162 



THE 00L0QI8T 



Belted Kingfishers and their neigh- 

 bors, the Bank and Rough-winged 

 Swallows, are less common than usual 

 this season. The rivers have been out 

 of their banks several times since 

 nesting season began; and since the 

 banks along the streams are not of 

 any great height at any time, the high 

 waters of this breeding season have 

 kept the three species above men- 

 tioned from their usual nesting sites. 

 Never before have I seen as few birds 

 of either of the three species at this 

 reason of year on the rivers of this 

 section. 



The Yellow-billed Cuckoo could be 

 heard at almost any time and place 

 along the river or among the hills. 

 It is very widely and evenly distrib- 

 uted in this section. Of the Wood- 

 peckers, we found that all of Mis- 

 souri's most common species were 

 there in quite an abundance. Hairy, 

 Downy, Red-headed, Red-bellied, Pi- 

 leated, and the Flicker. All were in 

 fair measure regularly distributed 

 throughout the territory covered in 

 our drives. Nighthawks were seen 

 occasionally flying across the skyline. 

 Chuck-wills-widow seemed to be in 

 great majority, as three or more dif- 

 ferent birds could be heard every 

 night. 



Chimney Swifts were a common 

 sight in the air, and Ruby-throated 

 Hummingbirds were very abundant 

 in the vicinity of our camp. Of the 

 Flycatcher family we saw many King- 

 birds, Crested Flycatchers, Phoebes, 

 and several Pewees, though not so 

 many as the former three. A few 

 Prairie Horned Larks were seen on 

 the prairie section of our drive, but 

 of cour?e, none were seen along the 

 wooded river bottoms. Blue Jays 

 were seen all along the trip, but are 

 not present in any great numbers at 

 this season. Crows were abundant 

 and very noisy; we could not fail to 



find them, as the immature young 

 birds kept up a continual clatter. 

 Cowbirds were as usual common 

 everywhere, as is common with most 

 pests. 



One or two pairs of Red-winged 

 Blackbirds were seen along the small- 

 er creek (by name Carney's Branch; 

 it drains into Flat Creek, which in 

 turn drains into James River just 

 above Cape Fair) but they are not 

 common this season even in their ac- 

 customed haunts where last season 

 they were abundant. Meadowlarks 

 were found common on the uplands, 

 and not at all scarce along the bot- 

 tom lands. The Orchard Oriole was 

 not seen after we left the upland 

 ridges and the level prairie region. 

 A few Bronzed Grackles strayed across 

 our path on the ridges. Goldfinches 

 were common at every point of the 

 trip. The English Sparrow occupies 

 even the very most remote hollow 

 trees in the depths of the hills. Chip- 

 pys and Field Sparrows are also com- 

 mon along the river as well as on the 

 uplands. 



The Towhee was found abundantly 

 along the river. Cardinals were pres- 

 ent in amazing abundance, seeming to 

 have produced well this season es- 

 pecially along the river. We seemed 

 to find no willow thicket or ravine 

 without its quota of Redbirds. Sev- 

 eral pairs of Blue Grosbeaks were 

 both seen and heard. All of them 

 showed a preference for upland 

 brushy pastures. The Indigo Bunt- 

 ing is more common than ever be- 

 fore; never have we seen so many of 

 these gaudy little birds. Dickcissels 

 are rather common on all parts of the 

 trip, although more so in the real 

 prairie regions than in the wooded 

 sections. Purple Martins are com- 

 mon, for no native of the hills fails 

 to have his small Martin box. Barn 

 Swallows were seen at a few points 



