14 



THE ORNITnOLOGICAL YEAR. 



It 



eluded. The Great Horned Owl lays in February, other birds in 

 March and April ; still, the height of the breeding season is not 

 reached until June 1. 



Another period in the avian year closely connected with the spring 

 migration and nesting-time is the song season. Near New York city 

 it is inaugurated late in February by the Song Sparrow. Voice after 

 • voice is added to the choir, and in June our woods and fields ring with 

 the chorus so dear to lovers of Nature. By the middle of July it is on 

 the wane, and early in August it is practically over. Some birds have 

 a brief second song season in the fall, but as a rule it lasts only a few 

 days — it is a farewell to their summer homes.* 



August is a most discouraging month to the student of birds. 

 Birds leave their accustomed haunts and retire to secluded places to 

 renew their worn plumages. They are silent and inactive, and there- 

 fore difficult to find. Late in the month they reappear clad in travel- 

 ing costumes and ready for their southern journey. One by one they 

 leave us, and there are days late in August and early in September 

 when the woods are almost deserted of birds. Later the fall migra- 

 tion becomes continuous, and each night brings a host of new arrivals. 



The spring migration is scarcely concluded before the fall migra- 

 tion begins. July 1, Tree Swallows, which rarely nest near New York 

 city, appear in numbers from the north and gather in immense flocks 

 in our marshes. Later in the month they are joined by Bobolinks. 

 Early in August the careful observer will detect occasional small 

 flights of Warblers passing southward, and by September 10 the 

 great southern march of the birds is well under way ; it reaches its 

 height between the 20th and last of the month, when most of the win- 

 ter residents arrive, and from this time our bird-life rapidly decreases. 

 Some of the seed- and berry-eaters remain until driven southward by 

 the cold weather in December. When they have gone our bird popu- 

 lation is again reduced to the ever-present permanent residents and 

 hardy winter visitants. 



The appended tables graphically illustrate the rise and fall of the 

 migrations and of the nesting season. The first is based on my own 

 observations at Englewood, N. J,, kindly revised and supplemented by 

 Mr. Eugene P. Bicknell from extended observations at Riverdalt- on 

 the opposite side of the Hudson River. 



The second was compiled from data accompanying the collections 

 of the American Museum of Natural History. 



* See a series of papers by Mr. E. P. Bicknell entitled " A Study of the Sing- 

 ing of our Birds." The Auk, i, 1884, pp. 60-71, 180-140, 209-218, 322-332 ; ii, 1885, 

 pp. 144-154, 249-262. 



