122 BIRD FRIENDS 



was sixty-four, so that for one region of the State 

 where a bird had increased, there were six regions 

 where it had decreased. For twenty species ten 

 times as many observers reported the birds to be 

 decreasing as to be increasing. The per cent of de- 

 crease reported ranged from fifty to seventy-five; 

 the per cent of increase from twenty-five to fifty. 



Have the song-birds decreased? These instances 

 are enough to prove conclusively that the game- 

 birds, wild fowl, and shore-birds have decreased 

 very markedly. We may next inquire if this is also 

 true of the common song-birds. In the report of 

 Mr. Hornaday to which reference has already been 

 made the statement is made that birds had de- 

 creased forty-six per cent during the previous fifteen 

 years. In 1904, Mr. E. H. Forbush made a careful 

 study of the relative abundance of song-birds found 

 in Massachusetts. Reports were received from 

 about two hundred bird-students to whom ques- 

 tions had been sent relative to the abundance of 

 birds compared with that in previous years. From 

 these reports Mr. Forbush concludes that the num- 

 bers of the smaller birds have remained about the 

 same, excepting in and near towns and cities, where 

 there has been a decrease. A decrease in herons, 

 hawks, and owls was noted. The following quotation 

 is taken from this report : — 



The smaller native birds fluctuate, some species de- 

 creasing in some localities and increasing in others, but 



