260 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM BULLETIN 211 



the flight of the Baltimore Oriole is performed high above all the 

 trees, and mostly during the day, as I have usually observed them 

 alighting, always singly, about the setting of the sun, uttering a note 

 or two, and darting into the lower branches to feed, and afterwards 

 to rest. To assure myself of this mode of travelling by day, I marked 

 the place where a beautiful male had perched one evening, and on 

 going to the spot next morning, long before dawn, I had the pleasure 

 of hearing his first notes as light appeared, and saw him search awhile 

 for food, and afterwards mount in the air, making his way to warmer 

 climes." 



Last year I was reminded of this observation of Audubon. One 

 morning, about 10 o'clock, late in August, a male Baltimore was 

 singing in a maple tree across the way. He had separated from his 

 family, which had been fledged weeks before from a nest a little way 

 clown the street, and he had been singing alone each morning for a week. 

 As I watched him, he left the tree and, rising well above the sur- 

 rounding buildings, held an undeviating course slightly to the west 

 of south until he disappeared in the distance. I did not see or hear 

 him again. 



Frank L. Farley (MS.), of Alberta, Canada, sends to A. C. Bent 

 this interesting note: "The Baltimore oriole is one of the many species 

 of birds that have greatly extended their range in western Canada 

 as a result of the settlement of the country. On my arrival in central 

 Alberta in 1892, this bird was found in fair numbers in the woodlands, 

 and along the rivers and smaller streams where trees were present. 

 However, on the treeless plains of the eastern half of the province it 

 was entirely absent, except in isolated spots where trees had been 

 spared from the ravages of prairie fires which each spring or fall 

 swept over the country. 



"At the beginning of the present century great numbers of settlers 

 moved into this open country lying eastward of the parklands, and 

 took up land. Shortly thereafter, large areas of the prairies were 

 brought under cultivation, and many of the road-allowances were 

 plowed up. Such acts spelled doom to the fires, and it was not long 

 before small clumps of willow-poplar and various kinds of shrubs 

 appeared. As a result, the country took on an entirely different 

 aspect. The trees and bushes were in most cases jealously guarded 

 by the farmers, and they grew rapidly. In a few years these oases 

 became the home of many summer birds that until now were entire 

 strangers to the region. Shelter, food, and nesting sites were now 

 afforded to thrushes, flycatchers, vireos, warblers, and many other 

 kinds of forest-loving birds. The Baltimore oriole was not long in 

 accepting this opportunity of extending its range, and in a few years 

 it was well represented in many of the settled districts. Even before 



