No. 4.] DECREASE OF BIRDS. 467 



grasshoppers and cut-worms. It is one of the finest of all 

 birds for the table. An eftbrt should be made at once to 

 save this useful species. 



The pectoral sandpiper, or grass bird, formerly wonderfully 

 abundant in the fall mirations on the salt marshes and 

 meadows by the sea, has been common until very recently, 

 and was abundant occasionally up to within about twelve 

 years ago, when I last followed the marsh birds. I have 

 been somewhat sur[)rised to hear from Mr. Mackay that this 

 species is no longer common in migration. He says they 

 seem to have almost disappeared. A few are seen occasion- 

 ally in bad weather. Mr. Gerry says he has not now seen a 

 good flight for about ten years. He also says that the last 

 really good marsh shooting he had in Massachusetts was 

 about thirty years ago. He left the hotel at Wellfleet at 

 noon in a carriage, accompanied by jVIrs. Gerry ; he fired 

 twenty-three shots, killed sixty-seven birds, mainly beetle- 

 heads, jack curlews and willets, and was back at the hotel 

 at 4.30 r.M. Mrs. Gerry held the horse and kept talh^ of 

 the shots fired. There is no difi'erence of opinion in regard 

 to the diminution of the shore birds ; the reports from all 

 quarters are the same. It is noteworthy that practically all 

 observers agree that, considering all species, these birds have 

 fallen oft' about 75 per cent within twenty-five to fortj^ years, 

 and that several species are nearly extirpated. 



Snipe and Woodcock. — The Wilson's snipe is one of the 

 most "shot at" birds of the American fauna, and, consider- 

 ing the amount of annnunition that has been expended on 

 it, it has not decreased in numbers so much as might have 

 been expected. Nevertheless, far fewer birds are now seen 

 in jNIassachusetts in spring and fall than formerh^ were found 

 in our meadows at those seasons. There is a legend in 

 Concord, told me by Mr. William Brewster, that years ago 

 a certain gunner won, in a few hours, a wager that he could 

 kill fifty snipe with a limited number of shots on the Con- 

 cord meadows. There is much shooting done there now, 

 but each gunner gets comparatively few birds. 



The woodcock formerly bred abundantly in small swamps 

 and alder runs throughout the State. Thirty years ago it 



