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 

 <mll and the terns above mentioned now breed in Massachu- 



o 



setts, although gannets, cormorants and other species are 

 seen along the coasts in migration. 



Family Anatidce. Ducks, Geese and /Swans. 



This family contains a large number of beautiful and 

 graceful birds, known generally as wild-fowl or water-fowl. 

 They form collectively one of the most valuable natural 

 assets of any country. Many species are unexcelled as 

 food, and, if properly protected, they will continue an an- 

 nual source of food or income to a considerable proportion 

 of the rural population. Their presence on the waters or in 

 their peculiar flight-formations adds a certain charm to any 

 landscape. Their sonorous cries and calls speak of the 

 freedom of the wilderness. Were they extinct, how we 

 should miss the call of the wild geese in the spring, and the 

 sight of their wedge-shaped flocks sweeping across the sky ! 

 Yet we are strenuously endeavoring to extirpate them. 

 The wild swans are gone ; only a few wanderers have been 

 recorded as shot in the State during the last quarter of the 

 past century ; their occurrence here now may be regarded 

 as merely accidental. 



TJie Geese (Subfamily Anserince). The lesser snow 

 goose is probably the white goose that was once so abun- 

 dant in Massachusetts Bay and on Cape Cod, according to 

 the tales of the early settlers. It is now so rare as to be 

 regarded as merely an accidental visitor, and I am not aware 

 of any very recent capture of this bird in Massachusetts. 



The Canada goose, although still a common migrant, has 

 decreased in numbers within my recollection. Mr. Elbridge 

 Gerry of Stoneham, who has been a market-hunter for 

 nearly seventy years, says there were a hundred geese in 

 his boyhood days to one now ; and yet he believes that 



