WOODCOCK CENSUS STUDIES IN NORTHEASTERN UNITFD STATES, 1951 
Howard L. Mendall 
Maine Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit 
During the spring of 1951, as in previous seasons, the writer 
served as coordinator of the woodcock census studies carried out in the 
northeastern states. 
For 15 consecutive years the personnel of the Maine Cooperative 
Wildlife Research Unit has conducted censuses in central and eastern 
Maine. Although the 1951 studies were under the general direction of 
Malcolm Coulter and the writer, considerable assistance was given on 
part of the central Maine areas by the wildlife graduate students of 
the University of Maine, and on all of the Washington County areas by 
John M. Dudley. 
In 1945, a number of new census areas were established throughout 
the New England states and New York by cooperators who reported their 
findings to the Maine Unit for combined tabulations. Each year since 
then, the number of these cooperator areas has steadily increased and 
now excellent coverage is being obtained throughout this general region. 
With the addition, this spring, of several new areas in New Hampshire, 
Vermont, Connecticut, and New York (these data will be available for 
comparison in 1952), we are now in a position to determine woodcock 
populations more accurately than ever before. 
State organization of the cooperator areas has been as follows: for 
Maine, Howard Mendall, Maine Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit; for New 
Hampshire, Hilbert Siegler and Fred Scott, New Hampshire Fish and Game 
Department; for the Franklin County area in Vermont, Ralph Minns, U. S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service; for all other areas in Vermont, Roger Seamans, 
Vermont Fish and Game Service; for the Newburyport area in Massachusetts, 
Russell Norris, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service; for all other areas in 
Massachusetts, William Sheldon, Massachusetts Cooperative Wildlife Research 
Unit; for Connecticut, James Bishop, Connecticut Board of Fisheries and 
Game; for Long Island, Samuel Miller, J. 5. Fish and Wildlife Service; for 
all other areas in New York, Charles Brown, New York Conservation Commission. 
The results of the 1951 census studies are given in Table 1. When 
available, data are included for four years for added interest. 
19 
