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ton, and these are so frequented by people that most of the 
birds are driven off; still, a few shore birds may now be 
seen occasionally along Nahant Neck. 1 
Protection for the Smaller Species that are diminishing. 
— That portion of the Massachusetts statutes which applies 
to the smaller birds is very nearly perfect; they are nearly 
all protected at all times. The unprotected species hardly 
deserve protection. If the law can he properly enforced the 
birds are safe except as they may be interfered with by the 
changes which take place ground the centres of population. 
The erection of buildings, the laying out of streets, the cut- 
ting of trees and shrubbery, the draining of meadows and 
similar “ improvements, 1 ” the building of trolley roads and 
telegraph lines, all inimical to bird life, cannot be helped. 
It is probable that in spite of all these agencies the smaller 
birds can maintain their numbers outside of the immediate 
influence of the cities. But the question still remains, What 
shall we do to help the few species that are evidently dimin- 
ishing under protection? 
Of these species, the purple martin is' now at the lowest 
ebb in point of numbers, and most needs such assistance as 
we may be able to give it in re-establishing itself. I have 
learned by a voluminous correspondence that many of the 
empty bird houses were visited either in spring or fall by 
migrating martins. In this correspondence one significant 
fact appeared. Very few people had taken the trouble to 
clean out the martin boxes, and remove the old nests, rub- 
bish and dead birds. Mr. Fred B. Pike of Cornish, Me., 
writes that many of the bird houses in that region were 
“ full of dead birds from last year’s storm,” and the martins 
did not go into them to breed; but in his bird house, in 
which there were no dead birds, the martins bred as usual. 
Mr. Herbert Moulton, Hiram, Me., writes that he took his 
bird house down in the spring (1904) and cleaned it out, 
finding as many as five or six dead birds in a room. He 
then put the house on a pole thirty-five feet high, and it was 
occupied by twelve birds, among which were three females, 
which raised large broods, thus re-establishing the colony. 
1 As the years go by, birds resort more and more to the reservations. 
