i84 THI] POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



have been frequently told that a wren is never seen before the 1st of 

 May, and usually upon that day they are here in full force. Now, let 

 any one be determined to watch day and night for the first birds of 

 the season ; let him wander all day in or about tangled tliickets, and 

 sheltered, sunny hill-sides ; let him, with sleepless eye, scrutinize every 

 haunt of the birds, and with vigilant ear listen to every faint cliirp and 

 far-off twitter, and follow up every undetermined bird-note ; let him 

 do this, year after year, from April 1st to 30th, and he will find his 

 note-books teeming with records of " early " birds, that will come and 

 go, all unsuspected by the mid-day observer, who often will insist 

 ujjon the absence altogether of many a summer songster, that, skulk- 

 ing about, withholds its joyous songs until the woods have welcomed 

 the full company of its kind, that of old have made merry in its shady 

 nooks. The fact is, there is more to be learned about birds, in one 

 hour of the early morning, than in six weeks of mid-day sunshine. 



The amoimt of variation in the dates of arrival of all of our spring 

 birds is really considerable, and in the whole list of migratory inland 

 birds that annually visit New Jersey, either to remain throughout the 

 summer, or are on their wav to more northern localities, there is not 

 one that can be considered regular in the time of reaching here, by 

 from twenty to thirty days. 



The amoiant of variation in the dates of arrival, year after year, of 

 the same species, say of the brown thrush, cat-bird, or yellow-breasted 

 chat, is less, however, than that of the time of arrival of allied species ; 

 for instance, the various species of thrushes reach us very irregular- 

 ly. The robin ( Turdus migratorius) is a resident species ; the wood- 

 thrush appears (one or two in a neighborhood) from April 15th to 

 May 10th; the tawny thrush {Turdus fuscescens) sometimes later by 

 two weeks, and sometimes absent altogether ; the olive-back thrush 

 {Turdus Swainsoni) passes by irregularly, as to both time and sea- 

 sons, and so, too, with the hei-mit thrush {Turdus Pcdlasi), which, 

 however, occasionally remains throughout the summer. The brown 

 thrush, or "thrasher" {Harporhynchus rufus\ comes to us by twos 

 and threes as early as April 20th (the first recorded by me this season, 

 1874, was April I'Zth), and not until May 3d to the 12th can they be con- 

 sidered as present in full force. The mocking-bird {Mimus 2yoly glottis) 

 is irregular, both as to years and dates, and the cat-bird ( Galeoscoptes 

 Carolinensis), never missing a year, wants the early May foliage de- 

 veloped, that he may skulk therein, yet often in " single blessedness," 

 comes to his last year's haunts, and is wonderfully ingenious in his 

 efforts to conceal himself in the leafless thickets of early April, keep- 

 ing ever close to the ground, and never venturing uj)on the slightest 

 attempt at a song. 



The many notes we have made with reference to the warblers 

 {Sylvicolidm) also indicate a great degree of irregularity and uncer- 

 tainty in their migratory movements. This ai^plies to these birds as 



