252 



Bird- Lore 



Lesser Yellow-legs, Pectoral and Least or 

 Semipal mated Sandpipers. August 13 and 

 14 I spent the night there but although the 

 wind changed suddenly to the north it 

 brought no birds with it, five Greater Yel- 

 low-legs and a pair of Jack Snipes being the 

 only ones seen. 



Black Terns first appeared on the lake 

 July 10; again seen the 17th, and since then 

 have been common; Bonaparte's Gulls, July 

 28 and 31 and August 3 and 14. Common 

 Terns, August 14. On July 3, in the Dunes 

 Mr. Ford found a lone Willet; he was able 

 to observe it closely and heard its call, so 

 identification is positive. Mr. Gault found a 

 Mallard in Lincoln Park August 3, with 

 young about two weeks old. While this may 

 have been one of the park Ducks, the late 

 record for young seemed worth mentioning. 



In the last report the Kentucky Warbler 

 and Orchard Oriole should have been credited 

 to Mr. Lewis but were erroneouslj' credited 

 to others. — Colin Campbell Sanborn, 

 Chairman of Report Com., Chicago Orni- 

 thological Society. 



Minneapolis Region. — In common with 

 the entire country, southern Minnesota ex- 

 perienced unprecedentedly hot weather from 

 June 15 to August i, which continued da^' 

 after day with only two brief intermissions. 

 There was little relief at night and there were 

 only occasional passing showers of rain. The 

 maximum temperature was reached on June 

 30 when the thermometer rose to 99 degrees, 

 exceeding all previous records. July 10 the 

 temperature was 98.2 at 4 p. m. and 86 in the 

 night. The humidity was mucli a])o\e nor- 

 mal most of the time. 



The excessive heat and clear skies had a 

 disastrous elTect on some forms of vege- 

 tation but the general result was to speed up 

 growth to such an extent that by the latter 

 l)art of July all plant-life, including farm and 

 orchard crops, was two to four weeks in ad- 

 vance of the usual stage at that time of the 

 year. Linden trees, white water-lilies, and 

 other early July bloomers all appeared in 

 June, and the late summer flowers began to 

 blossom in mid-July. Upon bird-life there 

 was no apparent effect so far as the writer 

 could detect. 



June 17, found a Phoebe's nest containing 

 five spotted eggs, two of them well speckled 

 and on one the spots tended to form a wreath 

 around the larger end. 



June 18, two Redstarts' nests with young, 

 a Wood Thrush's nest with young, and young 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks out of the nest. 



June 21, a family of four young Screech 

 Owls accompanied by their parents, both in 

 the red phase. The young were fully grown 

 and could fly well. A Brown Thrasher's nest 

 with young one-third grown. 



July 5, Turk's-cap and wild orange-red 

 lilies in full bloom. 



During June and Juh' several Dickcissels 

 were noted on the Fort Snelling Reservation, 

 the first that have been seen hereabouts for 

 several years. They were once abundant in 

 the same locality. 



June 16, a Red-headed Woodpecker's nest 

 containing young; not examined closely. On 

 July 2, sixteen days later, the young were 

 inspected and found still imperfecth' feath- 

 ered and helpless. On July 5 the young were 

 removed from the nest for photographing and 

 were yet not fully feathered, were weak and 

 clumsy and with difficulty maintained a hold 

 on the bark of the tree. It is thus apparent 

 that the young remain in the nest for at least 

 three weeks. The small dead stub that con- 

 tained the nesting-hole was directly exposed 

 to the heat of the sun every afternoon 

 throughout the torrid period that then pre- 

 vailed and it seemed a mar\-el that the nest- 

 lings could survive such a prolonged baking. 

 The young birds to the very last did not 

 crowd up into the entrance to be fed. Both 

 parents fed and the operation was a quick 

 one accomplished apparently without the 

 forcible regurgitation practiced by some 

 other Woodpeckers. 



Between June 20 and July 28 several visits 

 were made to a Sapsuckcr 'farm', and some 

 of the observations made ma>' perhaps be of 

 interest. The borings were in four medium- 

 sized silver poplars, planted as shade trees. 

 The pair of birds owning the 'farm' had a 

 nest containing young in a basswood at a 

 little distance. The trunks of the trees and, 

 to some extent, the larger, lower branches 

 were well punctured, a few of the ()i)enings 

 being of suflicient size to admit a finger-tip. 



