Birds of Lewiston- Auburn 13 



AUTUMNAL MIGRATION 



During- the autumn the bird student finds observation 

 difficult because there are many immature birds and 

 some mature ones have changed their bright spring 

 plumage for quiet tones ; the foliage is very thick and 

 the birds sing much less. 



However I find the pursuit interesting for one almost 

 feels a new specimen is discovered when a blackpoll 

 warbler is seen dressed in green, black and yellow. 



Also there are many surprises in song, especially 

 among the young birds who are getting their voices in 

 tune. To me it seems like the birds' playtime for, family 

 cares being over, they coo to themselves in such con- 

 tented little gems of song. Especially is this true of 

 the white-throated sparrows whose cooing seems more 

 choice than the spring singing, for one needs a reserved 

 seat to hear it. 



Sometimes a bird gives a strain of the spring song 

 but more often the music is so different one goes on the 

 hunt for a new specimen only to find a familiar bird 

 with an unfamiliar tune. The first harbinger of fall is 

 the bobolink's change of plumage from black, white and 

 yellow to the modest yellowish gray of the female dur- 

 ing the first of August. We learned in the waning sum- 

 mer that by mid-August there are several reminders that 

 autumn approaches. Water birds begin to move south- 

 ward and a stray migrant warbler or kinglet may be 

 seen. On our walks we miss the spring chorus, birds 

 are numerous, the telegraph wires are covered with swal- 

 lows, the grass is full of chipping sparrows, robins fly 

 hither and thither, bluebirds are plentiful, but all except 

 the swallows are comparatively silent. 



