No. 4.] DESTRUCTION OF BIRDS. 465 



it had risen about six feet, sulmiorg'mg the nests of song 

 sparrows, rails, bitterns, bhickbirds, bobolinks and all other 

 birds breeding on the meadows or near the ground along 

 the shore ; it even reached the nests of kingbirds in bushes 

 alono- the water front. 



The next day I saw a single male pur})le martin flying 

 wearily over the Concord woods, — i)ossibly the last martin 

 seen alive in Concord. After this storm, chimney swifts 

 were found dead. The nests of robins, vireos and chipping 

 sparro^vs Avere deserted. It was evident that, if the storm 

 covered a wide area, uuicli destruction of l)ird life must have 

 resulted. On mv callino- at the rooms of the Board of Ao;ri- 

 culture in the State House a few days later, Mr. J. L. Ells- 

 worth, the incoming secretary of the Board, decided to send 

 out a circular asking for information on this subject. This 

 circular was accordingly sent to a list of two hundred cor- 

 resi)ondents, and seventy-eight persons gave information of 

 more or less value. TAventy-eight of these replies gave much 

 detailed information, the result of personal investigations. 

 All but five of the seventy-eight gave evidence of a decrease 

 of bird life. 



Many localities w^ere visited later, and more evidence was 

 obtained by a voluminous correspondence, Avliich was con- 

 tinued through the year. In this investigation every county 

 of the State has been heard from except Dukes and Nan- 

 tucket. It may be inferred, from these islands having 

 escaped most of the rains, that birds there did not suffer so 

 much as elsewhere. Several reports have been received 

 from other States. 



Floods seemed at first the most certain and obvious cause 

 of the destruction of nests, eggs and young birds. No 

 observers reported floods from the tidal rivers or near the 

 sea, for in such localities most birds build their nests well 

 al)ove high- water mark, and there is ordinarily a free outlet ; 

 nor was there much injury along large reservoirs of water 

 supply Avhere the Avater is not alloAved to rise above a cer- 

 tain point ; but many reports were received of high Avater 

 and great destruction Avrought by rivers and lakes in the 

 interior. While some ponds rose to a great height, in others 



