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Bird - Lore 



heard him perform as remarkably as he 

 did today, (March 28, 1916). The song 

 of the particular Jay to which I have just 

 been listening reminded me strikingly of 

 that of the Mockingbird — though neither 

 so loud nor so sweet nor so varied as the 

 Mockingbird's song at its best. Inter- 

 spersed with various common notes 

 characteristic of the Jay, I thought I 

 recognized imitations of the Flicker, 

 Goldfinch, Catbird, and Ruby-crowned 

 Kinglet, besides others, possibly, not so 

 easily to be distinguished. This experience 

 was to me so novel that a record of it may 

 perhaps be of interest to your readers. — 

 R. E. RoBBiNS, Brookliiic, Mass. 



Notes on 'Warblers 



Because of a peculiar fondness for the 

 Warblers the writer has been accustomed 

 for several years to make a summary at the 

 end of each year of this family of birds 

 observed by him. In connection with the 

 article on the 'Destruction of Warblers' in 

 a recent Bird-Lore he ventures to make 

 a digest of some of his observations as a 

 contribution to this subject. 



While 30 different species have been 

 seen in Williamstown by the writer, dur- 

 ing the migrating periods for the last thir- 

 teen years, not more than 19 have been 

 noted in a single year, The number of 

 different species seen in the spring for the 

 years 1908-1915 inclusive, for which a 

 more accurate account has been kept, are 

 9, 19, 5, 8, 19, 6, 10, and 15 respectively. 

 From this it will be seen that there was a 

 distinct falling off after a year in which 

 they were common. 



The year 1909 was by all odds the great 

 Warbler year in this locality. Not only 

 were a goodly number of species observed 

 during the spring migration, but also there 

 were literally thousands of birds here. The 

 trees and yards in the town were swarm- 

 ing with them. They were absolutely 

 fearless, spying all about the houses in 

 their busy search for food. Many instan- 

 ces were reported where they had even 

 invaded buildings where windows were 

 open. They could be approached to within 



a few feet as they flitted about the shrub- 

 bery and fences along the public walks in 

 every part of the town. One morning, 

 upon looking out of a window at a bush 

 growing nearby, twelve Warblers, of 

 which five were different species, were 

 seen at one glance. This lasted for about 

 a week. 



While this great migration brought joy 

 to all nearby bird-lovers, yet it had its 

 tragic side, for many were reported killed 

 by dashing against windows which gave 

 a strong reflection of nearby trees; and 

 the all-too-prevalent cats destroyed a 

 large number. 



The year 191 2 showed the same number 

 of species, but the number of individual 

 birds seen was nothing to compare with 

 the former year. 



The year 19 15 has been very unusual 

 in that the common Warblers were rare, 

 and, conversely, the rare ones were rather 

 common, chief of which were the Cape 

 May which, during the spring migration, 

 was the most common of any of the War- 

 blers, and in the autumn the rare Black- 

 poll was very common. The Myrtle, 

 which is always very common in the spring, 

 was very rarely seen last spring, but was 

 more common in the fall than ever before, 

 being here from the last of August to the 

 middle of October. The Chestnut-sided, 

 which is common here, was very rare this 

 year, as was also the Black- throated Blue, 

 the Black-throated Green, the Magnolia, 

 the Yellow-throated, and the Redstart. 

 This was also true of those that nest in 

 this vicinity. — W. J. Cartwright, Wil- 

 liamslo'wn, Mass. 



Bohemian Waxwings in Southern 

 Wisconsin 



It is a pleasure to me to be able to record 

 the visit of a flock of nineteen Bohemian 

 Waxwings, which I had excellent oppor- 

 tunity to observe on the afternoon of 

 March 25, 1916. 



There was no possibilit}' of mistaking 

 them for the Cedar Waxwings, for the 

 yellow markings on the wings were plainly 

 visible as they perched almost motionless 



