130 GAME BIRDS, WILD-FOWL AND SHORE BIRDS. 



Eggs. — From five to twelve, glossy greenish, measuring about 2.35 by 1.70. 



Season. — Common migrant locally, November to April; often locally abun- 

 dant coastwise. 



Range. — North America. Breeds from Central Alaska, northern Mac- 

 kenzie, central Keewatin, northern Ungava and Newfoundland south 

 to southern British Columbia, southern Montana, northern North 

 Dakota, Michigan, New York and northern New England; winters 

 from the Aleutian Islands, Utah, Nebraska, Minnesota, Lake Erie, 

 Maine and New Brunswick south to southern California, central Mex- 

 ico and Florida; occurs in Bermuda. 



History. 

 I can well remember when this bird was a common and 

 familiar sight on the ponds of Worcester County and was 

 abundant on the Connecticut, Concord and Sudbury rivers; 

 but it has become comparatively rare in inland Massachusetts 

 in recent years, and like all our Ducks has been driven from 

 its former haunts in the interior by incessant persecution. 

 On the Charles River in the Back Bay district in Boston, 

 and on some of the reservoirs where no shooting is allowed, 

 this species has increased recently in numbers, which shows 

 that it is not much afraid of people, buildings or boats, but 

 is driven away mainly by shooting. My correspondence 

 with over three hundred gunners and other observers seems 

 to show conclusively that the species has decreased greatly 

 throughout the State within the thirty years prior to 1909. 

 Only ten correspondents note an increase in the species, and 

 sixty-two note a decrease. Even in Barnstable County, 

 where five observers report an increase, eighteen report a 

 decrease. Mr. Clement A. Cahoon of Harwich states that 

 fifty-five to sixty years ago Whistlers came into a large pond 

 there by hundreds. People came five miles or more to shoot 

 them. Now (1908) he says that he would " about as much 

 expect to see a bullfrog flying over the narrows to that 

 pond as to see Whistlers." Mr. Samuel L. Buffington of 

 Touisset says that Bluebills, Whistlers and Sheldrakes have 

 decreased at least seventy-five per cent, in the river near his 

 home. Where there were formerly flocks of one hundred to 

 two hundred they now see flocks of two or four to a dozen. 

 On the other hand, Mr. George Spencer Morris writes me 



