THE SEASON 

 XXIII. October 15 to December 15, 1920 



Boston Region. — The weather dur- 

 ing the last two months has been mild, 

 with an abundant precipitation in the 

 form of rain and transient, wet snow. 

 At present, December 15, the ground is 

 bare and the grass on Lexington Common 

 is green. 



So far this season, the scarcity of country 

 birds has been remarkable; only a dozen 

 species were found during two careful 

 searches over excellent bird-country in 

 November and December, a condition 

 indicating that the bird-population has 

 been reduced to its lowest winter terms. 

 The migration of Canada Geese was 

 prominent for a few days about the middle 

 of November; during the night of 

 November 23-24 especiall)*, the birds 

 were heard 'honking' as they pushed south- 

 ward in a high, blustering wind. 



Dr. C. W. Townsend and Mr. C. A. 

 Robbins have kindly sent me the results 

 of their observations in localities more 

 favorable for meeting winter birds than 

 the counlry about Boston — from Ipswich 

 and Wareham respectively. Dr. Townsend 

 reports as common the two Loons, Horned 

 Grebe, Golden-eye, and Black-backed 

 Gull, and as abundant the Herring Gull, 

 Black Duck, and the three Scoters. 

 Gannets and Double-crested Cormorants, 

 abundant migrants, were seen last on 

 November 21. He lists no wintering Song 

 Sparrows. 



Mr. Robbins, referring to the scarcity of 

 landbirds, remarks that he "never saw 

 just such conditions," but reports the 

 arrival in good numbers of Tree Sparrows 

 and an increase of Goldfinches and Juncos 

 during the second week of December. 



A comparison of these two reports from 

 stations 60 miles apart brings out the 

 interesting inference that Myrtle Warblers 

 moved from the northern to the southern 

 shore of Cape Cod in mid-November. Dr. 

 Townsend, at Ipswich, noted a sudden 

 diminution in their numbers at this time, 

 while Mr. Robbins observed a marked 



influx of the birds to the shores of Buzzard's 

 Bay. 



.\bout our homes, one bird's voice 

 breaks the silence of early morning. The 

 Starlings sit on high — on the roofs of our 

 houses, on church steeples, even on the 

 gilded ball at the tip of the flag-pole on 

 Lexington Common — and at dawn squeak, 

 hiss, and whistle. But by imitating the 

 Cowbird's whistle, they sometimes give us 

 a hint of spring. — Winsor M. Tyler, 

 Lexington, Mass. 



New York Region. — The weather 

 was unusuallj- mild during this period, and 

 up to the middle of December there were 

 few nights when the temperature fell 

 below freezing. There are some reports of 

 birds lingering beyond the dates on which 

 they ordinarily depart for the South, but 

 these are not numerous. 



On November 25, a Catbird and a 

 Yellow Palm Warbler were observed at 

 Long Beach (Griscom, Janvrin, and 

 Crosby), and, on December 12, a Bittern 

 at the same locality (Janvrin and L. 

 Williams). The writer noted a Catbird at 

 Garden City, November 7, and a Bittern 

 was picked up in the streets of Brooklyn 

 and brought to the Brooklyn Museum 

 alive, December 13 (R. C. Murphy). Six 

 Wilson's Snipes are reported from a small 

 marsh near Poughkeepsie, December 5 

 (M. S. Crosby). 



Some birds which one finds lingering 

 late in the fall after other members of their 

 species have moved on to the South seem 

 to be of purely casual occurrence at such a 

 late date. The occurrence of the Catbird 

 in November, however, we hesitate to 

 attribute merely to chance, although the 

 last Catbirds are ordinarily not seen after 

 the middle of the preceding month. 

 Probably in this species, after the main 

 migration wave has passed there are other 

 lesser waves representing so few individuals 

 that these are ordinarily overlooked. 

 When, this year, a Catbird was seen on 



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