The Avifauna of the Lake Erie Islands. 105 



of shore birds. The records for the Dowitcher, Knot, Baird 

 Sandpiper, Hudsonian Godwit, Black-belHed Plover, Caspian 

 Tern, Piping Plover, and Little Blue Heron show that the 

 water and shore birds of Lake Erie have not yet been exhaust- 

 ively studied. Among other, unusual records were the Olive- 

 sided Flycatcher, Goshawk, Golden-winged Warbler, Connec- 

 ticut Warbler, and Blue-winged Warbler. The Cape May 

 Warblers were almost abundant and were common about 

 Oberlin on the 17th of September. 



There were three big migratory waves. The first occurred 

 on August 12, and consisted almost wholly of Swallows. 

 About 8000 passed over. 



The second wave was on August 27. Besides bringing 

 many swallows and bobolinks, the first batch of warblers ar- 

 rived. The Redstarts were predominant. The warblers 

 stayed almost entirely in the deciduous trees at the base of 

 the spit. 



The third and biggest migration reached its height on Sep- 

 tember 1, and lasted through the third. On the morning of 

 the first all living beings seemed undul)^ excited. Butterflies, 

 squirrels, and rabbits, as well as all kinds of birds, worked 

 down towards the end of the spit. Almost no birds were to 

 be seen around the swamp. The moveme-nt continued through 

 the next two days, but on the fifth almost everything had left. 

 During this movement the following migrating birds were 

 common : Bobolink, Purple Martin, Least Flycatcher, Red- 

 headed Woodpecker, Black and White Warbler, Blackburn- 

 ian Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Wilson Warbler, Red- 

 breasted Nuthatch, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Black-poll War- 

 bler, Magnolia Warbler, Wilson Thrush, Olive-backed Thrush. 

 Cape May Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Black- 

 throated Blue Warbler, Oven-bird, Water-Thrush, Louisiana 

 Water-Thrush, and Nighthawk. 



The food of the birds while on the spit was not accurately 

 determined. The sandpipers and plovers ate lakeflies and 

 their skins, washed up on the beaches. The redstarts were 

 eating common flies most of the time, while in the cedars all 



