50 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 8-No. 7 



a business of their slang-hter. 4-7 and 4-8 

 during a snow storm was the harvest time, 

 and by 4-11 most had jiassed on. (57) 

 3-24 was the day of the first, wlien five or 

 six flocks settled on a lake near by. (GO) 

 no Ducks reached here until 4-3, but as the 

 ice was then two feet thick it is no wonder. 

 Of the movements of Geese I will give 

 merely some condensed notes. (IG) began 

 to fly 1-15 and ceased 2-20. (30) 2-15 first. 

 2-24 several trooj^s seen. 3-18 large flocks. 



(42) 3-24 shot first; saw fifty Brant in 

 morning and 300 to 400 in afternoon. (33) 

 3-21 last night Geese were heard all night 

 going north. (37) 2-17 first. 3-lG plenty 

 both Geese and Brant. (38) 2-lG first. 

 (40) 3-19 flying south but returning 3-21. 



(43) 3-1 first. (44) 3-5 first. 3-14 a great 

 many. 3-18 flying both north and south, 

 according to wind. (47) 3-12 first. 3-25 

 the bulk came, and on 4-5 and 4-6 on 

 prairies and in cornfields the Geese, Brant, 

 and Swans were in swarms. Two days 

 later most had gone. (52) 3-14 first. Only 

 a few in their migrations pass over this 

 part of the country. (60) 4-7 were the 

 first and then only three. 



I api^end the following interesting ac- 

 coxmt by (30) of the flight of Geese. " 3-14. 

 It was a grand sight to see an army of 

 northbound Snow Geese go by with much 

 noise in the forenoon. At first came about 

 500 in one cloud, but divided in fifteen 

 loose files. After a few minutes came 

 another army of about 150 in five files. 

 Among all these were only eight wholly 

 white Geese, but many with white head 

 and neck ; the rest were darker birds. They 

 flew about 300 feet high. At the same time 

 passed a troop of 30-40 Canada Geese. The 

 files of these two kinds of Geese are dif- 

 ferent. The ranks of the Canada Geese 

 make quite a sharp pointed angle, while 

 the angle of the Snow Geese is quite ob- 

 tuse, and the birds often throw the body 

 from one side to the other ; their flight also 

 seems to be more rapid and Duck-like." 



Of the Blackbirds the only one we will 



take iijD for the })resent is the Red winged 

 Agekeus phw/ilceus. His Winter home 

 does not differ much from the Robin's but 

 is somewhat farther South, and is restricted 

 to the peculiar kind of country Avhich they 

 always choose, i. e. swampy lowlands. 

 Wherever they do occur in winter it is in 

 innumerable quantities. Some few strag- 

 gling flocks pass the winter farther north, 

 but only a few and these usually only in 

 mild winters. The larger flocks pass north 

 to breed, but some scattered ones remain 

 to rear their young, all the way from the 

 Gulf to the British line. No. (13) finds 

 them present 4-2G and marks them as resi- 

 dent, while (6) finds them breeding 4 25. 

 The api^earance of the first ones in the 

 spring is qiiite irregular, and any notes on 

 the first seen are of comparatively little 

 value, because, unless the observer goes 

 out in particular search of them, they will 

 not be seen until several days after their 

 arrival. The bulk moves quite regularly, 

 and I think a full record of the movements 

 of the females would show that they go 

 quite regularly north. In general the 

 height of the season is about the time the 

 females arrive The following is the record : 

 No. (10) found them as a Winter resident 

 in countless numbers. (35) arrived from 

 south 2-20 to 2-28 and 4-8 are still going 

 through in flocks. (30) 3-3 many small 

 flocks in the swamps of Illinois, jiist oppo- 

 site St. Louis, but none here yet. 3-11 

 have spread a little more in small troops, 

 mostly males. 3-14 were the most con- 

 spicuous birds in the lowlands. Vast num- 

 bers were in noisy flocks, with biit few fe- 

 males. 3-17 large flocks go north above 

 the river. 4-4 the number was very great, 

 but 4-6 was the height of the season. 4-19. 

 females in flocks. (21) 3-12 first. 4-29 last 

 migrant has left and all our Blackbirds 

 have settled down to their summer's work. 

 (42) 3 6 first ; increasing very sloAvly, but 

 3-17 saw two large flocks and 3-18 still 

 more. (33) 3-7 first. (37) 3-18 first. 4-9 

 very numerous; quantities along the water 



