THE OOLOQIST 



141 



May Birds in Essex County, N. J. 



During May, 1912, bird life in this 

 section of northern New Jersey was 

 unusually abundant and many species 

 were found building homes and rear- 

 ing their progeny in greater profusion 

 than ever before. 



It is the concensus of opinion of lo- 

 cal ornithologists, as well as my own, 

 that this superabundance of our feath- 

 ered friends was largely, if not whol- 

 ly, due to the delightful weather con- 

 ditions which were prevalent through- 

 out the entire month. In all ninety- 

 three species appeared locally during 

 the month, which is far in advance 

 of the usual quota of visitors and resi- 

 dents, especially in view of the dense- 

 ly populated district such as this coun- 

 ty is. 



Among the above number were such 

 species as the Least Sandpiper, Black- 

 crowned Night Heron, Rough-winged 

 Swallow and Carolina Wren which are 

 very unusual, and, in fact, are the 

 first of their kind which have appear- 

 ed upon my personal records for May 

 during the past decade. Other species 

 such as the Grasshopper Sparrow, 

 Chestnut-sided Warbler, Ruby-throat- 

 ed Hummingbird, Mourning Dove and 

 Screech Owl were found nesting to- 

 wards the end of the month, the rec- 

 ords of which are worthy of more than 

 passing interest. The biggest find, of 

 all, however, was a nest of the Blue- 

 winged Warbler in a Platanus occiden- 

 talis at Montclair Heights. 



Below will be found an annotated 

 list of the species as they were record- 

 ed during the month: 



(1) Starling- — Sturnus vulgaris. 

 Common on every day except the 6th 

 and 16th. On these days they were for 

 some reason, wholly absent. Seventy- 

 six nests of this species were located 

 during the month in many places, 

 some odd and others quite usual. 



(2) American Robin — Planesticus 



Migrator ius. Common on each day. 

 F'orty-two nests located and of these 

 forty families reached maturity so far 

 as I know. The other two were de- 

 stroyed by several house cats, shortly 

 after the eggs hatched. 



(3) Wood Thrush — ^Hylocichla mus- 

 telina. Numerous birds of this spe- 

 cies were present on fifteen days and 

 three nests were located in Branch 

 Brook Park, Newark, N. J. 



(4) Towhee — Pipilo erythropthal- 

 mus. Present on eleven days. Two 

 nests located both with young about 

 five days old. 



(5) Hermit Thrush — Tylocichla gut- 

 tata pallasi. But one of this appeared 

 on the 1st. It was probably a strag- 

 gler or last of the spring migrants to 

 appear locally. 



(6) White-throated Sparrow — Zon- 

 otrichia albicollis. Numbers of birds 

 appeared on nine days during the ear- 

 lier part of the month and were in full 

 song whenever located. The last ap- 

 peared on the 20th. 



(7) American Goldfinch — Astragali- 

 nus tristis. Common on twelve days. 

 One nest located in a pear sapling in 

 southern Bloomfield, containing a com- 

 pleted set of five eggs. 



(8) Cowbird — Molothrus ater. Pres- 

 ent on eleven days. Two nests of the 

 Red-eyed Vireo and one of the Yellovv 

 Warbler found with eggs of these 

 birds in them. 



(9) Bluebird — Eialia sialis. Pres- 

 ent on eight days. No nests of this 

 species were located this year any- 

 where within the precincts of the 

 county. 



(10) Song Sparrow — Melospiza mel- 

 cdia. Common throughout the month 

 and many nests were located in many 

 places throughout the county. 



(11) Meadowlark — Sturnella mag- 

 na. Present on eighteen days. Four 

 nests located in old stubble fields, all 

 of which contained completed sets of 

 four and five eggs. 



