Mr. C. J. Pennock, ornithologist to the Pennsylvania State Board of Agriculture, says that birds are probably de- creasing, but not to any great extent, except a few species. He mentions the dickcissel, purple martin, ruffed grouse and bob-white as species that have been decreasing for many years, and the house wren as increasing in his locality (Kennet Square, Pa.). Mr. Frank M. Chapman, assistant curator of the depart- ment of birds in the American Museum of Natural History, writes from his home, Englewood, N. J. : "Birds remain about the same, except bobolinks, which have been exter- minated locally ; the larger kawks and owls, which decrease 450 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. with the disappearance of the woodland ; game birds, includ- ing doves and wild fowl ; eave or cliff swallows, which have disappeared locally as breeders; and tree swallows, which are possibly less abundant as migrants." President Theodore Roosevelt, who is an accurate observer of animal life, writes from his home on Long Island, N. Y. : " Here at Oyster Bay niy observations have gone over thirty- one years. During that time I do not believe there has been any diminution in the number of birds, as a whole. Quail and woodcock are not as plentiful as they were ; I am in- clined to think that last winter may have been hard on quail around here. But, on the other hand, there are one or two other wild birds that, I think, have increased in numbers." Later he wrote, in response to an inquiry regarding the shore birds: "During my time there have never been any but scattering shore birds in my neighborhood on the north shore of Long Island, and there are now as many of these as there ever were. During the same period there has been a great diminution in the shore birds, once so plentiful, in the Great South Bay on the south shore of Long Island ; as I happen to know, because my uncle lives there." Mrs. Mabel Osgood Wright of Fan-field, Conn., says that, speaking locally for Fairfield and ten miles inland, some species have decreased, others have held their own. The great horned owl is nearly extinct. Wood ducks have be- come very rare within ten years ; also mourning doves ; scarlet tanagers and shore birds in general have decreased. Mr. E. Hart Geer, secretary of the Connecticut Commis- sion of Fisheries and Game, writes that shore birds have decreased greatly, and that river ducks have decreased every year. He says there was as good a flight during the fall of 1904 as was consistent with the " extermination due to unrestricted shooting." Mr. Harry Hathaway writes from Providence, R. I. : "The shore birds, game birds, hawks and owls are decreasing in the State generally, but no appreciable decrease is occurring in other species, and some few species are increasing in num- bers." He says that a fair estimate of the decrease of the birds named would be one-half in fifteen years, but that this may be too large, as his observations have been " locally No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 451 restricted." Hawks and owls have been driven off, he says, by the removal of their nesting sites. This was very evi- dent after the coal strike in the spring of 1902, when much wood was cut. A law passed by the Legislature, offering a bounty on hawks, owls and crows, also has had some effect. Mr. Abbot H. Thayer of Monadnock, N. H., writes : "Ever since Hornaday's announcement I have done my best to know the truth about this region. Now, nearly fifty years later than when I first knew Keene, N. H., every wet spot has the same red-winged blackbirds, . . . every mowing its bobolinks, and all the village birds are as abundant in a general way as forty-eight years ago. ... I believe that the only species that have suffered any significant change are the passenger pigeon, upland plover and wood duck ; also the ruffed grouse and the bobolink (as I am told, not as I notice here)." The upland plover he regards as near- ing extinction, and the purple martin as occupying fewer bird-houses than formerly. Dr. G. H. Perkins of the University of Vermont, ento- mologist of the Vermont State Experiment Station, Burling- ton, writes: "I think, on the contrary, many birds are increasing. Birds are well protected, and I think few are intentionally killed in the State. I should say there has been no decrease, as a whole. Going back fifty years ago, if accounts are to be trusted, the wild pigeon and some others were more abundant than of late. Swallows, swifts, song sparrows, robins, bluebirds, redstarts, vireos, white- crowned sparrows, bobolinks, many warblers, meadowlarks, downy and hairy woodpeckers and creepers do not seem to decrease, if not increasing." Mrs. Elizabeth B. Davenport of Brattleboro, Vt., says that birds are not decreasing, as a whole. Grouse are reported less in number, the martins are decimated and the house wrens are sadly decreasing. It is fair to conclude, from all the foregoing, that with the smaller species the