A CONSERVATION SKETCH 293 



if necessary, with game-birds, and placed, if the 

 size of the territory warrants it, under the control 

 of a caretaker. 



Perhaps the most famous refuge in Massa- 

 chusetts is the Martha's Vineyard Eeservation, 

 on which live the sole existing heath hens. A 

 few years ago a great fire destroyed something 

 like two thousand of these birds, and for a time 

 it was thought that the species would become ex- 

 tinct. Under careful management, however, the 

 remnant saved from the fire had increased by 

 the spring of 1920 to 600 birds, and now there 

 seems to be little danger of their dying out. 



In the Myles Standish Forest "wild life condi- 

 tions . . . have improved each year since the in- 

 stallation of a permanent caretaker. Pheasants, 

 ruffed grouse and quail have made a marked in- 

 crease, though there were less than a dozen of 

 either grouse or quail when the reservation was 

 taken up. Pheasants have spread into all suit- 

 able covers, and two bevies of quail, fed through 

 the winter, have bred well. Black ducks are quite 

 numerous, and wood ducks are increasing, 25 be- 

 ing counted in one locality." ^ During the year 

 166 predatory vermin were taken on this reser- 

 vation. 



At the Moose Hill Bird Sanctuary, operated in 

 conjunction with the Massachusetts Audubon So- 



1 "Annual Report of the Division of Fisheries and Game for 

 the Year Ending November 30, 1920" : Commonwealth of Massa- 

 chusetts, Public Document No. 25. 



