The. Avifauna of the Lake Erie Islands. 101 



Goldfinches and Bluebirds, almost always stopping to rest and 

 discuss the matter before starting out for the crossing to 

 Middle Island. The Sharp-shinned Hawk and Goshawk hang 

 on the skirts of the great warbler and thrush flocks, taking 

 their toll of victims, and necessarily lighting to devour them. 

 The Ruby-throated Hummingbird does not really light, but 

 is mentioned here because of its habit of stopping to hover in 

 front of a primrose blossom before speeding on close to the 

 sand and off over the water. 



Of the birds that worked out through the woods there are 

 three groups, the fl3xatchers, the thrushes, and the warblers. 

 The Purple Finch, House Wren, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher and 

 Red-breasted Nuthatch also came down the point in this way. 

 The Red-breasted Nuthatches and Blue-gray Gnatcatchers 

 seemed to prefer the cedars to the deciduous trees. The 

 Thrushes were satisfied with anything that kept them well 

 concealed and out of sight. I'he Flycatchers had no choice, 

 as far as T could see. The little red dragonflies (Sympetrum 

 rubicundulum) that formed a large part of their food, were 

 equally numerous everywhere. Early in the season, the 

 warblers seemed to prefer the red oaks, usually surrounded 

 by cedars, but later they were perhaps crowded out into the 

 cedars, for they often left the oaks empty, while the cedars 

 near by were full. In the great jams, the cedars and oaks alike 

 were packed with birds. The warblers seemed to' eat mostly 

 small spiders and beetles, which they gleaned from the 

 branches. 



Of the flycatchers, the Olive-sided kept mo^stly to certain 

 favorite tall, dead tree-tops, just south of the swamp. Occa- 

 sionally we could get a look at one with the shining flank 

 feathers over the wing, making a most striking field-mark. 

 The Least, Acadian, and Yellow-bellied Flycatchers we're 

 all exceedingly numerous, especially the first. They were 

 found everywhere, throughout both cedar and deciduous belts. 



The Wood. Wilson, and Olive -backed Thrushes arrived just 

 as we were about to leave. They kept so closely to the un- 

 derbrush a satisfactory identification was extremelv difficult. 



