Notes from Field and Study 



339 



A field-trip at Cape May, N. J., August 

 25, with David G. Baird, Dr. Witmer 

 Stone, and J. Fletcher Street brought to 

 light a Piping Plover, a Loggerhead 

 Shrike, two small colonies of Short- 

 billed Marsh Wrens, and a pair of Mock- 

 ingbirds with a single young in juvenal 

 plumage. Mr. Baird had noticed the 

 adult Mockingbirds several times during 

 the spring and summer. Mr. Street had 

 previously located the Marsh Wrens on 

 August 12. On August 26 the writer had 

 the good fortune to see an Egret and two 

 Little Blue Herons, no doubt part of a 

 flock of these two species Mr. Stone had 

 seen in the same locality about two weeks 

 before. Probably there was an influx of 

 Little Blue Herons into southern New 

 Jersey during the late summer, as I have 

 been informed that "White Herons" were 

 observed at several different points. 



September brought its usual quota of 

 autumn transients. The weather averaged 

 three degrees above normal, though espec- 

 ially cold from the 8th to the 12th. On 

 the loth large numbers of Redstarts 

 were observed; apparently their presence 

 was due to the sudden cold wave, but it 

 may have been a perfectly normal move- 

 ment, as no marked increase in any other 

 species was observed. 



The first Herring Gull was noticed 

 September 7 flying over, with no apparent 

 intention of staying about here for the 

 winter; no others were seen until October 

 14. These were flying about over the 

 Delaware River and were undoubtedl}' 

 winter residents. — -Julian K. Potter, 

 Camden, N. J. 



The Washington Region. — The mi- 

 gratory movements of birds in the vicin- 

 ity of Washington this fall have been, as 

 they were during the spring, very irregu- 

 lar and somewhat out of the ordinary. 

 Comparatively few of the Warblers and 

 other earlier migrants made their appear- 

 ance on time, and many of them not until 

 considerably later than usual. The unpre- 

 cedentedly cold weather of early Septem- 

 ber, however, had some effect on the later 

 birds, for several species came in advance 



of their regular arrival. Most interest- 

 ing of these are the Hermit Thrush, which 

 appeared on September 21, though its 

 average date is October 17; the Purple 

 Finch, September 9 (average, October 21); 

 the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, September 23 

 (average, October i); and the Lesser 

 Scaup Duck, three individuals of which 

 we saw on August 31, whereas the earliest 

 previous date is September 25, 1903! The 

 cool weather, however, did not prevent 

 several species from considerably outstay- 

 ing their usual time, most conspicuous 

 among which are the Rough-winged Swal- 

 low, seen August 31; the Purple Martin, 

 September 9 (average date of departure, 

 August 24); Acadian Flycatcher, Septem- 

 ber 9 (average date of departure, Septem- 

 ber i); and the Canadian Warbler, seen 

 September 20 (average date of departure, 

 September 8). One species, the Orchard 

 Oriole, was noted by Mr. A. Wetmore on 

 September 9, seven days beyond the latest 

 previous record, which was September 

 2, 1912. 



Of considerable interest in its effect on 

 migratory birds is the Washington Monu- 

 ment. This is a tapering shaft of light- 

 colored stone, 65 feet square at its base 

 and 555 feet high, which stands in a large 

 open space of the city near the Potomac 

 River. Its summit is now, and has been 

 for a number of years, ordinarily illum- 

 inated at night by the beam of a distant 

 searchlight. Many migrating small birds, 

 particularly Warblers, strike this monu- 

 ment at night and fall dead at its base; 

 but it does not seem to cause generally so 

 much destruction in recent years as for- 

 merly when the shaft was entirely in 

 darkness, a result just the opposite of 

 what we should expect. During the 

 present autumn, however, considerable 

 loss of bird-life has been reported here, 

 and on the morning of September 21, 

 after a night of great activity among 

 migrating birds, the following were picked 

 up at the base of the monument: Northern 

 Yellow-throat, 2; Ovenbird, i; Black- 

 throated Green Warbler, i; Chestnut- 

 sided Warbler, i ; Canadian Warbler, i ; 

 American Redstart, i. Fortunately for 



