12 Bird Migration in the Mississippi Valley. 



go, mark you, there will be few among them without their wedding clothes. 

 The only change during the last few days is the great increase of the gold 

 finch and the black-throated bunting. 



May 2. — A full bird-wave reached us last night. The night was clear 

 and warm (60 dgs. to 5.5 dgs.), and the wind south. It brought us thousands 

 of birds, and the woods are just full of them. It is impossible to observe all 

 birds around me, especially since the capture of my first Cape May warbler 

 (tigrina) took a part of my best time. 



May 3. — Wind continued south until night, when a cool north wind set in ; 

 maximum temperature, ■90 dgs. Bird life at its height. Number of species 

 and individuals, at or very near highest of the year. All the Summer so 

 journers are here (with few exceptions), and most of them in full numbers. 



May 4. — Weather cool, rainy, dark, with north wind. Birds and observei 

 take a rest. 



May 5. — The most beautiful day of the year, genial temperature with north 

 west wind. I found sixty different species of birds on ten acres of ground. 

 May 10. — When I made my last report (May 5) I had no idea that the Spring 

 migration would so soon be over, but, alas ! All seem now to be gone. 



The high south wind of the last three days (seventh, eighth and ninth), has 

 carried away many unwritten pages of future reports. 



The birds passed us without stopping. Had this cold wave which we enjoy 

 to-day struck three days ago, we might have had a fine time. Dry, hot, high, 

 south wind is always bad for the observer. Looking for birds in such 

 weather is hard, unsatisfactory work. That rustle of the shaking leaves, rus- 

 tles all enthusiasm out of my heart, and I go home discouraged. To find only 

 one new species from May 6 to May 10 is enough to discourage anyone. 



This one species was the inevitable yellow warbler, and I met with one 

 male on the ninth, and again on the tenth. 



In vain did I look for the tawny thrush, orange-crowned, mourning and 

 Connecticut warblers, clay-colored sparrow, olive-sided and yellow-bellied 

 fly-catchers. 



As a whole this season was bad for this particular part of the country. We 

 have had almost no bird-waves because the polar wave never struck at the 

 right time. The Savannah and Lincoln's sparrows, the pine-creeping and 

 the bay-breasted warblers and the least fly-catcher have stopped but a moment, 

 to be off next day. Other species seem to take other routes, being seldom 

 or never seen here, especially the black-throatea blue, Blackburnian, black- 

 throated green and hemlock warblers, and the clay-colored sparrow. 



Thanks to the unfavorable weather of the last four days even some of my 

 Summer sojourners are still without dates, namely, cuckoos, hummers, and 

 nighthawks. Others which are local have to be looked after, such as the prai 

 rie and worm-eating warblers, the marsh wrens, whip-poor-wills, etc. 



May 19. — Strange, indeed ! I thought migration was over on the 10th. How 

 great was my astonishment on the 14th to find a good old-fashioned bird-wave. 

 The woods were full of transients, and this is how it came. May 11. — Cold 

 with northwest wind. May 12. — Cold, with northwest wind. May 13. — Rain, 

 with southeast wind and rising temperature, and a thunderstorm at mid- 

 night! Next morning, the 14th, the wind was shifting to west and northwest. 



