SUPPLEMENT TO BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY 



131 



In the original jNIemoir I had only one winter record, that for January 2, 1889. 

 Since then one or more have spent every winter at Ipswich until the severe one 

 of 1917-18, so that the bird may be called a resident. On January 28, 1912, I 

 counted a flock of 22 in the marshes of the Castleneck River. On January 19, 

 1913, I saw 13 and on January 11, 1914, 24. Mr. H. W. Wright has given me 

 records for February, 1912, of two Meadowlarks at Nahant, for January 3, 1910, 

 January 25, 1916, and December 14, 1916, for these birds at Marblehead. On the 

 last-named date he counted ig birds. On February 21, 1910, six or eight Meadow- 

 larks were singing continuously nearly their full song near my house at Ipswich. 

 On December i, 1912, I counted fully fifty of these birds in the marsh near my 

 house, many of them in full song. 



On February 13, 1916, as I was walking over the marsh in a driving snow 

 storm on snowshoes, a Meadowlark whirled out of the snow within three inches 

 of the tip of one of my shoes. He had been snugly settled in a cavity in the grass 

 and had been nearly or entirely snowed in. In another part of the marsh, about 

 a mile away, on the same day another ^leadowlark suddenly emerged from the 

 snow leaving a small round hole of exit. Into this I could insert my hand as 

 into a cavity. 



On December 30, 19 17, when the Fahrenheit thermometer stood at 20° 

 below zero at 6.30 a.m., and the highest temperature reached during the day was 

 2° below zero, I found two Meadowlarks at Ipswich. They were seen again 

 after prolonged cold weather on January 13, but no more until the spring migra- 

 tions in March. 



In the winter of 1918-19, which was exceptionally mild, I saw no INIeadow- 

 larks in my visits to Ipswich from November 16, when I saw one, until March 16. 

 The previous cold winter had either killed or frightened south all the north-loving 

 Meadowlarks ! 



The beautiful song with a tinge of sadness in it, is one of the most familiar 

 songs of the Ipswich region. It is given from the ground, from a fence-post or 

 from a tree-top, and rarely in flight. The real ecstatic flight-song of this bird 

 must be extremely rare, at least in Essex County, for I have never heard it. It 

 is described by Forbush^ as follows : " Rarely a talented individual soars aloft, 

 uttering an ecstatic flight-song, which compares favorably with that of the most 

 celebrated songsters. I have heard this in full volume but once, and then found 

 it difficult to believe that it came from the throat of a common Meadowlark. It 

 was not at all suggestive of that bird's ordinary song, except in some of the last 

 notes, nor did it in the least resemble that of the Western Meadowlark ; it more 

 resembled the music of the Bobolink, but was louder and not so hurriedly given." 



1 Forbush, E. H. Useful Birds and their Protection, p. 318, 1907. 



