^6 LooMis 0)1 Birds of Chester Comity, South Carolina. fj:inuary 



With August, likewise, essentially terminates the season of first 

 sono", — the singing of the last of the summer residents coming to 

 an end. Before the conclusion of the first season, the second 

 begins in the efforts of the young ;ind the returning migrants, 

 summer species. The opening of this second period is typically 

 illustrated in the Mockingbird about September i, or a little later. 

 A great influx of this species takes place during August. From 

 the first or second week onward they swarm the hedgerows, plum 

 thickets, and roadsides. The late breeders — Blue Grosbeak, 

 etc. — commence to depart at ' the termination of this month. 

 About September i, the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher passes the point 

 of culmination. It tarries on, however, nearly or quite to the 

 end of the month. 



Through vSeptember the tide of migration continues to rise, the 

 high-water mark being reached about the first week of October. 

 'Resident' and summer species alternately wax and wane with 

 the swell and fall of the current. Most of the latter decrease be- 

 fore the close of the month, as the Red-eyed Vireo. Some, as 

 the Orchard Oriole, altogether cease to appear. Of the former, 

 many grow more numerous, as the Flicker and Bewick's Wren. 

 Among the purely transients, August arrivals are in the ascen- 

 dency, waves following waves in frequent succession. Some of 

 these earlier birds of passage now gain their maximum abun- 

 dance, as the Chestnut-sided Warbler and American Redstart. 

 The new ones come mainly after the first week, in most cases at- 

 taining extreme numbers in October, as the Black-throated Blue, 

 Black-throated Green, and Palm Warblers. The appearance of 

 the Savanna Sparrow, well to the close of September announces 

 the coming of winter birds. Belated broods and migrants of the 

 same species sometimes overlap. An instance of this sort is re- 

 called in the Blue Grosbeak. A family of young, unsteady of 

 wing, under the care of the mother bird was observed September 

 4, i888. The day before a party of migrants were seen, — ad- 

 judged migrants because of the time of year and their manner of 

 behavior. They flew high in air, coming from the northward, 

 and alighted in a body on the summit of a giant pine, blasted and 

 weathered. Their whole mien and conduct were entirely at va- 

 riance with summer demeanor. 



A striking feature in the souU^ward migration in this region is 

 the collection of the woodland birds into gatherings led by Tufted 



