242 Wright, Acadian Chickadees in Boston and vicinity. [April 



by John Hall Sage and Louis Bennett Bishop, M. D., the previous 

 occurrence having been that of a single bird collected by Mr. 

 Robert Morris, while shooting in a wooded ravine a few miles from 

 New Haven on November 13, 1875. Warwick, R. I., reported one 

 bird seen on December 25, "the second record for Rhode Island," 

 on the statement of Mr. H. S. Hathaway; and Rhinebeck, N. Y., 

 reported two birds in the ' Bird-Lore ' Christmas census. 



In September, 1913, the southward movement of Acadian Chick- 

 adees was observed at Jefferson, N. H., where on the mountains 

 the species breeds, but is only occasionally noted on the hillsides and 

 in the valleys. Beginning with the fifth day one, two, or three 

 birds were observed almost daily in various localities throughout the 

 month and into early October, some in our immediate neighborhood 

 on the Highland and three on our place, September 29 and 30. 

 Their presence indicated an unusual movement, for in no previous 

 season had the species been as much in evidence among the south- 

 ward moving migrants. 



The records furnished me present an aggregate of over forty in- 

 dividuals which have been noted by the several observers in fifteen 

 different towns or distinct localities. These records with my own 

 aggregate seventy or more individuals; thirty-five of these have 

 been seen in Boston and its immediate vicinity. The number re- 

 corded, it would seem probable, must be but a fraction of those 

 which entered the eastern part of the state, so few localities have 

 been reported, while others which afford equal attractions to the 

 species have not been heard from -and probably have lacked ob- 

 servers. The incursion, therefore, so far as all previous records 

 show, has been unprecedented, beginning in late October, attain- 

 ing its maximum in early November, continuing into December and 

 January, and apparently ending before February. 



One suggestion has been offered tentatively as an explanation of 

 this remarkable flight, namely, that an insect pest, the spruce-bud 

 worm, a tortricid moth {Tortrix fumiferana) , having destroyed the 

 season's new growth over extensive areas of spruce and pine forest 

 in New Brunswick and Maine last summer, these forests were ren- 

 dered unattractive to, and perhaps incapable of supporting their 

 natural quota of, Acadian Chickadees, and hence the southward 

 migration reaching to southern New England. 



