Ten Spring Bird Lists 183 



TEN SPKING BIRD LISTS MADE NEAR AVASH- 

 INGTON, D. C* 



BY W. L. MCATEE 



Nearly every year since 1007. Edward A. Preble and 

 the writer, sometimes in company with others, have nia<le 

 at least one trip during the height of migration, on which 

 an effort was made to list as many species of birds as pos- 

 sible. Notes on some of these trips have been mislaid, but 

 those for ten out of the fifteen years, are in j^resentable 

 condition. 



Before reproducing the lists it may be Avell to state the 

 conditions under wliich tliey have been made. I*reble and 

 McAtee have consistently followed a definite set of rules in 

 making their bird lists, in wliich most of their companions 

 on these trips have acquiesced. All birds listed (with the 

 single exception of the wlii])-i)oor-wiir) have been seen, by 

 all members of the party t if possible, and s])ecies rare or 

 difficult to identify have l)een collected. Sub-species have 

 not been considered ; these are scarcely a subject for fiehl 

 observation, and moreover, add nothing to a list of bird 

 species. Observations have extended from daybreak to 

 dark, and the standard (rarely deviated from) has been a 

 continuous walking trip. Bird lists made under such 



* The writer is obliged to E. A. Preble, Alex. Wetmore and W. 

 R. Maxon for reading this paper in part or wholly and making 

 useful suggestions. 



tWitmer Stone (The Auk, Vol. 37, No. 3, July 1920. pp. 485-6) 

 has stated that: "The plan practiced by certain cai'eful observers 

 of never recording a bird that both have not seen and satisfactorily 

 identified is excellent. . . . Confirmation of other observers is an 

 excellent feature and tho person who always works alone and 

 always sees the largest number of species can not help but arouse 

 a doubt as to whether his enthusiasm has not carried him away." 

 The writer would add that the spirit of competition in making 

 bird lists, and the desire to record the largest number of species, 

 does not appear to be for the best interests of ornithology. The 

 participants in the trips here described have found their greatest 

 satisfaction in searching for the best route in their vicinity for 

 an all-day bird tramp, and in comparing its yield from year to 

 year. 



