2 THE AMERICAN MIDLAND NATURALIST 



for birds, as the number of species which frequent it indicates. 



The total number of different kinds of birds observed during 

 the seven years amounts to loo, including those observed flying 

 over but not actually alighting. On some occasions during spring 

 and autumn many birds were identified from their notes as they 

 passed low over the city on their migration at night. Our list, 

 while not so large as some lists from other cities, includes, never- 

 theless, not a few rare or unexpected birds, though it is almost as 

 remarkable for species that it does not contain. There is, of course, 

 more or less of chance in desultory observations of this character, 

 and. the missing birds may well have occurred during the period 

 of observation, but accidentally escaped being seen. Some species 

 have, apparently, their regular times for coming into the city, 

 not necessarily coextensive with their period of occurrence in this 

 general region, and this applies even to transients. Naturally 

 spring and autumn are in general the best seasons, but it seems 

 that the latter is even better in some respects than spring, for 

 we have observ^ed more species during a single day here in fall 

 than ever in spring. The very best time, at least for a variety of 

 birds, is the last week in September, especially if the weather is 

 fine. As an indication of what may be seen at this time, the two 

 following lists from observations made about an hour before 8 a. m. 

 and during the evening after 6 o'clock may be found of interest: 



September 26, 1916. — American Sparrow Hawk, Northern 

 Flicker, Brown Thrasher, Bluebird, Southern Robin, Gray- 

 cheeked Thrush, Olive-backed Thrush, Red- breasted Nuthatch, 

 Blue Jay, Fish Crow, Cedar Waxwing, American Redstart, Cape 

 May Warbler, Black and White Warbler, Purple Crackle, Car- 

 dinal, English Sparrow, Purple Finch. Total, 18 species. 



September 21, 1917. — Sora Rail, Northern Flicker, Chimney 

 Swift, Bluebird, Southern Robin, Hermit Thrush, Gray-cheeked 

 Thrush, Olive-backed Thrush, Blue jay, Cedar Waxwing, 

 American Redstart, Black-poll Warbler, Magnolia Warbler, 

 Bobolink Purple Grackle, Cardinal, English Sparrow, American 

 Goldfinch. Total, 18 speckles. 



A complete catalogue of all the species observed during our 

 period of observation, with brief notes on their occurrence, will 

 be found in the succeeding pages. We are indebted to Miss May 

 T. Cooke of 1450 Fairmont St. N. W., for several records additional 

 to our own. 



