434 NicHots, Murpuy AND Griscom, Long Island Notes. Gas 
NOTES ON LONG ISLAND BIRDS. 
BY JOHN T. NICHOLS, ROBERT C. MURPHY AND LUDLOW GRISCOM. 
THERE is much interest to be obtained from thorough study of 
the birds of any one region, especially when such study is pro- 
longed over a period of years and comprises the results of numerous 
observers. 
From various and diverse lines of endeavor we always return to a 
consideration of the avifauna of Long Island, New York, with 
unabated enthusiasm. 
An obvious line of inquiry in this connection is to determine the 
dates between which the various migratory species are found on 
the island. Such dates may be of two kinds, those of normal or 
average occurrence, and extreme dates. Though perhaps of less 
importance the latter are the more tangible. In determining 
normal dates it is remarkable with what facility any one observer 
in any one year may overlook certain species. Satisfactory migra- 
tion dates cannot well be obtained simply by collecting. A vast 
number of birds would have to be killed to get anything like good 
results by this method alone. 
The tables in Eaton’s ‘ Birds of New York,’ 1909, furnish a valu- 
able statement of extreme migration dates on Long Island, but the 
status of the various species is naturally enough not discussed in 
any great detail. Braislin’s annotated list (1907), though easier 
to refer to, is less complete and therefore unsatisfactory in this 
respect. For present knowledge of migration dates on Long 
Island, ornithologists are as much indebted to the records and 
compilations of Mr. William Dutcher as of all other observers 
taken together. 
Long Island has always been considered as a whole. In our 
opinion there are advantages in treating it otherwise. The water- 
fowl especially are notably different in their occurrence and numbers 
at the eastern and western ends of the island. The earliest fall 
migrants are almost invariably recorded at the eastern end of the 
island, and many waterbirds linger there much later than at the 
western end. At first sight this may appear only natural as the 
