April, 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



51 



that tlie power of the wave was not great, but 

 that its influence was felt more or less for a h\in- 

 ilred miles north of St. Louis, and for a irrcat 

 distance west and soutliwest. 



t)n Marcli 23d occurs tlie fifth wave, which 

 was the next to the largest of the season. The 

 night before was warm and clotidy, with a light 

 southeast wind; the day was cloudy and threaten- 

 ing, with an increasing south wind. Many birds 

 arrived during the night at St. Louis, and others 

 were moving all the forenoon. The following 

 birds attained the " height of the season," that is. 

 the period of greatest abundance: Robin, Flicker, 

 male Red-winged Blackbird, Purple and Rusty 

 Crackles, Chewink. transient Bluebirds, transient 

 Purple Finches, and Song Sparrows. The l)ulk 

 arrived of the Shrike, Phwbe, and Wilson's 

 Snipe; others increased in numbers, as the White- 

 throated, Field and Swamp Sparrows, male Cow- 

 birds and Red-headed Woodpeckers. The first 

 ones appeared of the Chippy, Brown Thrush, 

 Bewick's Wren, Grass Finch, Savanna Sparrow, 

 and Mourning Dove. There was also move- 

 ment among Hawks, Ducks and Yellow Legs. 



To get the full effect of this wave, we must ex- 

 tend our observations over nearly the whole of 

 the Mississippi Valley north of St. Louis. The 

 warm wave was felt almost to British America, 

 and everywhere it started the birds northward. 

 Owing to a lack of notes, we cannot study the 

 movements in the immediate vicinity of St. 

 Louis. The few stations that have furnished re- 

 ports make no mention of any special movement, 

 and notice but few arrivals, the principal one being 

 the Brown Thrush. Not so, however, as we move 

 farther northward. The warm weather reached 

 Iowa on the following day, March 33d, and the 

 general tenor of the reports from Iowa and south- 

 ern Wisconsin is well expressed by the report 

 from Waukon, la, 4315; "Spring really began 

 March 33d, and the first wave of birds came then. 

 That was the greatest day for migration I ever 

 saw. The bulk of Robins, Bluebirds, Ducks and 

 Geese came and hundreds of Blackbirds." 



Between Waukon and St. Louis, most of the 

 reports speak of arrivals wliich agree very closely 

 with the birds of the fourth wave at St. Louis. 

 There is no uniformity about it, so that one could 

 say with positiveness that the birds of the fourth 

 wave spread over this section during the night of 

 March 22d; but there is a general tendency that 

 way, so that we may say that the arrivals reported 

 on March 33d over much of Iowa and southern 

 Wiscon.sin, were such as would have been noted 

 had the fourth wave passed over the previous 

 night. The principal exceptions are found along 



the courses of the larger rivers, where the arrivals 

 were somewhat earlier, that is, about March 30th. 



North of Waukon, in favored localities, the 

 effects of this wave began to be noticed March 

 33d, but in the majority of cases the following 

 day witnessed the great advance. Its results are 

 easily traced to latitude 45', and in the neighbor- 

 hood of the Mississippi and Missotiri rivers 

 to latitude 46 . The immense number of birds 

 which were moving on March 33d, may be jtidged 

 from the report from Heron Lake, Minn., 43'8, 

 the report from Storm Lake, la. , 433', agreeing 

 with it almost exactly. It was the first wave of 

 real migration and brought Mallards, Pintails, 

 Gadwall, Widgeon, Big and Little Scaups, Gold- 

 en-eye, Brant, Ravens, large numbers of Black- 

 birds, Red-heads, Canvas-backs, Butter-ball, 

 Green-wing Teal, Hooded and American Shel- 

 drakes, Spoonbill, Herring Gidl, Coot, Killdcer 

 and one Meadow Lark. Most of the species were 

 in great numbers and some of the Ducks in 

 clouds. Most of the Ducks came from the west, 

 being probably part of the Missouri Valley flight. 



By way of comparison to show how little we 

 can judge of the migration at one place by that 

 of another, let us move directly west of St. Louis 

 to Manhattan, Kan,, 3912. Here during the first 

 week of March, no arrivals were noticed. On 

 tlie 8th the first birds came, that is, Ducks and 

 Geese. (Mallards, Green-wings, Canvas-backs 

 and Red-heads were particularly abundant). On 

 the 11th, the first Killdeer came, and two more 

 were seen on the 13th, and also Meadow Larks. 



It seemed that Spring had really come. But a 

 polar wave struck, March 13th, and all was 

 changed. The fifth wave was not felt here in 

 the least, the weather being cold and snowy. If 

 we go southwest, we find a still moie different 

 state of aflfairs. At Caddo, Ind. Ter., 34iJ. on 

 March 33d, the weather is hot and dry with a 

 continuous south wind, more like Summer than 

 Spring. There is the least bird life of any time 

 since February 1st; the most abundant bird is the 

 Savanna Sparrow: there are no Snowbirds, Tree 

 Sparrows, White-throated, White-crowned noi- 

 Harris' Sparrows, no Cowbirds, Red-winged 

 Blackbirds, Meadow Larks, Ducks nor Geese. 

 A few of each of these species may still linger, 

 but the bulk left some days ago, and none are 

 seen to-daj'; very little vegetation owjng to lack 

 of rain. 



This fifth wave .shows that as an atmospheric 

 warm wave takes several days to pass from one 

 end of our district to the other, so it must not be 

 considered that the whole of a bird wave is in- 

 cluded in n single iiia-lit. If it is a small wave. 



