36 



Bird - Lore 



Mergansers, were noted, lietween these 

 dates, 3 Willets, a few Kilklcers, and a small 

 flock of belated Yellow-legs were present. 

 During this period also immense numbers 

 of Rusty Blackbirds and Red-wings were 

 passing. It is presumed from their notice- 

 ably dififerent notes that the Red-wings 

 were of the large Thick-billed race. Be- 

 tween the nth and 19th the weather was 

 freezing cold with some snow, and many 

 flocks of migrating water-fowl were noticed 

 daily. Prior to the 21st a flock of perhaps 

 a thousand Pintails rested for three days 

 on a sand-bar not far below the city. This 

 sight was reminiscent of other days. 



Evidence gathered from all quarters in 

 this immediate region and from eastern 

 and central Kansas indicates that the 

 Ducks came south this fall in greatly 

 augmented numbers. Needless to say a 

 heavy toll was taken by an ever-increasing 

 horde of pump-gunners. — Harry Harris, 

 Kansas City, Mo. 



Minneapolis (Minn.) Region. — The 

 month of October, this year, was the mild- 

 est ever recorded here — more like Septem- 

 ber weather. The average temperature for 

 the month was 56.4 degrees, 7 degrees above 

 the normal for the month. On the night of 

 the 20th a heavy rainstorm was accom- 

 panied by thunder and lightning, a most 

 unusual phenomenon in mid-fall. It is 

 not uncommon to have two or three inches 

 of snow in October, and the average date 

 of the first 'killing' frost is the sth. This 

 year there has been no snow that lay on 

 the ground, and after the 'cold snap' on the 

 ist, no temperatures below freezing except 

 on the mornings of the 27th and 28th, 

 when the mercury fell to + 27 degrees for 

 a few hours and a littlci thin ice formed on 

 shallow water. Roses were in bloom here 

 and there until well after the middle of the 

 month. On the 29lh, tamarack swamps 

 were only just beginning to show yellow 

 and many willows, apple trees, prickly ash, 

 and an occasional oak were almost as 

 green as summertime. 



November was a dull, gray month with 

 raw, cold winds, mostly from the north and 

 northwest. There were onlv two cloudless 



days and nineteen days were wholly dark 

 and gloomy. The lowest temperature was 

 -f-Q degrees on the nth and the highest 

 + 5S degrees on the 5th. The average 

 was +33-1, about normal. Only one inch 

 of snow fell and this did not last. On the 

 loth and nth all the small lakes froze over 

 but the larger and deeper ones remained 

 open and free of ice to December 15th. 

 The first two weeks of December continued 

 very mild for the time of year. The lowest 

 temperature was -|-2i degrees on the 

 7th, and there was practically no snow on 

 the ground in this vicinity. It will thus 

 be seen that the whole fall and the first 

 two weeks of December have been excep- 

 tionally 'open' with no settled winter 

 weather as yet. 



As stated, the first destructive frost did 

 not occur until the night of October 27-28, 

 and to show how mild it had been up to 

 that time, it may be of interest to note 

 that the following flowers were in bloom 

 in the garden of Mrs. F. W. Commons at 

 Lake Minnetonka on the 27th: Cosmos, 

 calendula, petunia, stock, pansies, zinnia, 

 scabiosa, delphinium, verbena, dahlia. 

 Dutchman's pipe, and several other varie- 

 ties. 



On October 21 the writer witnessed a 

 great flight of Purple Martins through the 

 Minnesota River Valley, ten miles south 

 of the city. For an hour before sunset the 

 air from near the ground to a great height 

 was literally filled with the birds, circling 

 and fluttering about in all directions, but 

 maintaining a steady onward course. On 

 the 22nd a small movement of White- 

 bellied Swallows was seen in the same 

 locality, and many large flocks of Crows 

 were passing southward. A single Green 

 Heron was seen on this date. On the 26th, 

 F. W. Commons saw a Hermit Thrush and 

 reported many CJolden-crowned Kinglets 

 in migration. 



October 28 and 29 there were many 

 Pied-billed Grebes in Lake Minnetonka. 

 They were in little parties of two or three 

 to a dozen or more, feeding along the icy 

 shore, while out in the open lake they rode 

 the waves like flocks of Ducks. On the 

 30th, a White-winged Scoter was shot from 



