26 PROCEEDINGS OP THE 



teristic in winter, when their cries replace those of the ^\'ood 

 Thrush and Ovenbird and become the music of our woods. 

 Occasionally we see a few Pine Warblers, but whether they 

 breed here or are merely stragglers from the wilderness to the 

 east has not been determined. 



In the old fields lying between our woods and the station, and 

 also just east of us, quite a different avifauna prevails. Meadow- 

 larks abound, their calls are ever in the air, and in early spring 

 we have sometimes seen the rival males fighting on the ground 

 like game chickens, striking and clutching one another with 

 their poAverful claws. Killdeers, too, are always to be seen, and 

 in muddy places we find the borings of Snipe early in the sea- 

 son. In similar places, too, are the Redwinged Blackbirds with 

 their nests hidden in the thick clover, and once we found a 

 Robin's nest in a similar position in the very center of a large 

 field with no tree near. In the drier ground are Field Sparrows, 

 Vespers, and a few Grasshopper Sparrows, while the border- 

 land between the wood and the open harbors Thrashers, Song 

 Sjmrrows, and Indigobirds. 



About the old farmhouses other familiar species greet us 

 when we tramp across country for supplies just before dark. 

 House Wrens are still common birds in this neighborhood, and 

 Flickers, Purple Grackles, Orchard Orioles, Kingbirds, Wood 

 Pewees, Chipping Sparrows, Warbling Vireos, Robins, and 

 Bluebirds are to be found about every orchard, while Barn and 

 Cliff Swallows and Chimney Swifts circle about overhead, and 

 far above is the ever-present Turkey Vulture. 



When we take an all-day tramp over to the Bear Swamp, or 

 farther into the wilderness, we find still another group of birds. 

 Ovenbirds, Marjdand Yellowthroats, and Field Sparrows still 

 abound, but the Chewink becomes the characteristic species, 

 with Pine and Prairie Warblers, and in damp places surround- 

 ing some old deserted forge or saw-mill we find an abundance 

 of Whip-poor-wills, Tree Swallows, and Martins, together with 

 some Parulas and Hooded Warblers. 



On the cranberry bog in the Bear Swamp, and also at Chair- 

 ville on the western edge of the pine barrens, we have found 

 that interesting little bird, Henslow's Sparrow, which until re- 



