190 BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK CITY REGION 



on their breeding grounds. They are remarkably tame and 

 unsuspicious, and their call-note or scream is sure to betray 

 their whereabouts. It has been aptly likened to a Wood 

 Pe wee's note. Another way of describing it is to compare it 

 to a steam whistle, which gradually "peeters out" as the sup- 

 ply of steam fails. Armed with this experience the student 

 will stand a much better chance of correctly determining 

 migrating birds. 



Much false and unreliable information about the status 

 of this species in our area has been published, and repeated 

 by others who were not in a position to determine its inac- 

 curacy. There is no foundation whatever for the statement 

 that it is a permanent resident. Some two years ago Mr. W. 

 deW. Miller, Mr. J. T. Nichols, several active members of the 

 Linnaean Society, and the writer started carefully checking 

 its status. Extended observation in every section of the 

 area shows conclusively that the Broad-winged Hawk is a 

 summer resident in favorable places. As a transient it is 

 common only in the hill country of New Jersey, where great 

 flights are occasionally noted, and elsewhere is uncommon or 

 rare. Few birds are more regular in arriving in spring, and 

 it is frequently reported from widely separated localities on 

 the same day; the dates are between April 20 and 25, the 

 last May 10 to May 20; the fall migration is from September 

 5 to October 23. As this species winters mainly in South 

 America and does not reach southeastern Texas until the 

 first week in April, it is as likely to occur in early March and 

 November as a Wood Thrush, and it has a poorer claim to be 

 called a permanent resident than the Baltimore Oriole, which 

 has actually occurred in winter. Suffice it to state that I 

 know of no specimens taken locally between October and 

 late April, and none such can b3 found in the collections of 

 Chapman, Dwight, Dutcher, Mearns, Braislin, Worthington, 

 and others in the American Museum. The presence of the 

 bird in winter apparently goes back to Fisher's "Hawks and 



