33 



Upland Game Birds. 



When the Puritans landed at Plymouth the upland game birds of 

 the colony consisted of the wild turkey, the pinnated grouse or heath 

 hen, the ruffed grouse or partridge, the bobwhite or quail and the 

 woodcock, which spends a part of the year on the uplands and for 

 convenience may be classed with the others. All of these birds were 

 very plentiful. Under a policy of unrestricted shooting the wild 

 turkeys finally disappeared, and the heath hens, which were at first 

 very numerous, even on the site of Boston, were so reduced in numbers 

 that Dr. D wight published the statement in 1821 that they were no 

 longer common, and Sylvester Judd gives testimony in the "History 

 of Hadle}"" to the effect that they probably disappeared from the 

 region near Springfield about 1813. In 1831 they had become so rare 

 in the State that a special act was passed protecting them during the 

 breeding season, or from March 1 to September 1, under penalty of 

 a two-dollar fine. This partial remedy proved entirely ineffective, 

 and the grouse were soon destroyed and driven out until Cape Cod 

 became their last stronghold on the mainland of Massachusetts. 

 These birds were now disappearing throughout their range in the 

 Atlantic coast States, and in 1837, after they had disappeared from 

 the mainland, a special statute was passed, establishing a close season 

 for the heath hen for four years, with a penalty of f 10 and a forfeit 

 of $10 to the landowner. This was extended five years more in 1841 

 and in 1844 the fine was increased to $20 in addition to the $10 forfeit 

 to the landowner, and the possession or sale of the birds was forbidden. 

 All these provisions, too late to be effective, were of no avail, except 

 to protect the few left on Martha's Vineyard. 



In 1855 all protection was removed from this bird; still for five, 

 years the last remnant of the race persisted, unprotected, in the wild 

 and bushy interior of Martha's Vineyard, where they were not much 

 molested. In 1860 they were again protected by law at all times, 

 under a penalty of $20, but in 1870 the date of such protection was 

 fixed at a period of five years. Since that time the remnant of the 

 species has managed to exist on the island. They are now guarded 

 and protected at all times, as the Commissioners on Fisheries and 

 Game are empowered to give them special care, that this valuable 

 game species may be propagated and increased in numbers. 



The ruffed grouse or partridge, the bobwhite or quail and the wood- 

 cock had no protection in Massachusetts at an}' time until 1818, 

 when the close season was established on the first two birds, beginning 

 March 1 and ending September 1, and woodcock were protected from 

 March 1 to July 4. Since then all these birds have been shielded by 

 law at some season, but during the latter half of the eighteenth century 

 there was a periodical fight between the forces of protection and those 

 of destruction, which resulted in frequent changes of the statutes, so 

 that at one time or another during this period the close season either 

 began or ended in each of the fall and winter months, while the be- 

 ginning of the open season fluctuated similarly through most of the 

 summer and fall months. The quail suffers much from hard winters, 

 and no law can protect it; but shooting should be prohibited for at 

 least two years after each such winter, and the sale of the birds should 

 be stopped. 



A great volume of legislation has been enacted in regard to the 

 partridge. The tendency has been to improve the bird's chances, and 

 now with an open season of only two months, and with snaring and 



