No. 123.] REPORT OF STATE ORNITHOLOGIST. 113 



dearth of grouse such as occurred in 1907, immediately after 

 a year when the birds were unusually abundant, what can be 

 expected now as a result of one cold, wet breeding season 

 followed by a great flight of goshawks, succeeded by another 

 bad breeding season, followed again by a very severe winter, 

 with another great flight of goshawks and one of horned owls, 

 an abundance of foxes, an increase of wildcats and weasels, 

 f611owed in the succeeding summer by some unknown agency 

 which apparently destroyed the young when half-grown. When 

 we consider the lawbreakers, who shoot more or less at all 

 seasons of the year, it is a wonder that there are any grouse 

 left, to say nothing of bobwhites, woodcock and pheasants. 



The bobwhite succeeded better than the grouse in rearing its 

 young. Woodcock increased somewhat in the western part of 

 the State, but the reports from eastern Massachusetts are 

 pessimistic. A large flight of woodcock passed through western 

 Massachusetts in October, which may indicate that in some 

 parts of northern New England and Canada the species bred 

 well. The result of the investigation in Massachusetts, how- 

 ever, is not encouraging and indicates the necessity for more 

 protection for upland game birds. 



Recommendations. 

 The scarcity of game birds calls for some legislative action. 

 The woodcock, however, now has better protection throughout 

 the country under the regulations of the Federal government 

 than it has had in the past, and if this protection proves in- 

 sufficient the shooting season no doubt will be further abridged 

 by the authorities at Washington. The bobwhite, like the 

 pheasant, may be reared in numbers on game farms or pre- 

 . serves, and therefore is not in any immediate danger of extinc- 

 tion, but the ruffed grouse does not lend itself to artificial 

 propagation on a large scale. Also, like the bobwhite, it is a 

 non-migratory bird, and as it devolves on each State to protect 

 those within her borders, the adult birds now left here must be 

 saved by the people of Massachusetts and allowed to breed. 

 They are not immortal, and, unless they are given a chance to 

 produce young, they will soon die off and the species will dis- 

 appear from our covers. 



