520 Eifrig, Birds of the Chicago Ana. [ " t 



fall migration, however. Wherever I have been so far, in Indiana. Mary- 

 land, and Canada, they begin to return about August 12 to 15, winding 

 up with a few stragglers during the first week in September. Of late years, 

 however, I find them later and later, as witness these dates: September 14, 

 1915, 17, 1917. 22, 1916: October 4. 1914. 10, 1917: 5 and 9, 1918; I 

 saw five each time. Two or three years ago Mr. Kallmann, who knows 

 birds well, told me of having seen a flock of Xighthawks on. I think he 

 said, October 29. I did not believe it then, but I believe it now. 



Corvus b. brachyrhynchos. Crow. — It has often seemed to us that 

 there is a crossing of migration routes on the south end of Lake Michigan. 

 This can best be followed in the case of migrating Crows, because their 

 flocks are so conspicuous. In fall, many coming along the west shore of 

 the lake seem to be turning southeastward, and those coming along the east 

 shore, southwestward. In the spring this is, of course, reversed. 



Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus. Yellow-headed Blackbird. — 

 This northwesterly species still breeds here, even if in steadily diminishing 

 numbers. Colonies are found in the swamp and lake region on either side 

 of the Indiana-Illinois state line, in the southeastern part of Chicago, 

 where in June. 1917, ten to twenty pair were found. I found several pairs 

 in a swamp near Elk Grove, May 30, 1914, which was their last nesting 

 there, because the following summer the swamp was drained and all vestige 

 of its former bird fauna, which included Pied-billed Grebes, Coots, Black 

 Terns, Blue-winged Teal, King Rails, Marsh Wrens, etc., disappeared. 

 There is also a colony in Butler's Lake, near Libertyville. Two or three 

 years ago Stoddard told me about a few pairs in a small slough near 77th 

 Street, Chicago, a site on which houses were built the next year. 



Molothrus ater ater. Cowbird. — 



Sturnella magna argutula. Meadowlark. — I have repeatedly 

 found nests of the Meadowlark near my house, which is on the edge of the 

 prairie, with one or more eggs of the Cowbird, and one or more or all eggs 

 of the rightful owner apparently rolled out. An example of this was one 

 found June 24, 1917, with two Cowbird eggs inside and four Meadowlark 

 eggs outside. The Cowbird is a decided nuisance in the Dunes, where 

 hundreds may be seen prowling around in nesting time. The Meadowlark 

 of this section seems to be the small southern variety argutula, not the 

 large-sized magna of the East, as Mr. H. K. Coale has pointed out. 



Icterus spurius. Orchard Oriole. — I have never seen this species 

 here, but it occurs, with a curious, localized distribution. Mr. Edward 

 R. Ford finds it in one or two places along the Drainage Canal, near Willow 

 Springs, and where it flows out of Lake Michigan, at Evanston, but no- 

 where else. 1 



Icterus galbula. Baltimore Oriole. — In June, 1918, Mr. G. 

 Friedrich, a member of the Chicago Ornithological Society, had under 



'The past summer I found the only pair in my ten years residence here. They 

 were nesting at Gary on the Fox River. 



