230 Bird - Lore 



seems rather doubtful whether the tragedy described above would ever have happened 

 in the country. Who can tell why? — A. H. W.] 



BIRDS SEEN FEBRUARY 20 WITHIN FIVE MILES 

 OF A CITY 



Bluebird Tufted Titmouse 



Robin English Sparrow 



*Crow Cardinal 



*Blue Jay Slate-colored Junco 



Prairie Horned Lark Downy Woodpecker 



Song Sparrow Purple Grackle 



Birds marked with a star wintered in this locahty. This is but a partial 

 list, and can by no means be considered as a complete one of the birds here on 

 that date. The weather had recently turned warmer, and this seemed to be 

 the sign of the first wave of migration. 



The first Robin that I saw was on Feb. 14; the first Bluebird, Feb. 13, 

 and the first Turkey Buzzard, Feb. 14. I saw several Herring Gulls on Feb. 5, 

 and several Flickers on Feb. 13. On Feb. 20 I found the last year's nest of a 

 Red-eyed Vireo, and, as it was in good condition and I lacked one in my small 

 collection (I keep all old nests that are in good condition), I climbed up and 

 soon brought it down. In it I found the skeletons of three young birds, 

 that, judging from their size, were of birds not more than one or two days old. 

 I wonder just what was the cause of this tragedy? Was it disease, a cat, a 

 bird of prey or an insidious Cowbird, that directly or indirectly was the cause? 

 Who can say! Perhaps it was none of these, but some other great catastrophe 

 that entered the lives of the parent birds. — ^Kendrick A. Hatt, Lafayette, 

 Indiana. 



[Compare this list and method of observation with the foregoing. — -A. H. W.] 



