SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 



123 



In that year these birds remained unusually late and are entered in his notebook 

 almost daily until that date. Dr. Walter G. Fanning saw five Chimney Swifts on 

 September 29, 1918, at Danvers. 



The Chimney Swift has returned to normal numbers since its decimation in 

 1903 and 1904. 



The courtship of the Chimney Swift is performed on the wing to the accom- 

 paniment of loud staccato chips frequently repeated, and often so run together 

 that they become a squeal. At these times the birds sail in twos or threes or 

 more with wings decurved or elevated, and rival males chase each other with loud 

 chipperings. 



Mr. C. A. Clark has reported a roost of Chimney Swifts in the chimney of a 

 school building in Lynn. On August 31, 1919, about a thousand Swifts occupied 

 it, but none were seen after September 6. 



188 [428] Archilochus colubris (Linn.). 

 Ruby-throated Hummingbird. 

 Common summer resident. May 6 to September 27. 

 Eggs: May 30 to June 15. 



In August, 1916, I found that a Hummingbird had slit the long tubular flow- 

 ers of a trumpet creeper on my house at Ipswich, apparently as a short cut to 

 the nectar. Hardly a flower or even a large unopened bud was left intact. This 

 habit has since been continued. 



189 [444] Tyrannus tyrannus (Linn.). 

 Kingbird. 



Abundant summer resident. May 3 to September 28 ; average date of arrival 

 for eight years, May 9. 



Eggs: June 10 to July 4. 



I have seen a Kingbird swoop down and pick up an insect from the calm 

 surface of a pond without wetting a feather. I have also seen one flying and 

 picking off berries from a shad-bush without alighting. It is not uncommon to 

 see a Kingbird plunge several times into the water from a post or tree, evidently 

 for a bath, and afterward preen itself. I have also seen this method of bathing 

 in a small shallow birds' bath on my place at Ipswich. In this case the bird flew 



