The Season 



iS7 



way at this writing. Purple Martins, Tree 

 and Barn Swallows appeared the last week 

 with Savanna, Vesper, Field and White- 

 throated Sparrows. A few Myrtle Warblers 

 have also been seen. With the exception of 

 the Snipe and other shore-birds there seems 

 to be nothing out of the ordinary in the 

 migration so far this year. — Colin Campbell 

 Sanborn, Chairman Report Committee, Chi- 

 cago Ornithological Society. 



Minnesota Region. — Following the se- 

 vere sub-zero weather of mid-February 

 there was a brief respite of a few milder days 

 and then Minnesota, in common with almost 

 the entire middle portion of North America, 

 was visited on the 2 2d and 23d by a furious 

 storm of thirty-six hours' duration which was 

 marked by rain, thunder and lightning, sleet, 

 high wind, and finally a heavy fall of snow, 

 the most serious winter disturbance that had 

 occurred in five years. Eight inches of snow 

 fell at Minneapolis and much more in the 

 northern portion of the state. The high winds 

 that prevailed led to immense drifts and the 

 tie-up of communication of every kind was 

 almost complete throughout the state. 

 Duluth and other northern cities were liter- 

 ally snowed under. The temperature, how- 

 ever, was not very low, being in the vicinity 

 of zero. The heavy sleet that preceded the 

 snow froze over everything and thus pro- 

 duced conditions that were very bad for most 

 all wild creatures. The month of February 

 closed with several very cold days, 1 1 degrees 

 below at Minneapolis, 12 below at Duluth 

 and 18 below at Moorhead. 



From this time on through March and the 

 first half of April there have been no specially 

 low temperatures but the weather has been 

 almost uniformly cold and 'raw,' with 

 rather frequent rains and sleet and now and 

 then 'skits' of snow. Twice only, on April 3 

 and April 8, has the temperature reached 60 

 degrees. The ice went out of the Minnesota 

 River on March 21 and on the 26th began 

 coming over the Falls of St. Anthony at 

 Minneapolis from the upper Mississippi, 

 continuing to pass for many days on a stead- 

 ily rising flood due to the melting of the vast 

 deposit of snow in the country from which 

 the river comes. An additional heavy fall of 



snow occurred in this northern country on 

 March 27 and 28, amounting to 6 inches in 

 the Red River Valley and nearly twice that 

 amount in the Lake Superior region. On the 

 night of April 10, after the early spring move- 

 ment was well under way, there was a fall of 

 about one-fourth inch of snow at Minne- 

 apolis, accompanied by a fierce wind that 

 reached almost the proportions of a blizzard. 

 Horned Larks had both eggs and young at 

 this time, and it is a marvel how they brought 

 them safely through such terrible conditions. 



Between April 6 and 1 2 the ice went out of 

 the smaller lakes in the vicinity of Minne- 

 apolis, only a few days later than last year, 

 but the larger lakes are still almost entirely 

 covered with black and porous ice at the time 

 of this writing — April 14. The lakes in the 

 northern part of the state arc still ice-bound. 



The latter half of February did not bring 

 anything new in regard to winter birds. 

 Evening Grosbeaks, Bohemian Waxwings, 

 and Redpolls continued to be reported from 

 all parts of the state, the Grosbeaks in con- 

 siderable flocks in several places. The Mag- 

 pie invasion seemed to have ended, no further 

 reports being received. A flock of about fifty 

 Snow Buntings was seen some 15 miles north 

 of Minneapolis on February 18 by Mrs. Roy 

 Hodson, a rather unusual occurrence of late 

 years. Mrs. Hodson also reported a flock of 

 about 100 Prairie Chickens wintering in the 

 same locality. Dr. Leudtke, of Fairmount, 

 Martin County, near the Iowa line, writes 

 that Brewer's Blackbirds wintered in a num- 

 ber of places in that vicinity, feeding about 

 pig-pens and doing very well. The Doctor 

 also reported a Song Sparrow in his yard on 

 February 24, possibly a bird that had passed 

 the winter nearby. Bernard Bailey saw many 

 Horned Larks at Elk River, north of Minne- 

 apolis, on February 18, after which they 

 disappeared until early in March. The first 

 Horned Larks were reported at Minneapolis 

 on March 4 by Miss Tillish and soon there- 

 after they became more numerous than for 

 years past, remaining to breed here. The 

 first nest was reported on March 24 within 

 the city limits (Mr. William Butler). It 

 contained four eggs. Between that date and 

 April 14 three additional nests are known to 

 have been discovered, all containing young — 



