GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE AVIFAUNA. 31 



one — even among- those who were instrumental in importing the pest — 

 admits that we made a great blunder, all are slow to be persuaded of the 

 enormity of the mischief these little creatures will work in the course of 

 time. With this, however, we have here nothing to do ; we only bring- 

 up the subject in connection with the decrease in the number and variety 

 of our native singing birds in the city itself. This is a fact which prob- 

 ably every one has noticed, and which few pretend to deny any longer. 

 It is not due to the building up of the city and the increase in the pop- 

 ulation, as some have supposed. The city is parked and preserved 

 nearly throughout, and full of shade and ornamental trees. The actual 

 number of trees is vastly greater than it was in the cow --pasture days of 

 the ante helium epoch ; and there is no reason why those birds which 

 ordinarily inhabit cities should not be at least as numerous as ever, or 

 rather more so, were they not driven away by the Sparrows. It would 

 perhaps be more accurate to say, were they not crowded and elbowed 

 out of the way; the impress made by the sturdy little foreign vulgarians 

 upon the native population being effected rather by their numbers, their 

 persistency, turbulence, and noisiness, than by their pugnacity or ag- 

 gressiveness ; though downright acts of hostility may be continually 

 witnessed. In fine, there is not food and room enough for many other 

 birds where Sparrows are numerous. 



We should not close this slight sketch without special reference to 

 the phenomenal season of 1882, in which the ordinary course of migra- 

 tory events was interrupted in an unprecedented manner. We had, in 

 fact, a " tidal wave" of birds during the second and third weeks in May. 

 It stormed for ten days, up to about the middle of the month, and before 

 the cold rain ceased there was such a gathering of birds in the city as 

 had never been witnessed by the " oldest inhabitant." Many thousands 

 of birds filled the streets and parks; so great was the number and so 

 brilliant the assemblage that the newspapers took it up and published 

 their notes and queries. To account for the unwonted apparition, some 

 one started the story that a vessel, just arrived at a wharf in Georgetown 

 from the West Indies, had brought a cargo of tropical birds which had 

 in some manner escaped ! And no wonder, when the city was swarm- 

 ing with Scarlet Tanagers, Golden Orioles, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, 

 Eedstarts, Summer and other Warblers, all as strange to the average 

 Washingtonian as the most brilliant exotic birds could be. Yet these 

 lovely creatures are with us always for those who can see and feel. 



In the back yard of a private residence — a space 20 by 40 feet, con- 

 taining one peach tree and some grape vine— we counted six species at 

 once; a Baltimore Oriole, a Canada Flycatcher, a Redstart, a Summer 

 Yellow-bird, a Black-Throated Blue Warbler, and a Chestnut-sided 

 Warbler. In the parks it was common to see a flock of six or eight 

 Scarlet Tanagers in one tree. There were flocks of Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beaks in the Smithsonian Grouuds; these birds were shot by boys near 

 the city, one little fellow killing six. The most remarkable sight we 



