158 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 64. 



The falling of the autumn leaves will lay hare many nesting se- 

 crets which the dense foliage has hidden. A very useful piece of 

 field work would be to go over some selected area carefully and 

 count the nests in that area, noting the numbers of each species sep- 

 arately. This would give a more accurate nesting bird population 

 than by any other means, and would he far easier than an attempt 

 to count the birds themselves. Of course it would be nothing more 

 than an approximate estimate, because many items enter into the 

 problem which might modify the final result. Some sort of enumer- 

 ation of the birds of any region which is to be studied for any con- 

 siderable length of time is necessary. This is a relatively easy 

 method, and can be made to approximate accuracy for the breeding 

 birds. Try it. 



FIELD NOTES. 



The Spring Migrations at Oberlin, Ohio, 1908. 



In general the .migrations were nearly normal. There were a few 

 unusual things, fortunately for my enthusiasm. The most notable 

 were the appearance of White-eyed Vireo and Olive-sided Flycatcher 

 at Oberlin as well as at Cedar Point. The bird waves were as fol- 

 lows : 



March 2-6: Prairie Horned Lai'k, many migrating and singing. 

 Snowflake, common everywhere. Am. Crow, common everywhere. 

 Am. Robin, first migrants. Meadowlark, first migrants. Red-winged 

 Blackbird, over a hundred migrants. Killdeer, 7, the first. Blue- 

 bird, G migrants. Bronzed Crackle, many. 



March 9-12: Firsts, Fox Sparrow, Baldpate, Redhead, Creator 

 Scaup, Am. Coot, Turkey Vulture, Belted Kingfisher, and a consid- 

 erable influx of Bluebirds, Robins, Meadowlarks, Lesser Scaups, and 

 Crackles. 



March IG: Migrant Shrike, Whistling Swan, Rusty Blackl>ii-d, 

 Field Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckor, Pintail, 

 all firsts. 



March 23 : Vesper Sparrow, Phoebe, Pied-billed Crebe, Great Blue 

 Heron, all firsts. Those listed for the IGth increased considerably. 



March 28-April 3: Broad-winged Hawk, Am. Rough-legged 

 Hawk, migrating; firsts. Chipping Si)arrow, Savanna Sparrow, Her- 

 mit Thrush, Blue-winged Teal, Am. Bittern, Barn Swallow, Tree 

 Swallow, Shoveller, Canvas-back, Brown Thrasher, Ruby-crowned 

 Kinglet, Horned Grebe. 



April 11-14: Sora, Wilson's Snipe, Purple Martin, Spotted Sand- 

 piper, Yellow Warbler, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Olive-backed Thrush, 

 Bank Swallow. Bartramian Sandpiper arrived on the 9th. 



April 20: Virginia Rail, Long-billed Marsh Wren, Wood Duck, 

 Green Heron, Osprey, Rough-winged Swallow, Whlppoorwill, Palm 



