436 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1963 



serve. Spreading from the Adirondacks and Vermont, coyotes have 

 invaded New England (Pringle, 1960). In the whiter of 1959-60, 

 wild canids were thought to have killed 19 deer in Corbin's Park, 11 

 of them within 9 days in February. One 39-pound male was trapped 

 and killed; its skull was examined and resembled most closely that 

 of a police dog. A litter of five pups, their eyes not yet opened, were 

 found and raised in captivity ; at 5 months they weighed 30 pounds 

 apiece. There has been much speculation as to whether these wild 

 canids are "wolves, coy-wolves, coyotes, coy-dogs, or wolf-dogs" (Ran- 

 dolph, 1960) — or just feral domestic dogs. During the winter of 1961- 

 62, four or five wild canids were thought to be in the area, and were 

 charged with killing 22 deer in the preserve. 



For a period just before 1946 the park was privately owned, but 

 much of it fell into decay. It was later reorganized, again as the 

 Blue Mountain Forest Association, with membership limited to 30. 

 No dues were assessed, but expenses were shared in proportion to the 

 number of membership certificates held (1 to 4 per person) . An open 

 season was set from September 15 to January 15; hunters were as- 

 signed to one of several marked areas; a tract about 1 mile in diameter 

 around the Central Station was maintained as a sanctuary. Bag 

 limits were determined just before the hunting season. Each member 

 might invite as many guests as he chose, but the game taken was pro- 

 rated among the members according to the number of certificates each 

 held (Silver, 1957: 123). 



INTRODUCED SPECIES 



In the following accounts, information has been freely appropri- 

 ated from scattered sources. Most useful were the general references 

 (see Literature Cited) in publications by Baynes (1931), Champollion 

 (1899), Child (1910, 1: 216-219), Corbin (1893), Palmer (1910), 

 Siegler (1962), Silver (1957), Spears (1893), Squires (1956, 2: 524), 

 and Woodbury (1960). Because of frequent use, these references are 

 not individually acknowledged throughout. Those of more limited 

 scope, however, are cited where applicable. 



Brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis. — In 1891, after attempts to clear 

 out undesirable fish, trout were introduced into several of the ponds 

 and streams. 



Largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides. — According to Champol- 

 lion, black bass were stocked in Governor's Pond in the early days of 

 the park. 



Bob white quail, Colinus virginiantis. — About 500 were introduced in 

 1890, but failed to survive their second year. 



Ring-necked pheasant, Phasianus colchicus. — Chinese pheasants 

 were liberated at the preserve in the early years, and soon became es- 

 tablished. Some of the farmlands were planted to buckwheat to carry 



