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Bird - Lore 



first observed in their winter quarters, a 

 thick growth of pines, November 23. A 

 dead Saw-whet Owl, which had been shot, 

 was found December 8. — Julian K. 

 Potter, Camden, N. J. 



Washington Region. — Ornithological 

 conditions about Washington during Octo- 

 ber and November have been, with little 

 exception, about normal. In some respects, 

 however, the autumn migration has been 

 rather irregular. Owing, doubtless, to the 

 fine and moderate weather generally pre- 

 vailing, there has been a tendency among 

 summer birds and transients to linger later 

 than usual. This is evidenced most con- 

 spicuously by the Redstart, which was 

 seen October 6 at Camp Meade, Md., by 

 Sergt. C. H. Rogers, the latest previous 

 autumn record of which is September 30, 

 1906; the Nashville Warbler, seen on 

 October 13 by the same observer, the 

 latest previous record of which is October 

 5, 1916; the Ovenbird, noted on October 4, 

 the average departure of which is Sep- 

 tember 28; the Black and White Warbler, 

 seen, October 2, average date of departure, 

 September 15; Prairie Warbler, October 2, 

 average date of departure, September 14, 

 and latest, October 6, 1912; the Magnolia 

 Warbler, seen, October 16, at Kensington, 

 Md., by Mrs. Edgar W. Moore, average 

 date of departure, September 29; the 

 BlackpoU Warbler, seen, October 25, by 

 Miss K. B. Baird, average date of depart- 

 ure, October 11; Black-billed Cuckoo, seen, 

 October 2, average date of departure, 

 September 21, and latest, October 8, 1916. 



On the contrary, several winter birds 

 appeared earlier than common. These are 

 the Herring Gull, noted by B. H. Swales, 

 November 7, on the Potomac River, the 

 average earliest autumn appearance of 

 which is November 22; the White-crowned 

 Sparrow, seen, October 6 at Camp Meade, 

 Md., by Sergt. C. H. Rogers, the earliest 

 previous autumn date of which is October 

 7, 1888; and two other species, observed 

 by Mr. and Mrs. L. D. Miner, the records 

 of which were received too late for inclus- 

 ion in our previous report: the Junco, seen, 

 September 14, the earliest previous autumn 



appearance of which is September 22,1913; 

 and the White-throated Sparrow, noted on 

 the same day, the previous earliest date of 

 which is September 15, 1889, if we except 

 the unusual record of August 9, 1907. 



The Pine Siskin, which is by no means 

 a common bird about Washington during 

 autumn, was noted on November 16 by 

 L. D. Miner. The delightful little Winter 

 Wren is apparently more common than 

 usual this fall, and, induced by the mild 

 weather, was heard singing by W. L. 

 McAtee on November 17. 



On November 8, while exploring the 

 nearly dried-up marsh along Four-mile 

 Run, in Virginia, a tributary of the Poto- 

 mac River, we came across two Song Spar- 

 rows which were singing almost contin- 

 uously a song so strange and utterly unlike 

 any that we have ever before heard from 

 the throat of a Song Sparrow that we could 

 scarcely credit the evidence of our eyes. 

 It was long and rambling, in form much 

 resembling the song of the Purple Finch, 

 but totally different in quality, being very 

 harsh and scarcely musical, more like the 

 grating notes of the Yellow-headed Black- 

 bird than anything else that now occurs 

 to mind. It would be interesting to deter- 

 mine whether it happened to be simply an 

 individual peculiarity, or whether it is the 

 more or less regular late autumn song of 

 the species. — -Harry C. Oberholser, 

 Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 



Minneapolis Region. — The weather 

 conditions in southern Minnesota during 

 the last two months have been unusually 

 mild. The first killing frost did not occur 

 in this vicinity until November i. Thin 

 ice formed on shallow ponds on that date, 

 but there was no real freezing weather until 

 three weeks later. Thanksgiving Day, 

 November 28, there was a light snow on 

 the ground, and for a few days it was 

 rather wintry, but since then it has been 

 mild for the time of the year, with con- 

 siderable rain instead of snow. At this date 

 the ground is bare and the larger lakes and 

 rivers are only partially frozen over. These 

 are exceptional December conditions in 

 this part of Minnesota. 



