66 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



setts. A large flock of Wilson's Petrels, appearing "like a low 

 black cloud about a mile in length" was seen on August 3 off 

 the Long Island coast. 



September, 1922. 



The month of September brought a change in the weather. 

 In the first half of the month there were many rainstorms, 

 but the last two weeks were dry. There were few frosts and 

 the winds were mostly southerly and southwesterly. 



A General Movement. — Notwithstanding contrary winds 

 birds were heard migrating every night, but until the 25th and 

 26th comparatively few migrants were reported during the 

 day. A severe frost on the night of the 26th in northern New 

 England, following strong northwest winds, started a great 

 migration of land birds, many of which alighted the next 

 morning in southern New England. At the same time a flight 

 of water birds and shore birds appeared along the coast and in 

 the river valleys. The latter half of the month brought a 

 considerable migration of Wood Ducks. The first Mergansers 

 and Scoters at Block Island were reported on September 18. 

 On the 28th there was an immense flight of waterfowl on the 

 Massachusetts coast. They were mostly Ducks and included 

 all three species of Scoters. The local game birds bred well 

 for the most part, but floods interfered with the breeding of 

 Snipes and Woodcocks. Very few Snipes were reported until 

 the frost of the night of the 25th, when a considerable flight 

 appeared. The high water in early September made conditions 

 inimical for them in their usual haunts in the meadows, and 

 many of them went to uplands and to the higher parts of salt 

 marshes. During the great mid-September flight Black-throated, 

 Green, Blackpoll and Myrtle Warblers were reported in great 

 numbers, while Pipits, Winter Wrens, Brown Creepers and 

 Kinglets appeared in abundance during the latter part of the 

 month. 



Crossbills Abundant in Maine. — Following the wet summer a 

 great crop of fruit and seeds developed in the woods of northern 

 New England, providing abundant food there for winter birds. 

 Crossbills were abundant in these woods as the month ended, 

 but few had appeared in southern New England. 



