zard's Bay or its west shore, crossing Wareham and Plymouth, 

 and thus reaching the shores or waters of Cape Cod Bay, leav- 

 ing Cape Cod out of their itinerary. The distance saved by 

 such a course is from fifty to one hundred miles. 



Observation shows that many birds take advantage of this 

 saving of time and distance both in their northward and south- 

 ward journeyings, though many more follow on around the 

 devious shores of the Cape. Flights of land birds which have 

 crossed the comparatively narrow channels of Narragansett 

 Bay into Tiverton, Westport and Dartmouth are checked and 

 turned northward by the broad expanse of Buzzard's Bay, 

 most of them passing up its western shore, and, becoming 

 somewhat massed here, spread out again over Warehain, 

 Plymouth, Carver and Middleborough, on their way north- 

 ward and eastward. The field of observation, therefore, is 

 particularly favorable for the study of certain migrating birds. 



The winters are comparatively mild, with more rain and less 

 snow than falls in western Massachusetts. The thermometer 

 usually remains well above zero, dropping below that point 

 occasionally, but seldom remaining long below it. Snow does 

 not often lie at great depth, or long at a time. In winter the 

 bird population is comparatively large. We are somewhat 

 protected from the east and northeast winds, which sweep the 

 coast of Massachusetts Bay, by a tract of hilly and partially 

 wooded country, sixteen miles wide, which lies between the 

 head of Buzzard's Bay and the coast at Plymouth. Many 

 birds, which forsake the colder and more snowy regions of the 

 State in winter, remain along the shores of Buzzard's Bay all 

 this inclement season. Jays, crows, flickers and cedar birds 

 are commonly seen. Song sparrows, robins, shore larks, myrtle 

 warblers and other land birds are more or less plentiful, in 

 addition to the usual winter residents or migrants. Gulls and 

 certain other sea birds winter here in some numbers. For the 

 past two winters a kingfisher has been seen along the river, 

 and swamp sparrows and meadowlarks are sometimes seen. 



The extreme heat of summer is tempered here by the south- 

 west winds, which come laden, not with heat, as in many parts 

 of the State, but with the cooling influences of the broad Atlantic 

 and the salt flavor of the bay. The soil of the uplands is largely 



