Notes from Field and Study 



371 



In other winters, flocks of Chickadees 

 (two kinds), Kinglets and Nuthatches, 

 with an occasional Creeper, passed my 

 cabin every three or four days; but this 

 last winter I saw only two such flocks, and 

 they were small ones. — Stanley Boys, 

 Seymour, B.C. 



Mockingbirds Nesting in Massachusetts 



A pair of Mockingbirds have this sum- 

 mer (1916) nested in the Catholic Ceme- 

 tery of Greenfield, Massachusetts. They 

 now have one j^oung bird out of the nest. 



This is the first record I have seen of 

 Mockingbirds being in this state, with the 

 exception of one seen this spring in the 

 Arboretum at Jamaica Plain. If anyone 

 has seen others, I should be interested 

 to see the record of them in these notes. — 

 M.\BEL CoMSTOCK, Greenfield, Mass. 



[The Mockingbird is known to breed 

 rarel}' in Massachusetts, as well as to be an 

 occasional visitor at all seasons, especially 

 in the Boston park system, where one or 

 two individuals usually winter. — -Ed.] 



Rough-winged Swallows in Essex 

 County, Mass. 



On May 21, 1916, three members of the 

 Brookline Bird Club, Mr. Charles Floyd, 

 Mr. Barron Brainerd and the writer 

 visited Ipswich, Mass., for bird study. 

 During the trip seventy-four species were 

 observed, and a few notes of the trip may 

 be of interest. 



Ipswich is in Essex County, which 

 forms the northeastern corner of Massa- 

 chusetts. Its bird-life has been covered 

 verj' thoroughly in the "Birds of Essex 

 County," by Dr. Charles W. Townsend. 

 The town itself lies on both sides of the 

 Ipswich River, where fresh water meets the 

 tides from Ipswich Bay. Much of the 

 town is rolling farm lands, with some 

 mixed woods, and at the east broad areas 

 of salt marsh, protected from the ocean 

 by wide beaches, sand dunes, and a few 

 rounded hills of glacial origin. 



Most of the land birds listed were found 

 while passing through the town, our 



objective being the beaches and possible 

 migrating shore-birds. Our first visit 

 was to Clark's Pond, an interesting little 

 body of fresh water separated from the 

 salt water of Plum Island Sound by a 

 very narrow strip of shore. Here in 

 favorable seasons many shore-birds are 

 found, but the exceptionally wet spring 

 left no muddy border to the pond, and 

 only a few sandpipers and about a dozen 

 Night Herons were seen. Many swallows 

 were hawking low over the water, how- 

 ever, and a brief observation caused Mr. 

 Brainerd to exclaim, "Rough- winged 

 Swallows!" 



As these birds have never been reported 

 from Essex County, to the best of my 

 knowledge, we watched them very care- 

 fuUj'. There were apparently only two 

 birds of this species, though there were 

 many Barn and Cliff Swallows, and a 

 few of the smaller Bank Swallows, flitting 

 over the pond and the swampy field 

 adjacent. The Rough-wings hawked over 

 a regular beat, coming down a swampy 

 gully, out over an arm of the pond, faced 

 the wind on the pond for a few minutes, 

 then flew back over the pasture to the 

 head of the gully, and repeated the 

 maneuvers. By stationing ourselves in 

 the gully, we had excellent opportunities 

 to study the birds at short range. 



The even brown of the birds' backs 

 first attracted Mr. Brainerd's attention, 

 he being familiar with the birds at Wil- 

 liamstown, Mass., at the opposite end of 

 the state. The wings of the Bank Swal- 

 lows are darker than the back, when seen 

 in flight with a good light, while the 

 Rough-wing shows all one shade of brown. 

 As the birds flew over, the brownish throat 

 was also plainly seen, shading off over the 

 breast into the white of the belly, while 

 the white throat of the Bank Swallows 

 was very conspicuous in comparison. The 

 birds hunted together and probably were 

 mated, but no nest was found. 



On the high glacial hill overlooking the 

 pond the Prairie Horned Larks were nest- 

 ing, and some time was spent lying on 

 our backs there, listening to the brief but 

 frequently repeated flight-song, as the 



