22 



THE OSPREY. 



From the following observations it would ap- 

 pear that the conditions most favorable for the 

 striking of birds against the monument are 

 these: There must be a change in the temper- 

 ature for the cooler, and afresh breeze, prefera- 

 bly between E. E. N. and W. N. W.: add to 

 these conditions a dark cloudy night and there 

 will be surely sonic birds strike. If on the other 

 hand you have a clear night with a breeze, a 

 cloudy night without one. or a long spell of 

 warm weather, the chances are against it. 



If birds do strike during a calm night they are 

 rarely killed but, allowing themselves a few 

 moments to recover from their fall, they are off 

 again into the night. When a stiff breeze is 

 blowing the result is far different; they are 

 thrown with great force against the hard marble, 

 of ten mashing the skull, breaking the mandibles, 

 or even splitting the breast entirely open, and are 

 almost without exception dead when they strike 

 the ground, which in some cases, is as much 

 as a hundred yards from the base of the monu- 

 ment. 



I am led to believe, from the observations 

 which we were able to make, that death of birds 

 in this manner is in no wise caused, as in the 

 case of lighthouses, by attraction, but rather by 

 the inability of birds when flying with a breeze 

 to g'age the distance in time to avoid meeting' 

 death. In one case, a Great Blue Heron was 

 seen to have a very close call for his life, by 

 trusting himself too near. The startled civ 

 that he uttered as he, by a narrow margin, 

 escaped showed that he fully realized his danger. 



Besides the birds collected Mr. Colburn was 

 fortunate enough to secure a bat (Alalapha bore- 

 alis) and some large grass-hoppers which were 

 killed in this manner: these together with a few 

 large specimens of moths constitute our entire 

 collection. 



The following are our observations as they 

 were placed in a note-book at the time. 



September 13th. Clear, no wind, nothing col- 

 lected. 



September 14th. Clear, no wind, nothing col- 

 lected. 



September 15th. Rainy, light breeze, one spe- 

 cimen of Chcetura pelagica procured alive; this 

 is as far as I know the first specimen of this 

 species collected. 



September 16th. No observations were made. 



September 17th. Mr. Barry bought 16 birds 

 taken between 12 and 8 a. m. Representing- the 

 following species: 



/ 'ireo olivaceus: 3 specimens. 



Geothlypis I. brachidactyla: 3 specimens. 



Setophaga ruticilla: 2 specimens. 



Dendroica ccerulescens: 1 specimen. 



Dendroica virens: 1 specimen. 



Dendroica pensylvanica: 1 specimen. 



Sylvania canadensis: 1 specimen. 



Seiurus aurocapillus : 2 specimens. 



September 18th. We visited the monument 

 between 11 p. m. and 12, during which time we 

 secured 23 specimens, and portions of a number 

 of others. 



Empidonax flaviventris: 1. 



Dendroica pensylvanica: 2. 



Dendroica ccerulescens: 2. 



Dendroica maculosa: 2. 



Dendroica virens: 1. 



/ 'ireo olivaceus: 2. 



Seiurus aurocapillus: ". 



Geothlypis t. brachidactyla: 3. 



Compsothlypis americana. 



Portions of a specimen of Turdus a. pallasii 

 were secured. 



September 19th. No birds struck. 



September 20th. No observations were made; 

 no birds were brought in by the watchman. 



September 21st. Dark night, with wind from 

 E. S. E-; only two birds were taken between 9 

 a. m. and 12. 



Geothlypis agilis: 1 specimen. 



/ ireo olivaceus: 1 specimen. 



September 22nd. We were at the monument 

 from lo p. in. until 12: dark, wind E. S. E. 



Vireo olivaceus: 1 specimen. 



Dendroica striata: 2 specimens. 



Dendroica castanea: 1 specimen. 



Compsothlypis americana: 1 specimen. 



Geothlypis t. brachidactyla: 2 specimens. 



September 23rd. Cloudy, S. S. W. wind, 

 moderate; stayed from 10 to 12 p. m. 



Colaptes auratus: 1 specimen. 



/ 'ireo olivaceus: 2 specimens. 



Seiurus aurocapillus: 1 specimen. 



1 bat. 



A great many birds were heard flying on this 

 night. 



September 24th. Clear, calm; remained from 

 9:30 p. in. until 12 m.; birds were even scarce. 



September 25th. Visited the monument from 

 9:30 until 12. wind E. S. E.: only specimens ob- 

 served were Seiurus aurocapillus: 2. 



September 26th. No observations were made. 



September 27th. Warm clear breeze toward 

 morning — birds brought in by watchman. 



Melospiza fasciata: 1 specimen. 



Vireo olivaceus: 1 specimen. 



Dendroica ccerulescens: 1 specimen. 



Dendroica maculosa: 1 specimen. 



Setophaga ruticilla: 1 specimen. 



September 28th. From this date on no birds 

 were taken, although several favorable nights 

 occured between this date and the present time; 

 this I think has been caused by the unprece- 

 dented stretch of warm weather. 



I consulted Mr. Wm. Palmer in regard to the 

 specimens of Geothlypis/ he diagnosed them as 

 specimens, but not typical, of brachidactyla — pro- 

 bably from Southern New England.* It appears 

 to me that continued and careful observations 

 of the annual migrations of our birds from this 

 source might be of considerable assistance in 

 clearing up some of the vexatious questions 

 of avian migration inasfar as relate to the 

 different order of flight followed by the numer- 

 ous species. It is to be hoped that someone with 

 time to devote to the work will take up and carry 

 on observations. 



•Palmer. The Maryland Yellow-throat. The Auk. Vol. xvii, No. 3. 216-242. 



