Monthly Bulletin 5 



I would drop the worm in their midst and after a little quarreling 

 each of the three would get a hig bite. 



While I was giving them the worm the mother bird looked on and 

 scolded very hard, but after I had done this a few times she was very 

 quiet although she was wrathy at first. 



The funniest thing of all was watching them learn to fly. 



They would perch on the edge of the nest, rather wobbly in the legs 

 and shift undecidedly from one foot to the other. 



Then, with a little encouraging from the bigger birds, they would 

 half fly and half jump from one limb to the other. 



As I was called from this scene of their progress to go on an errand 

 and then help weed the garden, I did not see how they learned to fly from 

 that point on, but needless to say, they learned to fly. 



My father declared they would be lazy because a piece of suet was 

 always hanging over their nest and all they had to do was to stretch their 

 necks to get some, when they were my tenants. 



And those birds weren't one bit grateful, either, for as soon as they 

 were strong enough they flew away without a word of thanks and never 

 came back ! 



NESTING BIRDS AT KATAMA BEACH. 



Edgartown, Mass., May 11, 1918. 



Commissioners on Fisheries and Game, 

 Boston, Mass. 



Gentlemen: — I have to report for week ending May 11th: There are 

 24 pairs of piping plover, 25 pairs of laughing gulls, 12 pairs Wilson 

 tern, and 15 pairs least tern at Katama Beach. This is an estimate, but 

 is approximately correct. I have found two piping plover nests with eggs. 

 The season has been backward but is now warming up fast, and I expect 

 more birds this week. Respectfully, 



S. E. Morton, Deputy. 



OPPORTUNITIES FOR OBSERVERS. 



During the early summer very few notes on migrations can be made, 

 but there are interesting movements of birds in July and August, after the 

 breeding season, and some species begin the fall migration in July. Ob- 

 servers in western Massachusetts should be on the lookout for the Ken- 

 tucky warbler and the blue grosbeak. The Kentucky warbler has been 

 reported from west of the Connecticut River, and the blue grosbeak from 

 the Connecticut valley. We are anxious to learn also how generally the 

 brown thrasher and the house wren are distributed in Massachusetts west 

 of the Connecticut Valley. There are many opportunities during fthe 

 breeding season of birds to study their habits, and we shall be glad to 

 have any notes on the breeding habits of any species. All such should be 

 sent to E. H. Forbush, State Ornithologist, 



136 State House, 



Boston, Massachusetts. 

 May 15, 1918. 



