Taverner— On 1908 in S. E. Michigan. 199 



across the blue of sky and sea. One could not glance in any 

 direction without a sense of dizziness from the rapidly chang- 

 ing figures of the webb. 



There were perhaps 500 nesting pairs on the island, making 

 a thousand birds ; but this is a mere estimate. An occasional 

 Western Gull seen among the hghter colored Glaucus-winged, 

 led us to estimate their numbers at fiftv or thereabouts. 



THE YEAR 3 908 IN SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN. 



BY P. A. TAVERNER, HIGHLAND PARK, MICH. 



The year of 1908, in the neighborhood of Detroit, ]\Iich., 

 was an abnormal, and in some ways a rather interesting, one. 

 The spring was much delayed and remained cold long beyond 

 its usual custom. The previous winter was relatively birdless 

 and uninteresting. The weather was about normally cold, but 

 February 5 a heavy sleet storm came, with a temperature for 

 a day ranging from 9 to- 37 degrees. There was at the time a 

 foot of snow on the ground, and the result can bs' readily im- 

 agined. The sinow was heavily crusted and the Bob-whites, 

 that up to that time had wintered well, suffered severely. The 

 winter of 1903-04 had practically wiped the species out in this 

 section, and under a protective game law, enacted for this 

 purpose, the birds had just begun to regain their normal num- 

 bers. This last blow completely undid the good work of the 

 past three years, locally at least, and, as a result, during the 

 past spring, summer and fall the quail I have seen could be 

 counted on the fingers of one hand. 



March was not far from normal in temperature, as also was 

 early April, though during the latter part it steadily refused 

 to warm up as expected. This backwardness extended well 

 into Mav and all the migrations were delayed in consequence. 

 It was not until May 10 that any real spring weather arrived, 

 and up to that time we had to keep the furnace going contin- 

 uously. Normal years I regard May 4 as marking about the 



