^otes from Jfielti ant ^tutip 



The Bird-lists of the Massachusetts 

 Audubon Society for 1914 



Of the check-lists of birds of Massa- 

 chusetts, submitted by members of the 

 Massachusetts Audubon Society during 

 the past year, Miss Anna K. Barry, of 

 Dorchester, heads the list with i86 birds 

 noted; Miss Annie E. Cobb, of Arlington, 

 comes next with i8i; Henry M. Spell- 

 man, Jr., of Cambridge, is third with 142; 

 the Brookline Bird Club, which conducts 

 frequent bird walks, reports having seen 

 on these walks 131 species; Mrs. George 

 W. Kaan, a member of the Club, has seen 

 individually 130. Two other members of 

 the Society should be mentioned, although 

 their lists are not so large as these. Master 

 George S. Aldrich, of Millville, Mass., 

 although only 1 1 years of age, has seen and 

 recorded 70 species; Edwin Merrill, of 

 Winchendon, reports 54. Master Merrill 

 deserves special credit for this list, as he 

 is an invalid, in pain much of the time, and 

 rarely able to get farther afield for obser- 

 vation than the piazza or hammock in his 

 own yard. 



Many members have seen birds so rare 

 that they have no regular place on the 

 printed list; among these may be men- 

 tioned the Sooty Shearwater, the Black 

 Tern, the Iceland Gull, the Acadian 

 Sharp-tailed Sparrow, the Acadian Chick- 

 adee, Brewster's Warbler, and the Cape 

 May Warbler. Besides these, several 

 report Evening Grosbeaks and Mocking- 

 birds, several of the latter having wintered 

 near Boston and having been seen by 

 many observers. 



The Audubon Society check-lists have 

 been in use by very many members, and 

 others who have not reported. — Win- 

 THROP Packard, Secretary-Treasurer. 



Unusual Bird Visitors Near 

 Washington, D. C. 



Among the unusual visitors during 1914, 

 Pine Siskins were the first to make their 



appearance. A flock of fifty was noted on 

 December 30, 1914, which remained until 

 the early part of February. They were 

 very partial to an old weed field, but 

 irregular in their visits. At times they 

 would be found there every day, and then 

 again they would be absent for several 

 weeks. This is the second time within the 

 last few years that they have wintered 

 here. In the winter of 1911-12, a large 

 flock of about two hundred could generally 

 be found in some pine woods near Chevy 

 Chase, D. C. They remained until late 

 April. 



On February 23, 1914, during the worst 

 snowstorm of the winter, I happened to 

 look out of the window and noticed a 

 small flock of strange little birds in the 

 field just opposite our place. They 

 strutted across the snow with bobbing 

 heads, or crouched down in it. On getting 

 nearer, I found them to be Horned Larks, 

 but just which sub-species was represented 

 I could not tell. 



Two weeks later, on March 9, I made 

 my real bird record for the year. Passing 

 by some alders, along a stream at Chevy 

 Chase, D. C, Dr. S. W. Mellott and my- 

 self noticed a bird come down from appar- 

 ently nowhere, and alight with a finch- 

 like note in the alders. We immediately 

 thought of a Siskin, but, when peering 

 round about, he showed us his red cap and 

 black chin. Soon three others were found 

 nearby, all with grayish breasts. Of 

 course, we had Redpolls. This was the 

 third record for the species in the District 

 of Columbia, and the first since February 

 12, 1899. Later on, four more were seen 

 by others. These had rosy breasts, thus 

 making at least eight in the vicinity of 

 Washington last winter. 



Two other interesting birds seen in 19 14 

 were the Yellow-throated Warbler, on 

 April 25, and the Prothonotary, on May 

 3. These were found at Dyke, Virginia, 

 on the Potomac, a few miles south of 

 Washington. The latter species has been 

 seen there each spring for several years, 



(288) 



