86 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN 



was seen in flight over the brilliant tulip- 

 beds of the centre path, seen none too 

 soon, for he was quickly gone. 



But again, on the morning of May 20, 

 the experience was repeated, except that 

 the singer remained to take several flights 

 and move about upon the grass. Both 

 visits, however, were fleeting, and both oc- 

 curred upon days of migration-flights, when 

 large numbers of migrant birds had ar- 

 rived. 



Mr. Bradford Torrey states in his essay 

 "On Boston Common ": "I once heard a 

 Bobolink sing in our Garden (the only one 

 I ever saw there)/ 1 Of this bird he writes 

 me, "The Bobolink was not far from the 

 Washington monument, and I remember 

 still how surprised and delighted I was to 

 see him/' 



33. COWBIRD 



Molothrus ater 



No Cowbird had been noted within the 

 area of the Garden or the Common until 

 the season of 1908. On March 29 of that 



