NORTHEASTERN WILDLIFE STATION               BRUCE S. WRIGHT
DIRECTOR
OPERATED COOPERATIVELY By THE
WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE OF WASHINGTON, D. C.
UNIVERSITY OF NEW BRUNSWICK, FREDERICTON, N. B.
March 29th, 1951.
Robert 1. McCabe,
Asst. PDfofessor,
Department of Wildlife Management,
University of ;:isconsin,
-adison, Wisc.
Dear Bob,
I have been holding back writing you in
the hope that I would hear officially from the Research Council
re our proposed program. Sofar I have not heard from them, but
Dr. Argue from here,who was on this committee with Cowan,tells
me that they approved about ,700 for this project.
This means that we can spend any or all
of this amount next summer on woodcock research. The tentative
title I gave the project was "The relation of woodcock to plant
succession in New Brunswick" and mentioned you by name as the
man contemplated as the fieldman in order to get the justification
for a Ph.D salary rate. You mentioned that you do not want a
salary, but rather travelling expenses. That is auite all right
with the Research Council. It simply means that we have that
much money to work with. If we do not use all of it this year it
will carry on for next year provided we have something underway.
If you ever want to come to New Brunswick
and get your way paid this is it Bob. *.hether you go on to  *ewfound-
land or not this year, plan to spend at least a month here and I
am not yet sure which month would be best. Logan Bennet will be
here in May for the banding work, and I would like to follow the
broods through June and July. I know where they will be when it
gets dry in August, and up until the fall rains, but I am not
at all sure where they spend the intervening time from the moment
they leave the upland nesting covers until they congregate in the
alder rune in the fall.
I take it that the only months in which you
will be available are June, July, and August, with possibly the
first half of September. As I want your help in deciding on just
what aspects of the problem we should tackle, and how to go about
it, I dont want you at the end of the season when the opportunity
of gathering data has passed. on the other hand the hardest time
to find the birds is in mid-summer. I would hate to have you here
to study woodcock and not be able to find you any. I want you to
come here with ideas for projects that might be done. Then we will