THK lUIJD-I.IKK OF A VKAR. 19 



cniiditioiis, and iiiulci' tlic ('iic()ura<^vinent of a lii^^li 

 tomjx'ratiire we may \>r visit(Ml 1)\' hii'd "waves" 

 which Hood the woods witli ini<^raiits. Uii'ds are 

 then, doul)tless, more al)UMdant than at any otlier 

 jxTiod of the year. As many as ten s))ecies may ])Q 

 noted as arrivin<r on the same day, whik' tlie num- 

 l)er of individuals observed may almost exceed cal- 

 culation. At this season it is not nnusnal to observe 

 from sixty to ei^ility s])ecies of l)irds during- a few 

 houi's' (jutin^-, and Mr. ^V. L. Dawson records that, 

 with Prof. Lynds Jones of Oberlin College, he re- 

 corded twelve species of water birds and ninety 

 species of land Ijirds in one day of field work in 

 Lorain County, Ohio. 



After the fifteenth of the month, birds begin to 

 decrease in nnml)er, the Transient Visitants passing 

 further north, and l)y June 5 our l)ir(l-life is com- 

 posed of Permanent Residents and Summer Resi- 

 dents. 



It will be noticed that witli few excei)tions the 

 ])ii-(ls ari'iving in ^fay are insectivorous ; particularly 

 th(jse insect-eating birds wiiich obtain their food 

 from the vegetation. Thus, no sooner are the un- 

 folding leaves and o])cning ])lossoms exposed to the 

 attack of insects than the Wai'l)h'rs and A'ireos ap- 

 ])ear to ])rot(vt them, and the abundance of these 

 small bii-ds is the distinctive feature of the bird-life 

 of the month. 



Thcii" diminutive size, actisity, and the persistence 

 with which tlxy remain in the tree-tops render their 

 identification in life by no means an easy matter, 

 and more than any of the otlici' land birds they test 

 the patience of the iiekl student. 



