23 
of Dr. L. F. Woodward of Worcester. He says: “ I am con- 
fining my observations of bird life to two localities: first, 
my borne in the center of the city of Worcester; second, the 
grounds and adjacent country about the Quinsigamond Boat 
Club at Lake Quinsigamond. First, the city. Thirty years 
ago, robins, catbirds, tree swallows, chipping sparrows, vireos 
and summer warblers built in our garden; now, nothing 
builds about the site of the house but the robins and chip- 
ping sparrows. For three years no young robins have been 
raised in our yard. The sparrows either destroy the nests, 
or the cats get the birds. The chimney swifts, which for- 
merly were fairly abundant about the site, are very much 
diminished, also the nighthawk. Second, at the Quinsiga- 
mond boat club grounds the English sparrows were abso- 
lutely exterminated three years ago, and are not a factor in 
bird life in that particular region. The birds as a whole 
have become rather more numerous and much tamer than 
formerly. The white-breasted swallows, having abundant 
house accommodation, have increased, but this year have 
rather decreased. The chimney swifts, once quite numer- 
ous, were reduced this year to three individuals. Locally, 
the thrasher, veery and chewink have increased, as has also 
the field sparrow. The whip-poor-will, common up to three 
years ago, has practically disappeared; and the kingbird, 
of which we have always had several pairs, has not appeared 
on our grounds this year. The gracldes have markedly in- 
creased about the lake, while the red-wings have diminished. 
The purple martin disappeared from the city of Worcester, 
so far as I know, a year ago. I have talked with several 
good observers, none of whom has seen a single individual 
of this species this year. The mourning dove probably 
nested at the lake this year, as I have seen individuals occa- 
sionally during the spring and summer. This is the first 
time I have seen this bird for nearly twenty years. The 
spotted sandpiper has diminished. All birds have been pro- 
tected from sparrows and cats, but not from grackles, crows, 
blue jays and other wild birds. I should say that numer- 
ically the birds were holding their own in that particular 
