SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 



IS 



The Evening Grosbeak has of late years visited Essex County more fre- 

 quently and in greater numbers. It has become ahnost a regular winter visitor. 

 The Pine Grosbeak, on the other hand, has appeared in Essex County in only two 

 winters in the last fifteen years. The other irregular winter visitors have been, 

 as the Annotated List will show, as irregular as formerly, sometimes being abun- 

 dant, sometimes entirely absent. 



The peculiarly interesting bird of the County, the Ipswich Sparrow, has, as 

 far as records go, lost ground in the last ten years, and during the fall and winter 

 of 1918-19, it was extremely rare. It is to be hoped that this period of decline 

 is only temporary as in the case of other birds and that the species will swing 

 back to its usual numbers. Although its breeding-grounds at Sable Island, N. S., 

 have been gradually reduced in size by the storms and ocean currents, there is 

 still plenty of area left for this vigorous bird. 



With the change from fragrant hay-barns with their open doors and windows 

 to the ill-smelling and unpoetic garages, the number of Barn Swallows in the 

 County is suffering a steady decline. At Ipswich, especially during the fall 

 migrations, the number of Tree Swallows seems to be as great as ever, but it is 

 believed that they are generally less common than fifteen years ago. Eave Swal- 

 lows as breeders have certainly much diminished in the last fifteen years. This 

 diminution can in many cases be ascribed to the English Sparrows who occupy 

 their clay nesting-retorts, yet on some farms where this sparrow pest is excluded, 

 the Eave Swallows have deserted eaves formerly occupied by them. 



The White-eyed Vireo, formerly a regular breeder in the Swampscott region, 

 has been largely driven out by the gypsy-moth remedies and by the building-up of 

 the country. The other vireos suffered a period of depression in numbers about 

 1917, but are gradually coming back. 



Among the warblers there have been several startling changes during the 

 last fifteen years, changes, fortunately, for the most part for the better. The 

 Tennessee Warbler, recorded in the original Memoir as a "very rare transient 

 visitor " for which I had only three records, has in the last five years become a 

 regular and at times a common visitor. In this connection it is interesting to 

 note that, in 191 5, I found this warbler an abundant breeder on the southern 

 Labrador coast, while Audubon at the same place and season, in 1833, failed to 

 find a single bird. The Cape May Warbler has also increased in numbers in the 

 last ten years so that this formerly rare bird is at times common. The same may 

 be said of the Bay-breasted Warbler. 



The severe winter of 1917-18 either destroyed or drove south the majority of 

 Myrtle Warblers. Probably both of these effects were produced. The following 

 winter, which was exceptionally mild, was remarkable for the small numbers of 



