430 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



were received. Most of the reports and letters were from 

 Massachusetts, representing every county of the State, but 

 a few came from other States. A list of observers and cor- 

 respondents is appended to this report. 



The Destruction of Birds by the Elements. 



The unusual weather of 1903-04 was the evident cause 

 of a recent scarcity of certain species mentioned in many 

 cases by correspondents. This additional evidence of the 

 effects of the June storms of 1903, or of the winter of 

 1903-04, will be presented (1) as a sequel to the report of 

 last year, and (2) in order that the results produced l)y the 

 elements in less than two years may not be confounded with 

 those effected by other and more continuous destructive 

 forces. 



In glancing over the reports for 1904, it becomes evident 

 at once that the destruction of eggs and nestlings by the 

 June storms of 1903 caused no great noticeable and gener- 

 ally observed decrease of many si)ecies in 1904. This may 

 be accounted for in part by the fact (1) that some of the 

 species affected rear more than one brood in a season, and 

 so were able to bring up young either before or after the 

 storms; and in part by the theory (2) that a large share of 

 the young birds reared each season never return from their 

 southern journej , but succumb to accidents and fatalities on 

 the way ; therefore a great mortality among the nestlings of 

 one season may not have a very noticeable effect the suc- 

 ceeding year. 



Trained observers, however, noted in their localities a 

 marked decrease of certain breeding warblers, chimney 

 swifts and swallows, although a few reported swifts and 

 swallows as common or abundant. On some of the mead- 

 ows overflowed in 1903 red-winged blackbirds and marsh 

 ■wrens were much reduced. Long-billed marsh wrens have 

 nearly disappeared from certain meadows where they were 

 formerly common. Bobolinks, orioles and vireos are men- 

 tioned particularly as scarce locally the past season. Night 

 hawks and wlii}>-poor-wills have disappeared from some local- 

 ities. Mr. Thomas M. Burney of Lynn reports a 75 per 



