ARE THE BIRDS DECREASING 5 



seems to me that for various reasons some of our birds 

 have withdrawn into regions that are not often visited 

 by the great majority of observers, and that there has 

 been a general drifting from the eastern toward the 

 western states. A number of years ago I certainly 

 never saw a red-headed woodpecker on Minnesota 

 prairies. I call attention to these facts to show how 

 difficult it is to take a bird census and to find a trust- 

 worthy average for a large state with much variegated 

 landscape features. 



