534 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and respected. These doves are always shot without re- 

 straint in fall and winter in the southern States. They 

 must be given better protection both north and south, as 

 they appear to be decreasing quite generally. 



RECAPITULATION AND CONCLUSION. 

 The Decrease of Species. 



1. The action of the elements in 1903-04 was very dis- 

 astrous to three species only, the purple martin, the 

 bob-white or quail, and the long-billed marsh wren. The 

 sportsmen are making an effort to restock the covers with 

 quail, but they meet with indifferent success in obtaining 

 birds. The martins appear to be nearly extinct in the 

 breeding season ; only a few pairs are left in a few locali- 

 ties. The marsh wrens appear to be nearly exterminated 

 or driven out locally. The chimney swifts suffered greatly, 

 and the swallows to a less degree ; Carolina rails and Vir- 

 ginia rails also suffered much. Other species suffered much 

 locally and some quite generally, but a good breeding 

 season in 1904 has done much to efface the effects of the 

 storms. 



2. The accounts of early historians show that game 

 birds, water-fowl and shore birds were wonderfully abun- 

 dant during the settlement of Massachusetts. Since then 

 at least six species have disappeared, and several others are 

 nearly extirpated or driven out, some quite recently. 

 Among the latter are the long-billed curlew, the Eskimo 

 curlew, the golden plover, the lesser snow goose and the 

 passenger pigeon. The wood duck, the Bartramian sand- 

 piper or upland plover, the knot and the dowitcher are also 

 disappearing rapidly. 



The river ducks have decreased steadily, but the bay and 

 sea ducks are still numerous, with few exceptions. Shore 

 birds generally have lessened in number about 75 per cent 

 within the memory of living men. 



Eagles appear to be rare or decreasing in nearly all sec- 

 tions. The larger hawks and owls have diminished much 

 in most of eastern Massachusetts ; but the decrease of 

 hawks and owls has been only local in the central and west- 



