CHANGES IN THE NUMBERS OF BIRDS 121 



merit among all bird-students that there has been 

 a very marked decrease among the game-birds, wild 

 fowl, and shore-birds during the last twenty-five 

 years, in some cases threatening extinction, as men- 

 tioned in the previous paragraph. In 1901, Mr. 

 W. T. Hornaday sent a questionnaire to bird-stu- 

 dents in all parts of the United States asking their 

 opinion regarding the decrease in birds in their lo- 

 calities during the past fifteen years. One hundred 

 and ninety reports were received. Almost without 

 exception, these all agreed that there had been a very 

 marked decrease in the number of game-birds, some 

 estimating the decrease as high as ninety per cent. 

 Mr. E. H. Forbush, in 1907, made a detailed 

 study of the conditions in the State of Massachu- 

 setts. A list of fifty-eight species of game-birds, 

 wild fowl, and shore-birds was sent to about five 

 hundred gunners and ornithologists in the State, 

 and these were asked to report on the increase or 

 decrease of each species. In the case of every spe- 

 cies, some observers reported a decrease, while 

 there were four species for which every one reported 

 a decrease. For every one of the fifty-eight species, 

 more observers reported a decrease than reported an 

 increase. Usually the numbers reporting a decrease 

 were much larger than those reporting an increase. 

 Taking all the birds together, the average number 

 of observers reporting an increase for each bird was 

 ten, while the average number reporting a decrease 



