6 Monthly Bulletin 



NOTES FROM THE MOOSE HILL BIRD SANCTUARY 

 By Harry George Higbee, Superintendent. 



Our new location at the Sliaron Sanctuary has proved itself remark- 

 ably well adapted to our needs. While this season has, of necessity, been 

 spent largely in "settling" and preparation work, thus giving little oppor- 

 tunity for detailed studies of our bird and plant life, these "denizens of 

 the wild" have so persistently crowded about us that we are daily forced 

 to notice them and to acknowledge them as the real "owners" of our forty- 

 live acres of field, forest and woodland. 



Bird-life has been abundant from the start, many birds "banded" 

 at our old headquarters being noted feeding here almost from the time 

 of establishing our new "stations" in April. 



About two hundred nesting-boxes and feeding-devices have been erected 

 and have been well patronized. House wrens sang daily about the yard, 

 bluebirds and tree swallows used our boxes freely; chimney swifts nested 

 in our exhibition room chimney, and brown thrashers, catbirds, orioles, 

 thrushes and others within sight of the house. Two pairs of humming- 

 birds built their beautiful little lichen-covered nests within fifty yards of 

 our office, and even the woodcock gave nightly exhibitions of their wonder- 

 ful flight songs over our dooryard, nesting close by among the alders and 

 birches. A pair of bob-whites brought forth their young within sight 

 of the house and within a few yards of one of our trails where thousands 

 of visitors have passed. Mourning doves were daily visitors, feeding in 

 our driveway and about the lawn. From our porch a yellow-breasted 

 chat could frequently be heard singing, there being two fine males of this 

 rare warbler for some time on the Superintendent's own lot, not far 

 distant. Hermit thrushes were heard both from our "Hermit Thrush 

 Grove" and along the "Ferny Trail," it being frequently possible to hear 

 from the latter point the wood thrush, the veery and the hermit thrush 

 in song at the same time. On June 22nd a purple martin visited us, 

 remaining for a short time about one of our martin-houses in the yard, — 

 ihe first of this species which has been seen in this vicinity for many years. 



A pair of white-breasted nuthatches nested here and were constant 

 visitors to our food trays, later bringing their young with them. Our little 

 stone bird-bath on the lawn has been a constant source of pleasure, four- 

 teen species of birds having been observed about it. These include the 

 scarlet tanager, Baltimore oriole, bluebird, pine and black-throated green 

 warblers, goldfinch and house wren. 



We have banded so far this season 239 birds; "repeats" and "returns" 

 to the number of 273, making a total of 512 birds handled in this work. 

 These represented twenty-five species. 



Our wild flowers and ferns add greatly to the interest of the Sanctuary. 

 During the spring and early summer months, hepatica, wild ginger, spring 

 beauty, bunchberry and other rarer flowers might be seen; trilliums of 

 several varieties grew along our trails; while the "pink," the "showy," and 

 the "yellow" lady's slippers added their peculiar charm to the graceful 

 setting of ferns and other swamp-loving plants. In the beautiful pine 

 woods of our "Hermit Thrush Grove" the ground seemed literally carpeted 

 with the pink lady's slipper, or moccasin-flower. 



In our "Meadow Lot" grow many interesting marsh-loving flowers. 

 Turtle-head, cardinal, wild calla, arethusa and the tiny sundew may be 

 found along the stream or about the edges of the spring; sloping up from 

 the marsh are veritable wild gardens of asters, goldenrods and flowers of 



