Long Island Bird Notes for 1907 



By John Lewis Childs 



THE spring of this year was a most unusually late one and bird migra- 

 tion was, in consequence, quite irregular. A brief but very warm 

 spell in March brought many of the early spring migrants ahead of their 

 usual time, while the inclement weather of April and a large portion of May 

 delayed many of the later species. 



_ . On March 29th I observed at Smithtown, 



Fox Sparrows in Full Song ' 



St. James and Childsview a good many 

 Fox Sparrows, a few of which were singing beautifully. It is the first time 

 I have ever heard this bird sing during its migration. 



The Red-breasted Nuthatch Breeding ^ ate in A P ril one of the gamekeepers at 



on i,ong island the Wyandanch Club, Smithtown, told 



me that a pair of Nuthatches were nesting in the trunk of an apple tree 

 near his house, and were at that time carrying food to their young. I asked 

 him to lead me to the tree, which he did. Sure enough, there was a small 

 round hole some eight feet up, evidently caused by a knot rotting away, 

 leaving a cavity which the growth of the tree was endeavoring to close up 

 and" had almost succeeded in doing so. No bird was in sight, but I was 

 told to watch a few minutes and one would appear. I had not long to wait 

 before a Red-breasted Nuthatch, carrying a grub, appeared and perched up- 

 on a nearby tree. The bird soon dropped down to the tree that I was watch- 

 ing, entered the cavity, and immediately came out minus the grub. This 

 was repeated twice during the fifteen minutes I was on guard, and I did not 

 question the guide's belief that the old birds were feeding a brood of young. 

 Three weeks later this gamekeeper told me that he had discovered that at 

 the time I was there the young had not hatched, and what I saw was only 

 the male feeding the female upon the nest. The young hatched out a few 

 days later, when both parents were observed caring for them. 

 Hairy woodpecker Breeding on i,ong During my residence 011 Long Island of 

 island some thirty-four years, I have never until 



this year seen the Hairy Woodpecker here in the breeding season. This 



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