The Season 



i55 



No other birds than the ordinary early 

 spring migrants have been noted, and it 

 seems quite probable that the warm spell 

 deluded no north-bound birds into advancing 

 any farther than they would have under 

 usual conditions. Dates when early spring 

 arrivals were first noted at Camden are as 

 follows: February 26, Purple Grackle and 

 Fox Sparrow; March 25, Killdeer, King- 

 fisher, and Bluebird; March 26, Dove and 

 Phcebe: April 2, Hermit Thrush; April 6, 

 Chipping Sparrow; April 12, Myrtle Warbler. 



The Woodcock perhaps is somewhat more 

 common than usual this spring: Ventnor, 

 N. J., March 19, one; Merchantville, N. J., 

 April 2, one; Mt. Holly, N. J., April 7, one 

 incubating eggs. This last report comes from 

 Mr. N. D. W. Pumyea. Wild-fowl have 

 appeared on the Delaware in their normal 

 numbers: Fish House, N. J., March 18, 

 Pintails, 6; Bufflehead 1. April 18, Merganser, 

 10, Red-breasted Merganser, 5; Black Duck, 

 2; Scaup (Lesser?), 300; Canada Goose, 5. 



Records from the New Jersey Coast of 

 interest are: Corson's Inlet, March 12, 

 Great Black-backed Gull, 5; Red-backed 

 Sandpiper, 50 (see last report; these birds 

 were diligently searched for subsequently on 

 April 9 and could not be located); Ipswich 

 Sparrow, 2; Snow Bunting, 2. April 9, 

 Great Black-backed Gull, 1; Piping Plover, 

 25. Ventnor, March 19, Piping Plover, 5; 

 Northern Shrike, 1. The Piping Plover 

 records indicate a marked increase over num- 

 bers noted several years back, when the 

 sight of one or two individuals was a note- 

 worthy occurrence. 



Mr. T. G. McMullen reported the fol- 

 lowing Raptores found nailed to a farmer's 

 barn at Penns Grove, N. J., March 6, all of 

 which appeared to have been recently 

 trapped: Barn Owls, 6; Long-eared Owls, n; 

 Short-eared Owls, 1; Screech Owls, 4; Great 

 Horned Owl, 1; Red-shouldered Hawk, 4; 

 Cooper's Hawk, 2. A short time later three 

 more Screech Owls had been added to the lot. 

 It is worthy of note that in his efforts to 

 protect his chickens (the excuse the farmer 

 gave for trapping the Hawks and Owls) he 

 succeeded in capturing only three notorious 

 villains, the remainder being decidedly 

 beneficial.— Julian K. Potter, Camden, N. J. 



Washington R e g i o n. — Comparatively 

 few of the summer resident or transient 

 species ordinarily reach Washington before 

 April 1. The principal bird migration phe- 

 nomena of February and March are, there- 

 fore, the influx of individuals of our perma- 

 nent residents and the usually gradual 

 withdrawal northward of some of our winter 

 residents, particularly water-fowl. 



During these two months of 1922 a mod- 

 erately and evenly cold temperature some- 

 what retarded the advance of spring. The 

 migratory movements of birds, due to warm 

 weather in the southern states, were, how- 

 evei, about normal. A few species — the 

 Killdeer, Red-winged Blackbird, Vesper 

 Sparrow, and Chipping Sparrow — were 

 apparently late in arrival, but some others, 

 such as the Mourning Dove, Phcebe, and 

 Swamp Sparrow were decidedly ahead of 

 their usual spring appearance. One bird, the 

 Pine Warbler, seen in Rock Creek Park by 

 Mr. Carlyle S. Baer on March 5, was one 

 day ahead of its previous earliest record of 

 March 6, 191 o. 



An index of the character of the bird-life 

 about the city and suburbs of Washington 

 may be gained from the following list of 

 species most frequently seen during the 

 month of February of this year: English 

 Sparrow, Cardinal, Slate-colored Junco, 

 American Crow, Fish Crow, Blue Jay. 



During the month of March the list was 

 almost the same: English Sparrow, Cardinal, 

 American Crow, Fish Crow, Song Sparrow, 

 Purple Grackle, Blue Jay; and, during the 

 latter half of the month, the American Robin. 

 A single Duck Hawk, which is a rare species 

 in this region, was seen by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 

 at Plummer's Island, Md., on February 19. 

 The White-crowned Sparrow was observed 

 by Dr. C. W. Richmond, feeding in his yard 

 on the outskirts of the city of Washington 

 on February 4, 5, 14, and 16. These occur- 

 rences are of considerable interest, since 

 there is apparently but one previous winter 

 record of the species here. The same, or 

 another bird was seen by Miss Katharine H. 

 Stuart on March 26 near the tidal basin 

 along the river at Washington. 



The Ducks of various species that have 

 during the winter frequented the Potomac 