natural balance of bird-life is now fairly constant in Massachusetts and the neighboring States, and that the decrease will be found mainly among those species that are most hunted. It now remains to take up separately those families of 452 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. birds which are reported as diminishing in Massachusetts, that we may see what species most need protection. While it is difficult to get accurate reports regarding birds as a whole, those regarding particular species are more readily obtained. Such reports are the more valuable, as they indi- cate just where protection is needed. BIRDS REPORTED AS DIMINISHING IN NUMBERS. Family Podicipidce. — Grebes. This includes the birds commonly known as dippers, water witches, etc. This family and the one following seem to be of comparatively little economic importance so far as the farmer is concerned, as the birds composing them get their food almost entirely from the water. The pied-billed grebe undoubtedly once bred in suitable places about the inland bodies of water in this State ; it is now known to breed in very few localities east of the Connecticut River. It has been driven away from at least three localities in Massachu- setts in the last few years. It is still fairly common in the migrations on many of the ponds and rivers in the interior of the State, but seems to have decreased greatly on the rivers of eastern Massachusetts, where, although its flesh is of little value, it is pursued and shot whenever it appears. This grebe might have been able to dive quickly enough (at the flash) to escape the charge of the flint-lock gun, but with the modern breech loader at close range it has no chance. The horned grebe also probably once bred here, but is now seldom seen except in migrations or in the win- ter. Along the coasts the grebes are quite well able to take care of themselves, and, as they now breed mainly far to the north, where they are little disturbed by man, our three . species seem about as common as ever on the coast in their migrations. Family Gavidce. — Loons. Loons, no doubt, once bred commonly in the more retired ponds over a great part of the State. Thirty years ago they were not rare in the breeding season in the northern part of Worcester County, where they were observed to nest at different localities by Messrs. C. E. Ingalls and C. E. Bai- No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIKDS. 453 ley. I am not aware that they now nest anywhere in the State. No doubt they would have been driven from the interior of the State long ago, had they not been well able to take care of themselves by diving. They are still to be seen in the migrations in most of the larger and more re- mote bodies of water, and seem to maintain their numbers along the coast, as does also the red-throated loon. Family Laridce. — Gulls and Terns. Certain of these birds were once very abundant in the breeding season on Long Island Sound, and bred also in suitable islands all along the Massachusetts coast. Miss Katharine P. Loring of Prides Crossing, Beverly, writes that about forty years ago there were large numbers of "gulls" in spring at Gooseberry Island and Eagle Island off the Beverly shore, and that these islands were * ' covered with their eggs." The birds referred to were probably terns, or " mackerel gulls," as they are called locally. The Arctic and roseate terns are both recorded as breeding at Beverly and Ipswich as late as 1846 and 1869 respectively.* These terns, together with the common and least terns and the laughing gull, bred abundantly along our coast as late as the early part of the nineteenth century. They were grad- ually driven off the breeding grounds by eggers. In the decade before 1890 the demand for the plumage of gulls and terns for millinery purposes became so great that they were menaced with extermination. Mr. Geo. H. Mackay says that he has been informed that one party of gunners killed no less than ten thousand of these birds on Muskeeget Island in one year. Since then Mr. Mackay, who was for years a member of the committee on bird protection of the American Ornithologists' Union, has succeeded in securing protection for the birds breeding on this and other islands, as a result of which they have increased enormously. He says that they are now more abundant than at any time for many years. The least tern, or sea swallow, however, which was formerly abundant, but was one of the chief victims of the milliners, has not, he says, shared in this in- * " Bkds of Massachusetts," Howe and Allen, p. 27. 454 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. crease, and is now comparatively rare. The herring gull probably once bred here, and still breeds on the Maine coast. This bird is as wary as a crow while here, and, if protected on its breeding grounds, it is likely to maintain its full numbers. It is seen here now mainly in fall, winter and spring. Probably no sea birds other than the laughing