2 EiFRiG, The Spring Migration, 1907, at Ottawa, Out. [;^^",}^ 



hardy pioneers into the wintry conditions then still prevailing here, 

 for some years the one, other years the other will be first. This 

 year, however, some of these birds came very considerably earlier 

 than this. The cheerful Song Sparrow came March 13, as compared 

 with April 2 of the preceding year, and March 18 of 1905; the 

 Robin respectively, March 16, March 31, March 19; the Bluebird,, 

 March 21, April 3, March 24; the Bronzed Grackle, March 23, 

 April 2, March 27; the Red-winged Blackbird, March 23, April 2, 

 March 24. At the same time there was nothing discernible here 

 and in this whole part of Canada, that could be supposed to have 

 induced any birds to come earlier. In February we had had severe 

 winter weather, more so than is usual in that month, and March 

 did not show much lettirig-up of this. The explanation the writer 

 arrived at, is the following: For several days before the arrival 

 of the Song Sparrow and the others given above, there had been a 

 spell of phenomenally warm weather to the south of us, in the lati- 

 tude of New York, 'Washington, Chicago, St. Louis, etc. For 

 many years no such warm weather had been recorded at New 

 York and Washington. This must have had the effect of attract- 

 ing more hosts of migrants into this latitude, than would have 

 been the case under normal conditions. This in turn must have 

 uncomfortably crowded the bird population already there and 

 made the food supply, not too abundant at that time of the year, 

 rather scarce. These two conditions, or either one alone, would, 

 to my mind, have the effect of urging the hardiest of the birds there, 

 those that would have turned northward first at any rate, even if 

 normally some days later, to do so several days earlier than they 

 would otherwise have done, and thus we had the strange spectacle 

 of seeing and hearing Song Sparrows, Robins, etc., when there were 

 real winter conditions here, much snow, ice, and cold. But right 

 here several exceptions must be noted. The Purple Finch and 

 the Cedar-bird, usually among the first of this batch of migrants, 

 came this year not only not earlier, but very much later than usually. 

 The former came only April 27 and then not nearly in its usual 

 abundance, and the latter even not before June 7, but then as abun- 

 dant as ever. 



Then arrived the usual next-comers, the Tree Swallow, Meadow- 

 lark, Flicker, several of the ducks, the Killdeer, the Phoebe, Marsh 



