Jan. 1888.] 



AJ^^D OOLOGIST. 



surf. Saw a large seal swimming outside of 

 the breakers. 



Nov. .5th, wiiiii northwest, very fresh, weath- 

 er fair anil cold. .\ walk out on the .sand hills 

 and mt-adows was taken in the forenoon. Found 

 H large number of Shore Larks but no Titlarks. 

 Meadow Larks abundant. Went over on to the 

 beach at high tide in the afternoon. Shore 

 Birds seen weio four Ulack-bellied I'lovcr, 

 three Sanderlings, and fifteen Hed-backed Sand- 

 pipers. One Red-poll Warbler taken in the 

 bushes near this house. 



Nov. 6th, wind west to southwest, very fresh, 

 weather fair. Snow Buntings very common. 

 Saw flocks of ten to forty flying about and 

 several pairs feeding on the beach, on seeds 

 washed ashore from the sage grass. Several 

 Ipswich Sparrows and one Field Sparrow seen 

 on the sand blurt's. 



Nov. 7th, wind south-west, very fresh, weath- 

 er fair. Shoie biids remain the same. Large 

 number of shore larks distributed over the is- 

 land. 



Nov. 8th, wind south-west, fresh, weather 

 fair. A flock of sixty Brant seen on the flats, 

 and H bunch of eight geese out in the bay. 

 Several Horned (jrebe seen near the Island. 



Nov. 10th, wind south to south-east, moder- 

 ate, fresh, weather fair. Three Black-bellied 

 Plover the only shore birds seen to-day. 



Nov. 11th, wind west, very fresh. Only birds 

 noticed on the isl.-.nd were Shore Larks, Snow 

 Buntings, and Meadow Larks. A flock of 

 twenty geese flew over the house. 



Nov. 12th, wind north-west, verv fresh, 

 weather fair. Saw one Greater Yellow-legs. 

 A flock of BufHe-headed Ducks seen and a few 

 shot. 



Nov. 18tli, wind north, moderate, weatlier 

 fair. No shore birds seen. Shore larks and 

 water fowl flying about in large numbers. 



Nov. 14th, wind south-west, moderate, weath- 

 er fair. The wind being light and the weather 

 pleasant, I improved the opportunity by 

 CI uising about in my boat nearly all day. 

 Found a large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls in the 

 bars. One Kittiwake Gull and a young of 

 Wilson's Tern taken, and were the only ones 

 seen. A flock of twenty Brant, and a bunch of 

 four and six Eider Ducks, observed in the 

 channels between the flats. On the beach at 

 high tide found a flock of fifteen, and four 

 Black-bellied Plover, and several small bunches 

 of Red-backed Sandpipers and Sanderlings. 

 Over one-half of Bonaparte's Gulls now seen in 

 adult plumage. 



Nov. 15th, wind south-east, very fresh, 



weather rainy. Black Ducks seen in small 

 numbers on the meadows which were over- 

 flowed, also started three geese oft' of the mead- 

 ows. No shore birds seen. 



Nov. IGth. wind north-west, weather fair. 

 Large flocks of water fowl flying about. No 

 shore birds seen. 



In the Fall migration, shore birds have not 

 been as plentiful as usual this season, and, in 

 fact, several have been scarce. There were no 

 flights of Pectoral Sandpipers that we have in 

 September, and only a few' Yellow-legs w-ere 

 seen. It may be that that these birds did not 

 stop with us on account of the meadows not be- 

 ing mowed, so that they could not feed in those 

 places. The Gieatei- ^'ellovv-legs were far 

 short of their usual number. Terns did not stop 

 as late as last season. 



Notes on Some Winter Birds of Mil- 

 waukee County, XA/'isconsin. 



BY CHARLES A. KEELEK, BERKLEY, CAL. 



Milwaukee County lies in about the forty- 

 third degree of latitude and borders Lake 

 Michigan. On the west it is unprotected by 

 hills or mountains and the cold winds from the 

 north-west have an unobstructed path, making 

 the winter climate cold and liable to sudden 

 changes. Milwaukee Harbor is generally filled 

 with ice fields, thus adding to the severity of 

 the weather. For this reason the number and 

 variety of our winter birds is small and we 

 have hardly any which may be properly called 

 residents. Most of the winter .Vvian lite con- 

 sists of "fair weather birds," who pay short 

 visits but are ready to retreat as soon as the 

 weather grows colder. In fact 1 think the 

 oidy perfectly resident bird we have is the de- 

 testable English Sparrow. The White-bellied 

 Nuthatch, for instance, breeds about here and 

 in winter its note is frequently heard as it hops 

 about the tree-trunks in quest of insects, yet 

 the winter representatives are not the ones 

 which breed with us. The latter left long be- 

 fore and these are their more hardy brethren 

 from the north. 



The following is a list of those birds which 

 have been seen here between the months of 

 November and February inclusive: 



Red-throated Loon, Urinator lumme. During 

 the winters of 1884-'85 Milwaukee Harbor 

 was covered with ice for several months and 

 the Loons were quite conunon. Many were 

 shot by local sportsmen and a few were caught 



