The Season 



47 



been noted at Long Beach (a single bird, 

 November 9, W. G. Van Name), three or 

 four times at Plainfield, N. J., (W. DeW. 

 Miller), and twice at Garden City 

 (November 30 a single bird which paused 

 but an instant in the top of a pine, and 

 December 1 1 two flying over high, J. T. N.) 

 R. Friedmann reports a White-winged 

 Crossbill within the city of Brooklyn 

 associating with House Sparrows, October 

 31! There seems to be little chance of 

 error having been made in the identifica- 

 tion. Two White-winged Crossbills are 

 recorded by L. S. Crandall of the New 

 York Zo5logical Park about December 7; 

 one rosy, the other greenish. 



Domestic Pigeons, which come and go 

 at will, are scarcely less interesting in 

 their affairs than wild birds. A young one 

 with a nest in our barn at Garden City 

 had recently hatched her first egg on 

 December 14; she was still a squab in the 

 nest the latter part of April. This is her 

 mate, an adult's fourth brood this year, 

 his original spouse having disappeared after 

 the third. — J. T. Nichols, New York City. 



Philadelphia Region. — The tempera- 

 ture for October and November was 

 unusually mild, no killing frost occurring 

 until about the middle of November; on 

 the gth of this month tomato \-ines were 

 still green and pepper plants were slill in 

 a flourishing condition in southern New 

 Jersey. Farmers stated that it had been 

 the mildest fall in a number of years. 



The great abundance of Siskins, first 

 noted about October 15, scattered flocks 

 of Crossbills, and an almost entire absence 

 of Chickadees (at least locally) were the 

 outstanding features of the season. 



The fall migration of Chipping and Fox 

 Sparrows seemed considerably above 

 normal. The former birds appeared most 

 common the last week in October and 

 were still present in numbers till the 

 middle of November. Perhaps the abun- 

 dance of Fox Sparrows was more apparent 

 than real, as many of these birds favored 

 us by singing this fall — full, rounded 

 melodies of spring-like clearness. This 

 singing was not confined to a few birds 



in a single locality but seemed quite 

 general, certainly a rather unusual per- 

 formance for the Fox Sparrow. 



The fall shooting-season was reported 

 to have been the most successful since 

 the state license system was adopted in 

 New Jersey. The more common Ducks 

 were quite plentiful on the Delaware 

 River and Bay, and Quail were abundant 

 in southern New Jersey. A few Wood- 

 cock were also secured by the sportsmen, 

 perhaps more than the ordinary number. 

 Three reasons may be advanced for the 

 plentiful game-supply this fall: the mild 

 winter of 1918-19; the dearth of gunners 

 last fall, many of whom were occupied in 

 the more strenuous work of the World 

 War; and the probable beneficial efi'ect 

 of the Migratory Bird Law. As for this 

 fall, gunners without end appeared to be 

 afield, and the few Saturday afternoons 

 that walks were taken during the season 

 sounded like the Fourth of July, so constant 

 was the bang ! bang ! If observations can 

 be relied upon, all living things were being 

 brought to bag that wore fur or feathers, 

 and these not being found, a rail-fence, 

 tin can, or most anything, came in for a 

 load of shot. This reckless shooting was 

 more especially noticeable among the 

 younger gunners. Boys of fourteen years 

 can obtain a license in New Jersey now, 

 with their parents' consent. Should the 

 coming winter be a mild one, sportsmen 

 will have abundant opportunity to observe 

 next fall just what result the unprecedented 

 army of gunners has had on the game. 



In summing up the year's observations 

 which were confined almost entirely to 

 southern New Jersey, 1919 appears to 

 have been a remarkably good year for 

 birds, both as to number of individuals 

 and species noted. During the year, 

 193 varieties were observed in the above 

 mentioned locality. — Julian K. Potter, 

 Camdcii, N. J. 



Washington Region. — October .,nd 

 November of 19 19 were ornithologically 

 rather interesting months about Washing- 

 ton. The relatively warm and pleasant 

 weather was favorable to bird observa- 



