FL ORENCE MERRIAM BA ILE V 1 5 



one of the best for birds. From Seventh and U 

 Streets a car ride of fifteen minutes takes yon to the 

 main entrance of the Zoological Park, where the 

 earliest birds gather. Here on a chilly spring morn- 

 ing the air has been fairly ringing with the sweet 

 minor whistles of Field Sparrows answering each 

 other across the bare hills. 



In April the low sunny pine woods on the way to 

 the animal houses are a favorite singing gallery for 

 flocks of the slate-colored Snowbirds which, minor 

 songsters though they be, warble a cheery lay that 

 leads very pleasantly to the louder chorus of summer. 

 Beyond'the pines, around the out-door animal houses 

 and the bufifalo yards where seed-eaters can pick up 

 a living, the handsome White-throated Sparrows col- 

 lect, and their piping whistle is most grateful to the 

 ear, for it has all the purity and freshness of a spring- 

 morning. 



In May and June as you enter the Zoo gates the 

 low wooded hills on the right are almost sure to be 

 echoing with bird songs. Cardinals, Tufted Titmice, 

 Indigo-birds, Catbirds, Chats, Oven-birds, Scarlet 

 Tanagers, and Wood Thrushes sing there commonly, 

 and I have seen numbers of Black-polls and a Bay- 

 breasted Warbler there earlier in the season. On 

 May 4, 1898, I noted twelve species between the Zoo 

 entrance and the antelope yards, including the Black 

 and White Creeper and Prairie Warbler. 



During the spring migration the bushes along the 

 north bank of Rock Creek below the prairie-dog 

 houses are favorite resorts for warblers — active Black 

 and White Creepers, gentle Black-throated Blues, 

 gorgeous orange-throated Blackburnians, and many 



