DAILY OBSERVATIONS OF OUR BIRDS 27 



the Cowbirds were a few Grackles. A few Swifts above the poplar. 



September 21, 1912. 



9 to 9:45 a. m. — Saw a Jay and heard its call frequently. 

 Call-note of Song Sparrow and Killdeer. A Kingfisher heard ahead 

 of me and seen flying when I had advanced a short distance. 

 Indigo call-note. Young Goldfinch heard. Black- throated Green 

 Warbler high up in an oak. 



4:30 to 5 p. m. — Jays calling. Saw a White-breasted Nuthatch. 



September 22, 1912. 



II to 12 a. m. — A Jay seen. Several Cowbirds were heard, 

 hidden in a maple tree. In order to see them I had to go under 

 the tree. Two notes were heard — a bubbling note and part of a 

 whistling note. Call-note of Goldfinch. 



4:30 to 5:30 p. m. — Jays calling. Call-note of Robin. Song of 

 two Meadowlarks. Grackles numerous and noisy in an elm grove. 

 Note of Killdeer. Several large flocks of Cowbirds passed, one 

 close behind another. The birds alighted in a grove ahead of me 

 and when I arrived in the grove, which was near a lake, I found 

 many of them drinking. They came one by one to the edge of 

 the lake, but left in small flocks, the black and brown of the males 

 and females plainly visible. In drinking some of the birds rested 

 on matted weeds at the surface of the water. A large number of 

 Swifts were flying, some high and others low, over the lake. Those 

 flying low would strike the water now and then, making a splash. 

 This was the first time I ever remember to have seen Swifts bathing. 

 Why was this my first obser^^ation? 5 Perhaps because Swifts 

 only bathe toward evening, and I may never have been near a 

 lake just at the opportune time to witness the performance. 



September 23, 19 12. 

 Crows in a grove very noisey. Jays calling. Call-note of 

 Robin and Song Sparrow. A Kingfisher dropped into the water and 

 returned to a tree nearby, but shifted its position twice, making 

 it impossible to see whether the bird caught a fish or not. Note 

 of young Goldfinches, in the top offan elm ;'7 undulating note of 

 old bird. Several Black-throated Green Warblers in walnut 

 trees; note, vers' low. Another species of the Warbler family, 

 with faint chestnut on sides and two white wing bars; the unde- 

 veloped plumage making it difiicult to say if it was a Chestnut- 

 sided or a Bay-breasted Warbler. 



