ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB. 55 



preyed upon the grass increased so rapidly that in the summer of 

 1749 the hay crop was almost wholly cut off by them, the planters 

 being obliged to bring hay from Pennsylvania, and even from 

 England, to Massachusetts, to meet the deficiency caused by the 

 worms.* 



In scores of the early enumerations of the birds of New England, 

 and of the Atlantic States generally, the Raven, as well as the 

 Crow, is mentioned. This seems to imply that the Raven, at the 

 time of the first settlement of the country, was more or less com- 

 mon from Virginia to Maine, and that persecution, combined with 

 its natural timidity, has caused its expulsion from the more thickly 

 settled parts of the Eastern States. 



That the Pileated Woodpecker (Hi/lotomus pileatus) was once a 

 common inhabitant of all the primitive forests of this State seems 

 to be unquestionable, though absolute proof of the fact may not be 

 available. It still occurs in abundance throughout the older States, 

 wherever the forests remain comparatively undisturbed, while it is 

 well known to quickly retire where its haunts are invaded by the 

 destroying axe of the woodsman. It is also a matter of record that 

 the Red-headed Woodpecker has nearly disappeared, almost within 

 the present generation, from all the region east of the Hudson 

 River, where it was formerly as common, apparently, as it is now 

 in any of the Middle or Western States. In this case, however, the 

 disappearance is without an evident cause. The deforestation of the 

 State has undoubtedly produced a vast decrease among the other 

 species of the Picida?, as well as generally among all the strictly 

 forest birds, through the great restriction of their natural haunts. 



The Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo var. occidentalis), though 

 once a common inhabitant of New England from the more southerly 

 parts of Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, southward, long 

 since ceased to exist here in a wild state. Its former abundance in 

 Massachusetts is well attested. I will give here, however, only a 

 single reference indicative of the former great number of these 

 birds in the eastern part of the State. Thomas Morton, who re- 

 sided here "many years" prior to 1637, says : "Turkies there are, 

 which divers times in great flocks have sallied by our doores ; and 

 then a gunne (being commonly in a redinesse,) salutes them with 

 such a courtesie, as makes them take a turne in the Cooke roome. 



* Kaliu's Travels, Forster's translation, Vol. II, p. 78. 



