250 



THE OOLOQIST 



time, six were flying about at once. 

 Swallows were abundant, and at one 

 point along the outside, quite a colony 

 of Bank Swallows were nesting in tlie 

 deej) woods, at Waldameer at the head 

 of the "Peninsula," I saw and heard 

 many birds; aipong them, Hooded 

 Warblers, Tanagers, Wilson's Thrush, 

 Acadian Flycatchers. I found a Red- 

 start's nest; also a nest of Wilson s 

 Thrush containing four eggs. 



iVlong the outside beach, I was treat- 

 ed to a big surprise. The weather 

 had been so cold this spring that it 

 has held the birds baclv greatly while 

 performing their migrations, and I 

 found quite a number of duclis still 

 about. Those that I got close enough 

 to to recognize, were all Lesser 

 Scaup. Several Herring Gulls were al- 

 so about. I was greatly surprised to 

 find plenty of shore birds. Semipal- 

 mated Sandpipers were common and 

 one flock contained fully forty. There 

 was a very few Semi-palmated Plov- 

 er also. I crawled up very close to a 

 flock of ten Turnstone in full dress. 

 There were some Dunlin too. One 

 flock of twenty and a few single ones. 

 One fine fellow with red back and 

 black belly walked up to within twen- 

 ty feet of me. Dunlins and Turnstones 

 in full dress are very rare here; espe- 

 cially Turnstones: and I was greatly 

 surprised to see them. 



There was a couple of ])air of pret- 

 ty Piping Plover, and they were un- 

 doubtedly nesting; but after a long 

 siege of watching, I concluded they 

 were not yet incubating. Si)otted 

 Sandpiiiers were plentiful and had 

 .iust begun nesting in grassy spots 

 among the sand-hills. I also saw sev- 

 eral shore birds that I failed to iden- 

 tify as they were too wild to ])ermit of 

 a close api)roach. 



I intended to go back and exi)lore 

 the ])onds more thoroughly, but rainy 

 weather i)revented. 



R. B. Simi)son, 

 Warren, Pennsylvania. 



ROBINS MAY BE GROSBEAKS 



St. Paul Naturalist Gives Possible 



Explanation of Reports of 



Spring Harbingers. 



The "robins which several people 

 Hay they have seen in Minnesota the 

 last couijle of weelcs i)robably are 

 HJvening Grosbeaks driven south by 

 the severe cold according to Proi. I). 

 Lange of St. Paiil, who is one of the 

 best posted men on the bird sub.iect 

 in the Tw^in Cities. 



"The Evening Grosbeak is often 

 seen here during cold weather," said 

 Prof. Lange. "The robins would 

 not stay here in this weather, and it 

 is not probable that any one has 

 seen a real robin lately. Occasional- 

 ly during a mild winter, when there 

 is not much snow, a few may stay, 

 but that is not likely this year. 



"It is most likely that the birds 

 tliey have seen were the Grosbeak, 

 although the difference is great 

 enough so that at close range a per- 

 son would hardly mistake them, 

 'ine adult male of the evening Gros- 

 beck in full jilumage is black, white 

 and yellow. The forehead is yellow, 

 the crown black, the underside and 

 side yellow, the wing and tail black, 

 the rump dull yellow and there are 

 some white touches on the wings. 

 With them are many females and 

 the young of last season, and these 

 are duller, so that to the casual ob- 

 server they might be mistalcen for 

 robins. 



"The Evening Grosbeak, which in- 

 habits the Hudson bay country and 

 farther north, is an erratic bird and 

 is seen here only every three or 

 four years or so. They are never 

 seen farther south tlian Chicago. 

 They are fond of box elder seed, and 

 when a flock of them finds a ])Ox 

 elder grove they mav stay there a 

 week or two until the seed is all 

 eaten. They cut it with their ])ills. 



