350 



Bird - Lore 



Washington Region. — Each season of 

 ornithological work brings its surprises and 

 rewards, sometimes greater, sometimes less. 

 Nor were the months of August and Septem- 

 ber, 1922, an exception in the region about 

 Washington, D. C. To judge from the War- 

 blers reported in August and from other 

 advance records, the migration in general 

 seemed to be rather early, although birds as 

 a whole, except for certain species, particu- 

 larly water-birds, did not seem to be abun- 

 dant; on the contrary, rather less numerous 

 than usual. Furthermore, not so many, nor 

 so long-continued, migration waves were 

 noted. 



The earliness of the season was indicate! 1 I >v 

 the appearance of the following species in 

 advance of their usual time of arrival: Mag- 

 nolia Warbler, August 25 (average date of 

 autumn appearance, August 31); Wilson 

 Warbler, August 25 (average, August 27); 

 Winter Wren, September 28 (October 7); 

 White-throated Sparrow, September 26 

 (October 4); Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Sep- 

 tember 26 (October 3); and the Swamp Spar- 

 row, August 29 (the average of which is 

 October 9, and the two earlier records, 

 August 21, 1913, and September 28, 1890). 

 Furthermore, three species were noted earlier 

 than ever before in the autumn: the Duck 

 Hawk, seen at Washington by C. H. M. 

 Barrett, on August 29, the previously earliest 

 report of which is October 23, 1900; the Black 

 throated Green Warbler, seen by Miss M. J. 

 Pellew, at Glencarlyn, Va., on August 24, 

 the previously earliest record of which is 

 August 26, 1888; and the Loon, observed at 

 Herring Bay, north of Chesapeake Beach, 

 Md., by A. H. Howell on September 23, more 

 than a month ahead of its previously earliest 

 record of October 25, 1887, near Washington, 

 and considerably in advance of the previous 

 records for Chesapeake Bay. 



Induced probably by the warm, pleasant 

 weather, the Yellow-throated Vireo was 

 noted singing on August 26 and 29, and 

 September 3 and 5, which is later than is 

 usual in this region. Likewise, a Parula 

 Warbler, in the suburbs of the city, on Sep- 

 tember 24, rather astonished us by singing 

 several times, and fully as well as in the 

 spring. 



A few birds of uncommon or irregular 

 occurrence in this vicinity likewise made 

 their appearance during the period. Three 

 Laughing Gulls were seen by F. C. Lincoln at 

 Alexander Island, just below Washington, on 

 the Potomac River, on August 25, and five 

 in the same locality by the present writer 

 on August 29. Both of these records are 

 materially earlier than the species has been 

 seen in this region in the autumn, since Sep- 

 tember 9, 1914, is the earliest previous record. 

 A fine male Baldpate was seen at Dyke, Va., 

 on September 14, by Dr. R. W. Shufeldt; a 

 Florida Gallinule, on August 29, at Alexander 

 Island, by C. H. M. Barrett; and Upland 

 Plovers, in migration, on the night of August 

 16, were heard by Miss M. T. Cooke. 



Some species have been rather more than 

 ordinarily common during the present 

 autumn. The Bobolinks in their Reed-bird 

 attire were here in great numbers for a con- 

 siderable period, and furnished much 'sport' 

 for local hunters. With them came the Soras, 

 likewise in numbers, and dwelt in all the 

 marsh areas in the vicinity of Washington. 

 The Lesser Yellowlegs were also common; 

 the larger species apparently not so, though 

 also present. 



Perhaps the most interesting local orni- 

 thological feature has been the occurrence of 

 seven species of Herons, some of them in 

 noteworthy numbers, for the most part in 

 the marshes on and about the above-men- 

 tioned Alexander Island. These species in- 

 clude the Least Bittern, Black-crowned 

 Night Heron, Green Heron, Great Blue 

 Heron, American Egret, Little Blue Heron, 

 and the Louisiana Heron. The first four were 

 in their regular numbers; the American Egret 

 was common and was associated with the 

 Little Blue Heron, which latter was the most 

 abundant species of all, and was chiefly in 

 the white plumage. Dates for the Little 

 Blue Heron on which the largest numbers 

 were observed were August 24, 25, 26, 28, 

 and 29, although the birds were present 

 during most of August and into September. 

 The same dates apply to all the other species. 



A single Louisiana Heron, the first ever 

 reported in this region, was seen first by Miss 

 M. J. Pellew on August 25, and was subse- 

 quent!)' seen by her and a number of other 



