^lai-i 



1921. J 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist. 



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fraiii beingr deep in tone and long:-con- 

 linued. 



The Vesper Sparrow is extremely com- 

 mon, but is exceeded in numbers by the 

 Savanna Si)arrow whieli is the most 

 abundant bird of the region. The White- 

 t,aroated Span-ow is common in suCh 

 pieces of woodland as are left, tthis 

 being- particularly the case in a damp 

 piece of forest near Ken>sin*ton and in 

 the woods on Curtain Island. The Song 

 Sparrow is common, the Chipping: Spar- 

 row rather scarce, and the Slate-coloured 

 lunco abundant. 



Of the Swallows, the Tree Swallow is 

 the most abundant species, though t'he 

 Barn and t/.ie Cliff Swallows are common 

 ami many colonies of Bank Swallows nast 

 in the soil at tihe top of the cliffs on 

 Curtain Island and at other points along 

 the coast. 



The commonest species of Warblere are 

 the Myrtle, Magnolia, Yellow and Amer- 

 ican Redstart. A pair of ^Myrtles lived 

 ill the wind-break in front of the North 

 Shore House and the male was a eon- 

 tiinious singer. A pair -of Yellow War- 

 hlei-s had. their nest, in a gooseberry bu;i 

 in the garden. It was composed of dried 

 grrass, pieces of twine and yarn, and bits 

 of birch-bark, and lined with hair and a 

 few chicken feathers. When the female 

 was hnntingr material for her nest she 

 frecpVented tHie lawn and readily accepted 

 donations in tilie shape of yam or twine. 

 When she was seekingr hairs with whicli 

 to line the nest, .she seemed to find the 

 verandah the most promising hunting- 

 ground, and finding a ihair caught in a 

 crevice, or on a splinter, s^e pulled at it, 

 now from this direction, now from that, 

 swinging round and round as she tugged, 

 and usually succeeding in dislodging it. 

 The male took no part in the construction 

 of tihe nest, nor in incubation, but brought 

 insects to tlie female while she was sit- 

 ting. Three of the four egrgs ihatc;ied 

 and the shells and the unhatched e^g 

 were removed from the nesti. For the 

 first two days after the young appeared 

 the female spent most of her time brood- 

 ing, wjiile tihe male was busy forao^ng. 

 As he approached the netsit he invariably 

 sang, and when the female heard him 

 she usually slipped from the nest and 



went off to secure a few insects, some- 

 times for herself, .sometimes to give to 

 t)he nestlingis on 'her return, wjiile the 

 male fed the nestlings. In the early 

 days of feeding whole insects* were not; 

 given to the young, but the insects were 

 pounded and swallowed by the male, then 

 regurgitated into t'lie tliroats of the nest- 

 lings. 



The Maryland YelloM^throat and t/ie 

 Canadian Warbler were seen only in the 

 woods on Curtain Island. 



The Chickadee and the Acadian Chick- 

 adee are about equally common in the 

 pieces of woodland. 



The Hermit Thrush and the Olive- 

 backed Thrus/i were observed in the 

 woods on Curtain Island and were heard 

 singing from tihe woods on some of the 

 other islands. 



The Robin is abundant, and three pairs 

 nested in the grounds on tihe North Shore 

 House. The songs of the three males 

 differed considerably in quality, and one 

 of them had a most characteristic refrain 

 in which the syllables ^^Rip-rip-ter-rrurr^' 

 occurred very conspicuoasly and - with 

 great frequency. 



A. Brooker Klugh. 



Prairie Warbler at Hamilton, Ont. 



On going into the garden on the 

 morning of May 12, 1920, to look for 

 migrating birds, I noticed an unfamiliar 

 Wood Warbler feeding in a thicket of 

 wild plum trees. I observed it carefully 

 for several minutes at a distance of 

 about twenty-five feet, with bright sun- 

 light behind me, using 6 X field-glasses. 

 As the bird was moving away, I Avas 

 unable to get a good view of the head 

 or under-parts, but could see that the>' 

 were bright yellow marked with black. 

 Observation of the upper-parts was very 

 satisfactory, however, and I noted a 

 reddish, saddle-shaped area on the back, 

 which was olive-green. On consulting 

 P. A. Taverner's "Birds of Eastern 

 Canada", I identified the bird as a 

 Prairie Warbler (Dendroica discolor). 1 

 knew tliat the bird was not a common one ; 

 but not until recent conversation with 

 Messrs. W. E. Saunders and H. F. Lewis 

 did I realize that it is rare enough to 



