1907] Migration of Birds of the Past Spring 85 



stated effects of the coldness in May. Thus, for the scarlet 

 tanager, I have a record of two days earlier than last year; the 

 nighthawk came on the 16th as usual as though there was no cold 

 weather and dearth of insects. Again, the spotted sandpiper 

 was unusually abundant in June. The purple martin seemed 

 more numerous than usual for a while, the olive-backed thrush was 

 decidedly commoner than usual, and on May 19th, Mr. A. King- 

 ston found the black-throated blue warbler exceedingly numerous 

 in Dow's Swamp, their numbers equaling those of all other birds 

 combined, while a half dozen or so, at most, is the usual number 

 seen together when the migration is normal and at its height. 

 The cedarbird, usually here in March, was not seen by the writer 

 till June 7th, but was in its usual abundance and superabundance 

 in July. And it is just these variations from one year to another, 

 these continual apparent anomalies and surprises that make the 

 work of the ornithologist so interesting and fascinating. 



And now comes the harrowing part of the story. The cold- 

 ness of the season caused a deplorable mortality among birds, 

 especiallv warblers and swallows. Vegetation was, as already 

 stated, at a standstill for Vv-eeks; therefore, the insects, plant lice, 

 etc., that abound on the leaves of trees; moths, gnats, etc., that 

 usually fly about at that time, w^ere absent. On that account 

 there was great suffering among the insect-eating birds that had 

 come, most acute among warblers. They could be seen every- 

 Vv^here, apparently in great distress, wings half opened, often too 

 weak to fly, looking for morsels of food in places where they are 

 otherwise not seen. I saw Canadian and Blackburnian warblers 

 searching for food among tin cans and refuse heaps, on road- 

 sides, unable to fly. A beautiful Cape May warbler, the only one 

 seen by the writer, against dozens other years, was skulking 

 along the fence of a disreputable looking dog pound. The 

 Blackburnians seem to have been the greatest sufferers. Several 

 dead warblers, two tree swallows, a brown creeper, were brought 

 to me by school children, others were brought to the museum, 

 three Blackburnian warblers were found dead by a friend at Germa- 

 nicus. Renfrew County, and farmers and their children at this place, 

 also at High Falls, Quebec, all told the same story. Some had 

 found two, others as many as five dead warblers; at least, accord- 

 ing to the descriptions given, they belonged to this family. I 

 found a dead Blackburnian warbler on the banks of the Lievre 

 River at High Falls, where, according to the testimony of a 

 farmers' family, they had been very common in May, some not 

 able to fly away and a number found dead. At Germanicus a 

 strange incident was observed. On a farmer's bridge through 

 a swamp a myrtle warbler was in its last agonies, when a robin 





