No. 4.] DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS. 459 



element of precipitation, which is ahnost, if not quite, with- 

 out parallel in the history of authentic records." The aver- 

 age normal rainfiill (})recipitati()n) of New England for May 

 is 3.80 inches, while that for Mny, lllOo, was only .68. 

 The amount for the month at Boston, .32, is the lowest for 

 May in the official record for thirty-three years. It is prob- 

 abl}^ the lowest recorded since 1826, when at Salem it was 

 only .20. 



A large portion of central Massachusetts and much of the 

 eastern and western sections of the State received only an 

 inch of rain, or a trifle more, for the month. The rest of 

 the State received less. This drought was continued for the 

 first seven days of June, although a little rain fell in some 

 localities on June 7. The drought was even more severe in 

 the more northern States. These remarkable conditions are 

 of interest in this connection mainly because of their effect 

 upon the vegetation and insects on which birds feed, although 

 some swallows may have been prevented from breeding until 

 later, because of a lack of mud for their nests. 



In the woods, meantime, the ground and its covering had 

 become so dry that brush and forest fires which had broken 

 out in many parts of New England spread rapidly, and in 

 many cases escaped beyond control. They devastated large 

 areas of wood and timber lands, destroying also many isolated 

 farmhouses and hamlets. The village of Braggville, Me., 

 "was completely wiped out of existence. The amount of 

 smoke and fine ashes suspended in the atmosphere caused 

 so-called yellow days from June 3 to 7. The smoke was at 

 times so dense in all the New England States as to obscure 

 the stars at night, and during the day the sun appeared like 

 a red ball in a yellow sky. The wind movement was light, 

 and smoke hung like a pall over the country, while the odor 

 of burning wood filled the air. Vast numbers of birds' nests, 

 eggs and young must have been destroyed in these fires. 



Then came a change. From June 8 to 30 the weather was 

 cloudy or rainy, with some intermissions, throughout most 

 of ^Massachusetts and southern New England, although there 

 were localities w^here days passed with little or no rain. 

 Twenty-seven stations report from nine to seventeen rainy 



