Ill 
ing season in 1904 has done much to efface the effects of 
the storms. 
2. The accounts of early historians show that game birds, 
water fowl and shore birds were wonderfully abundant dur- 
ing the settlement of Massachusetts. Since then at least 
six species have disappeared, and several others are nearly 
extirpated or driven out, — some quite recently. Among 
the latter are the long-billed curlew, the Eskimo curlew, the 
lesser snow goose and the passenger pigeon. The wood duck, 
the Bartramian sandpiper or upland plover, the willet, both 
godwits, the knot and the dowitcher are disappearing rapidly. 
The river ducks have decreased steadily, but the bay and 
sea ducks are still numerous, with few exceptions. Shore 
birds generally have lessened in number about 75 per cent 
within the memory of living men. 
Eagles appear to be rare or decreasing in nearly all sec- 
tions. The larger hawks and owls have diminished much 
in most of eastern Massachusetts; but the decrease of hawks 
and owls has been only local in the central and western 
parts of the State, where they are generally at least holding 
their own. 
Great blue herons probably rarely breed now in the State, 
and other herons seem to have diminished somewhat gener- 
ally, although in some sections their numbers seem subject 
to little change. The night herons have recently increased 
in numbers where the heronries have been protected. 
Crows, while fluctuating much, have generally held their 
own, and in many sections have increased in numbers. 
Mourning doves have decreased, and are generally rare or 
wanting except in some eastern sections. They are increas- 
ing now in some localities. 
The smaller native birds fluctuate, some species decreas- 
ing in some localities and increasing in others, but appar- 
ently holding their own very well, in general. There must 
be a decrease in the aggregate, owing to the destructiveness 
of immigrants and the evident diminution of many species 
in and near the cities, with no corresponding increase in the 
country. There appears to be no general and noticeable 
