JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



11 



OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH. 



Rare migrant. Very rare summer 

 resident. One taken May 30, 1899 near 

 Lewiston. 



HEKMIT THRUSH. 



Common migrant and a few pair usu- 

 ally stop to bleed. But this year I did 

 not see any from April •27th till Octo- 

 ber 8. First seen April 19, two birds. 

 Next seen April 22 and common April 

 23. Last seen October 15. 



AMERICAN ROBIN. 



Abundant summer resident. First 

 seen April 1st, t)ne. Next seen April 

 7 and became common April 8. Heard 

 the first singing April 14th. vSaw birds 

 building May 14 and May 24 found the 

 first nest with eggs, three in number. 

 June 1st found the first nest with young 

 and June 2nd saw the last set of eggs, 

 four in number. Were common till 

 October 22 with a stray one till Novem- 

 ber 24, and December 5 at Buckfield, 1 

 saw one sitting on the top of a tree 

 w tone. 



BLUEBIRD. 



Common summer resident. First 

 seen April 9, three birds. Next seen 

 April 16th and became common April 

 22nd. May 13 I saw a pair building. 

 Last seen Sept. 9th. I did not see as 

 many this year as last. 



The White-wing Crossbill. 



Robins were seen near Portland, 

 Dec. 21st. A Song Sparrow came into 

 our yard, at Woodfords, Jan. 13th, and 

 has been seen several times since. Per- 

 haps this is the same bird that came to 

 the yard at times last winter. 



J. M. S. 



CAFT. H. L. SPINNEY, 



The first time I sow this bird in 

 its native element, was the winter of 

 1887. In January of that year I notic- 

 ed them in flocks of from six to a dozen 

 individuals, rarely more, feeding in the 

 tops of spruce trees. The same winter 

 a few Red-Crossbills were seen, but not 

 associating with the former. 



With the exception of perhaps a doz- 

 en Red Crossbills, I have not seen any 

 since, until this fall when they appeared 

 in numbers. August 27th, a number 

 were observed feeding on the tops of 

 some fir trees which are scattered over 

 the island. 



From the date mentioned they appear- 

 ed nearly every day in small flocks, 

 graduall}^ increasing in numbers and 

 flocks until November 3rd. when every 

 day favorable for migration, they were 

 passing over the island continually in 

 flocks of from fifty to one hundred indi- 

 viduals, thousands passing in a day. 



They all approached the island from 

 a southeasterly direction, going toward 

 the west and northwest. A flock sel- 

 dom stopped at the island, and then 

 only to alight a few moments on the top 

 of a fir tree, acting as if they were sac- 

 rificing valuable time, which they might 

 spend to better advantnnge in some 

 more favorable locality. November 10, 

 was noticeable on account of a severe 

 snow squall which lasted for nearly an 

 hour. As it commenced to get thick, 

 the crossbills made their appearance in 

 large flocks, disappearing in the storm 



