THE SEASON 



XVII. October 15 to December 15, 1919 



Boston Region. — The weather during 

 the period covered by this report has been 

 mild, in the main, but during the two 

 months there occurred several sudden, 

 sharp falls in temperature which brought 

 midwinter conditions for a day or two. 

 Soon, however, the west wind restored 

 the spring-like, showery weather, during 

 which wintering Meadowlarks sang freely. 



Birds have not been numerous. Chip- 

 ping Sparrows left, as usual, promptly on 

 October 25. Purple Finches, during the 

 latter half of October, fed in small flocks on 

 the seeds of the white ash (of which there is 

 an abundant crop) and to a less extent 

 on the seeds of the tulip tree. Red Cross- 

 bills were heard on October 19 and Pine 

 Siskins were numerous for the month 

 following October 15. Fox Sparrows were 

 late in appearing, but the main flight had 

 passed at the normal date, November 15. 

 Myrtle Warblers were present until 

 November 11. It may be recalled that 

 this species appeared here in late August, 

 hence the last migrant was eleven weeks 

 behind the first. Both August and Nov- 

 ember birds were positively migrants, for 

 the species never breeds or winters in 

 Lexington. 



Mr. Horace W. Wright has kindly sent 

 me records of his careful, systematic 

 observations during the autumn, about 

 Boston. He found Redpolls in fair 

 numbers between November 8 and De- 

 cember 2 ; White- winged Crossbills, October 



29 to December i; a flock of 25 birds at 

 Fresh Pond, Cambridge, October 29; 

 Red Crossbills October 30 to December i; 



30 at Belmont, November 3; he saw none 

 of either species after December i. 



Tree Sparrows, arriving normally on 

 October 29 (Wright), have since become 

 scarce, as have Juncos. Acadian Chick- 

 adees, Pine and Evening Grosbeaks have 

 not appeared. A late flight of Brown 

 Creepers was noted in early December. — 

 WiNSOR M. Tyler, M.D., Lexington, 

 Muss. 



New York Region. — The autumn was 

 an open one until, by early December, the 

 regular winter cyclonic rotation of rainy 

 spells and cold clear-offs had become well 

 marked. In response to the mild weather 

 there are reports of stragglers of several 

 species lingering late. Such are a couple of 

 Chipping Sparrows, observed by the writer 

 at Hempstead, Long Island, November 

 23, loosely associated with a flock of Juncos. 

 Common associations of different species 

 of winter Sparrows gives an interesting 

 slant on their habits and habitats. For 

 instance, one seldom finds White-throated 

 and Tree Sparrows together, whereas the 

 Junco flocks freely with either one. The 

 Song Sparrow is often found with the 

 White-throat; do others share our opinion 

 that it is more frequent with the Tree 

 Sparrow than with the Junco? 



As is often the case in mild seasons, the 

 last scattering south-bound birds were 

 noticed in early December. At Garden 

 City there was a single stray Myrtle 

 Warbler on November 27, two weeks or 

 more later than any others had been seen. 

 The Fox Sparrow was noted on December 

 7; the Robin on December 15. None of 

 the three winter in the immediate vicinity. 

 Reports from New Jersey indicate flight 

 of Canada Geese near New York City the 

 end of the first week in December. 



Some distance up the Hudson (accord- 

 ing to M. S. Crosby of Rhinebeck, N. Y.) 

 the American Merganser arrived Novem- 

 ber 21 and the Golden-eye Duck December 

 I (both early), and Redpolls were noted 

 on the first of December, but not since. 

 Crackles to the number of 1,500 were still 

 roosting in a swamp (near Tivoli) with 

 Starlings, December 8, where none could 

 be found on December 14. 



One of the most inte esting features of 

 the season has been the appearance of the 

 American Crossbill, nowhere common as 

 yet near the city, though observed in some 

 numbers among the pitch pines east on 

 Long Island in early November. It has 



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