1 62 AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



for the Robin to arrive may be set down as the first or second week 

 in March. 



The Meadowlark shows as its usual time for arriving in spring 

 the same as that of the Robin, with one late date in 19 12. The 

 late arrival in 191 2 of all the early spring migrants clearly shows 

 that cold weather is a determining cause of the delay of migrating 

 birds in spring. 



The vSong Sparrow is quite regular in its time of arrival in 

 spring, the first or second week in March, under usual conditions, 

 always marking its advent. The observer is always sure of his 

 date of migration when referring to this species, for it announces 

 its presence on the very first day of arriving by its well-known 

 song. 



The Purple Grackle and Killdeer are two more species that 

 are among the early March migrants, but like the species already 

 mentioned, they will not brave cold weather in order to keep to 

 this regular time of arriving. 



The Mourning Dove usually arrives late in March, 15 days 

 being the greatest difference in its time of arriving in the four 

 years under comparison. The first three years show that this 

 species may be looked for either in the third or fourth week in 

 March. 



In the Kingfisher, we have a species that shows 17 days as 

 the greatest number between its earliest and latest arrival. The 

 dates of the four years are so distributed as to establish the fact 

 that this migrant may arrive either in the third or fourth week 

 in March, or in the first or second week in April. The observer is 

 quite sure of his dates in speaking of the Kingfisher, for the size 

 of the bird and its aquatic habits make it unlikely that the species 

 will not be seen on the first day of its arrival. 



The Phoebe's dates for the four years mark the time of arrival 

 for this species to be the last week in March or the first week in 

 April. The Golden crowned Kinglet also arrived two years in the 

 last week in March and two years in the first week in April. 



The Cowbird showed one irregularity in arriving as early 

 as March 16, 19 10, while the other three years each give the first 

 week in April as the usual time of migrating. This March date 

 was 17 days sooner than the earliest date in April. Who can give 

 a satisfactory explanation of this irregularity? 



In the case of the Vesper Sparrow and the Flicker, the dates 



