400 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



and has been informed that a boy killed eighty-four in one 

 day within twenty ^ears at Sandwich. Now the teal are 

 nearly all gone, although there was a small flight in the fall 

 of 11)04. In September a flock of fourteen birds passed 

 me three times on the C'oncord River. They were fired at 

 several tunes, and that was the last I saw of them. I have 

 not seen so many in a flock for years. Occasionally a small 

 flight like this is seen in the fall, but very few ever come 

 back in the spring. Mr. Mackay says that until 1904 prob- 

 ably not forty blue-winged teal have been seen on Nantucket 

 in fifteen ^^ears. 



Green-winged teal, Mr. Gerrj^ says, were formerly very 

 plentiful, but he has not seen one now for five years. In 

 1870 my predecessor, Mr. E. A. Samuels, regarded this bird 

 as " quite abundant " * in the spring and autumn migrations 

 in New England. Now it is rare, and seems to be going out. 

 I have not seen one in INIassachusetts for years. Mr. Mac- 

 kay SQ,ys it was formerly common but is now very rare. 



The Mergansers (^Sahfamil ij Merginre). — The mergansers, 

 sheldrakes or fish ducks are still not uncommon, the red- 

 breasted merganser being abundant ofl^ the coast in the migra- 

 tions. These birds are expert divers, breed far north, and 

 most of them do not go far south. They are well able to take 

 care of themselves. The American merganser, goosander 

 or pond sheldrake was formerly very common on ponds and 

 rivers, and once bred in the State. It is still common in 

 winter along the Connecticut. The hooded merganser, once, 

 like the wood duck, very common, is growing rare, and is 

 now the rarest of the mergansers. 



Famihj Ardeidce. — Herons. 

 It seems probable that herons are decreasing in many 

 localities. Thirty-five persons report them as decreasing, 

 twelve report them as unchanged in numbers, and five state 

 that night herons are increasing. My own experience, 

 together with that of others in whose judgment I have great 

 confidence, seems to indicate that, in general, these birds are 

 not now decreasing rapidly. The law passed in 1904 giving 



* " Birds of New England," E. A. Samuels, p. 493. 



