M a s s o c h u s e 1 1 s A u d u ban Society 5 



TRANSATLANTIC BIRD-STUDY 



As the boat swung out of the Hudson, October 19, and I bade good- 

 bye to the Statue of Liberty for a year and a half, I naturally thought that 

 my list of American land birds was completed for the year. I even figured 

 up my total for the month, forgetting for the moment the possibility of see- 

 ing new water birds far out on the ocean. But several surprises were in 

 store for me. 



The first came cibout the middle of that afternoon, when a pair of pine 

 siskins appeared on deck. Now I had happened to miss these birds during 

 the entire year, and was delighted to add them to the year's list. They were 

 still on board Friday, the 20th, then disappeared. 



There were more surprises. From time to time we saw little groups of 

 two or three or even more land birds, that came suddenly and unexpectedly 

 out of the unknown, and then perhaps after a brief rest departed as mys- 

 teriously as they had come. These groups included three or more j uncos, a 

 white-throated sparrow, a pine warbler, a cedar waxwing, and a purple finch. 

 A snow bunting came on board October 22, when we were a little more than 

 half away across. Had he come from America or Europe, or perhaps from 

 Iceland or Greenland? For the species is found on both sides of the At- 

 lantic. One junco was still with us that same day. What became of him 

 after that? Did he miraculously reach land, or did he perish in the waves, 

 exhausted by his brave fight against the gale? 



My best find was a Montana junco, which came on board with the 

 siskins, while we were still south of Long Island on the first day. He was 

 indeed far from home. We positively identified this bird; I may say that 

 my identification was verified in this case, as in others, by a naturalist from 

 the Middle West. And it was not difficult to examine this bird, for like the 

 others he was very tame, and rested close to us. Once or twice a little fel- 

 low settled down at our feet on a steamer chair, and one even perched 

 for a minute on a lady's hat. 



An American bittern alighted on deck some time early in the voyage, 

 probably Saturday, October 21, although I am not sure of the date, as I did 

 not see him until later. Then he was in a cage on the hurricane deck. The 

 sailors planned to release him in France. Who knows but that this bird may 

 mate with a European cousin and raise a new race to puzzle and confound 

 the scientists? Shall it be called Botaurus franciscus-americanus? Why 

 not? (My Latin may be at fault, for I have no dictionary at hand, but surely 

 no one can object to the sentiment! ) 



As for water birds, one thinks first, naturally, of the gulls. These were 

 less numerous than I had expected them to be. Of course there were herring 

 gulls around the ship in New York harbor, but not a great many. On Sun- 

 day, the fourth day, when we were off the Grand Banks, quite a few ap- 

 peared. Then we found a few more as we approached the coast of France. 

 I saw one Bonaparte's gull in the river, just as we swung out from the pier; 

 I think I saw another as we came up to the wharf at Havre, but I was not 

 sure of this one. Bonaparte's gull is listed as a possible European bird, 

 although it is not common. There were many kittiwakes near the Banks, 

 and some remained with us for three days. But they were not nearly so 

 numerous as when I crossed the ocean three years ago this fall; then a large 

 number of them were with us throughout the entire voyage. 



We frequently saw skuas, fulmars, and parasitic jaegers. Fulmars be- 

 came so common that we ceased to pay attention to them. We often saw 



