The Season 



291 



THE SEASON 

 XXI. June 15 to August 15, 1920 



Boston Region. — Cool weather con- 

 tinued through June and well into July, 

 the temperature, especially during the 

 night, being so abnormally low that an 

 unusual retardation in the growth of 

 vegetation resulted. On July 1, reckoned 

 by the blossoming of the common St. 

 John's-Wort, the season was fully a week 

 behind the average, and even a month 

 later, judged by the blossoming of the 

 earliest Goldenrods (Solidago juncea and 

 canadensis) the season was no less back- 

 \va rd. The delayed progress had apparently 

 little or no effect on the breeding activities 

 of the birds; with few exceptions (e. g., 

 the Brown Thrasher) the song-periods 

 ended at the normal time and the call of 

 the fledgling Baltimore Orioles was heard 

 as usual by June 25. This note of the 

 young Oriole, one of the most characteristic 

 sounds of early summer, is far less common 

 with us now than it was even ten years 

 ago, although thereis no noticeable diminu- 

 tion in the number of breeding Orioles. 



Birds in general seemed rather more 

 numerous than they were last year: 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks were never com- 

 moner and the Vireos showed an encourag- 

 ing, if only a slight increase in numbers. 

 Kingfishers and Hummingbirds, on the 

 other hand, were rare. 



Perhaps the earliest sign of approaching 

 autumn noticed by those who watch birds 

 closely is the tendency of the Warblers 

 to wander. In the early morning we hear 

 little, fine chips which we have not heard 

 until now in our gardens. The birds, when 

 we look them up, prove to be Ovenbirds, 

 Redstarts, or perhaps Black and White 

 Warblers, species which have bred within 

 a mile or so, and we wonder whether these 

 individual birds have strayed from their 

 near-by breeding-grounds or whether, 

 thus early in the season, they have taken 

 a night's flight toward their winter 

 quarters. That a wide-spread migration is 

 already under way is often proved by the 

 presence in early August of a Warbler 



which must have flown from a distance — a 

 Tennessee or a Parula. This year the 

 wandering Warblers appeared as early as 

 they usually do — during the last few days 

 of July.— Winsok M. Tyler, M.D., 

 Lexington, Mass. 



New York Region. — The beginnings 

 of the southward migration fall in this 

 period. Tree Swallows are reported as 

 gathering about the Hackensack marshes 

 in early July. There was a further decided 

 general increase in their numbers about 

 August 12. Other Swallows which breed 

 commonly in the region were also moving. 

 C. H. Rogers estimated between 800 and 

 900 Barn Swallows at Long Beach on the 

 morning of August 8. Before eight o'clock 

 comparatively few birds were seen, and 

 these feeding; a heavy flight took place 

 between eight and ten, after which fewer 

 were migrating. 



July to August is the time of year when 

 the majority of land-birds cease singing 

 and are difficult to find; and the time 

 when the majority of the northern breeding 

 shore-birds are sweeping southward along 

 the coast. This season the coastwise 

 marshes have not dried out as they some- 

 times do, a condition doubtless correlated 

 with an unusual abundance of such birds. 

 Several species were very early in putting 

 in an appearance. At Mastic, L. I., a 

 Least Sandpiper and a Lesser Yellowleg, in 

 company, were noted on June 27. A week 

 later, July 4, there were more Lesser 

 Yellowlegs, also Dowitchers; July 11, a 

 Solitary Sandpiper; July 17, a Wilson's 

 Snipe! A Solitary Sandpiper reported 

 from Kingsland, N. J. (on the Hackensack) 

 July 5 (C. H. Rogers), is exceptionally 

 early. The Pectoral and Stilt Sandpipers 

 at Mastic (both first noted July 24), 

 and Jack Curlew on Long Island in general, 

 are above their ordinary numbers. The 

 Pectoral was decidedly more numerous 

 in the past than it has been in recent years, 

 but seems to be increasing again. The 



