if 
very plentiful. Under a policy of unrestricted shooting the wild 
turkeys finally disappeared, and the heath hens, which were at first 
very numerous, even on the site of Boston, were so reduced in numbers 
that Dr. Dwight published the statement in 1821 that they were no 
longer common, and Sylvester Judd gives testimony in the ‘History 
of Hadley” to the effect that they probably disappeared from the 
region near Springfield about 1813. In 1831 they had become so rare 
in the State that a special act was passed protecting them during the 
breeding season, or from March 1 to September 1, under penalty of 
a two-dollar fine. This partial remedy proved entirely ineffective, 
and the grouse were soon destroyed and driven out until Cape Cod 
became their last stronghold on the mainland of Massachusetts. 
These birds were now disappearing throughout their range in the 
Atlantic coast States, and in 1837, after they had disappeared from 
the mainland, a special statute was passed, establishing a close season 
for the heath hen for four years, with a penalty of $10 and a forfeit 
of $10 to the landowner. This was extended five years more in 1841 
and in 1844 the fine was increased to $20 in addition to the $10 forfeit 
to the landowner, and the possession or sale of the birds was forbidden. 
All these provisions, too late to be effective, were of no avail, except 
to protect the few left on Martha’s Vineyard. 
In 1855 all protection was removed from this bird; still for five 
years the last remnant of the race persisted, unprotected, in the wild 
and bushy interior of Martha’s Vineyard, where they were not much 
molested. In 1860 they were again protected by law at all times, 
under a penalty of $20, but in 1870 the date of such protection was 
fixed at a period of five years. Since that time the remnant of the 
species has managed to exist on the island. They are now guarded 
and protected at all times, as the Commissioners on Fisheries and 
Game are empowered to give them special care, that this valuable 
game species may be propagated and increased in numbers. 
The ruffed grouse or partridge, the bobwhite or quail and the wood- 
cock had no protection in Massachusetts at any time until 1818, 
when the close season was established on the first two birds, beginning 
March 1 and ending September 1, and woodcock were protected from 
March 1 to July 4. Since then all these birds have been shielded by 
law at some season, but during the latter half of the eighteenth century 
there was a periodical fight between the forces of protection and those 
of destruction, which resulted in frequent changes of the statutes, so 
that at one time or another during this period the close season either 
began or ended in each of the fall and winter months, while the be- 
ginning of the open season fluctuated similarly through most of the 
summer and fall months. The quail suffers much from hard winters, 
and no law can protect it; but shooting should be prohibited for at 
least two years after each such winter, and the sale of the birds should 
be stopped. 
A great volume of legislation has been enacted in regard to the 
partridge. The tendency has been to improve the bird’s chances, and 
now with an open season of only two months, and with snaring and 
sale of partridge and woodcock prohibited, these birds have a fair 
chance to perpetuate their species. Both the partridge and quaal, 
however, are now menaced by contagious diseases which are likely 
to be introduced among them by chickens, turkeys and pheasants." 
The woodcock fared worst in the ups and downs of oscillating 
1 See the annual report of the Massachusetts Commissioners on Fisheries and Game 
for 1906. 
