68 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 10-No. 5 



perature at 11 p. in., Marcli 24th, is 47' at St. 

 Louis, 42° at Cliicago, 50 at Des Moines, 37 iil 

 St. Paul, and 32' at Moorlieail. 



Thi.s i.s the last clay of the warm wave wliiili 

 commenced ou the evening of the 21.st, and the 

 birds make the most of their opportunity and ad- 

 vance a whole degree farther north. The hosts 

 which had rested dtiring the night of the 22d, 

 again moved forward and ftdly occupy all the 

 country up to 45 , with an innumerahle host 

 along the Mississippi River at 45-5, and scouts uji 

 even to 47° on the Missouri. 



That this is the culmination is easily .seen by 

 the records, which fall from seventy-three notes 

 on the 24th, to but seventeen the next day. 



Let us now calculate the average conditions 

 under which the birds were migrating during 

 these seven days. There were a little over three 

 hundred records of "firsts" contributed for these 

 seven days, and the temperature at which they 

 were migrating is found to be as follows: 25 , 

 one record, (a Goose — in more senses than one,); 

 29 , a cousin to the last; 31", 18 firsts; 33°, 12; 

 35 , 11; 37 , 40; 39°, 41; 41°, 52; 43°, 16; 45 , 25; 

 47°, 5; 49°, 17; 51°, 9. It will thus be seen that 

 37° to 41° are the favorite temperatures of "birds 

 of the first wave" for migration. In cloudy 

 weather 143 records; in clear weather 101, or ex- 

 actly 60 per cent, cloudy, to 40 per cent, clear. 



With reference to the wind, we find that with 

 the wind N., there were 29 records; N.E., 31 

 records: E., 12; S.E., 75; S., 33; S.W., 37; W., 

 39; and N.W., 9. It will be noticed that the 

 most unfavorable winds, the E., and N.W., are 

 directly opposite those winds which have the 

 greatest number of records. Combining, we 

 have for E., and W., 51 records; for N.W., N., 

 and N.E., 69; and for S.E., S., and S.W., 125 

 records, showing how greatly the birds prefer a 

 southerly wind to help them on their journey. 



As regards barometric pressure, we find that 

 on March 19th, there were 24 records with an 

 average pressure of 30.00 inches; March 30th, 35 

 records at 30.04 inches; the 21st, 43 records at 

 30.34 inches; the 32d, 82 records at 30.15 inches; 

 the 23d, 45 records at 29.80 inches; the 34th, 73 

 records at 29.85 inches; and the 25th, 17 records 

 at 39.86 inches. These make an average of ex- 

 actly 30.00 inches or the normal pressure, but it 

 must be remembered that the great wave of the 

 22d began when the pressure was very high and 

 took place on a falling barometer. It is prob- 

 able that a large number of observations taken 

 throughout the season would give from 29.93 to 

 29.97 as the average pressiuv at which the birds 

 mini-ale. 



A Catalogue of the Birds of Kala- 

 mazoo County, Michigan. 



BY DK. MORKIS OIBBS. — P.\RT lY. 



64. [135.] Vireosylvia olivaecu (Linn.) Bonnp. 

 Red-eyed Vireo. Our most abundant species of 

 the greenlets. Well Imown to nearly all collect- 

 ors, and readily recognized from its beautiful and 

 almost constant song. Arrives from April 25th 

 to May 11th, according to the advancement of 

 the season. This Vireo, like all the others, being 

 influenced to a great extent by the weather, rarely 

 comes north until the budding of the trees actu- 

 ally proves that Spring has come to stay. The 

 Red-eye usually appears in early May, and soon 

 makes his presence known by his agreeable 

 warblings. The birds nest abundantly with us, 

 the eggs usually being laid by May 35th. Some 

 seasons the first eggs are laid earli-jr than this; 

 again, not until June has come. The birds sing 

 joyously nearly all summer, and are the life of 

 the woods in the sultry days of late summer. 

 Cannot say just when the Vireos leave us for the 

 south, but have found them quite scarce after 

 September 1st. 



65. [138.] yire(wyln<ii,hili((Mphicii. Cass. Phil- 

 adelphia or Brotherly-love Vireo. I think that 

 but a single specimen has thus far been taken in 

 this county. The date was May 33, 1883. It 

 may be considered a rare species with us. The 

 song of this little bird I have never heard. 



66. [139.] r/(m'i^?nV/i/(7m(Vieill.)Cass. Wail)- 

 ling Vireo. A common and well known species. 

 A favorite with all. Nests in city and country. 

 A rare singer, whose liquid melody of song gushes 

 forth in ecstatic warblings of the finest blended 

 notes imaginable. One who hears the song of 

 the Warbling Vireo will ever remember it, if he 

 has an ear for harmony and a love for birds. I 

 think if I were to be deprived of the blessed 

 privilege of watching the movements of the happy 

 birds, and listening to their carols for a period of 

 fifty years, that I could readily detect the song of 

 this rare w'arbler among a thousand silver- 

 tongued performers from all parts of the globe, at 

 once on hearing it sing. And if confined in some 

 dismal cell, like the Prisoner of Chillon, I would 

 anxiously await the return of the bird to sing at 

 my grated window. And the joyous Warbling 

 Vireo would be my choice of all the birds. 



To describe the song of the Warbling Vireo 

 would indeed be a difficult task, and were it ever 

 so well accomplished, the notes as described on 

 paper would give, but pooriy at best, an idea of 

 the si)irit of the song. A descriiition of birds' 

 songs is a matter on which but little has been 



