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Bird - Lore 



season, even at Heron Lake away down 

 by the Iowa line. The number of Ducks 

 in the immediate vicinity of Minneapolis, 

 even within the city limits, revived 

 memories of the old days when shooting 

 used to be good in ponds and lakes now 

 included in, or adjacent to, the present 

 park system. Late in October and early 

 in November, Lesser Scaups, Ring-necks 

 and Golden-eyes congregated in Lake 

 Minnetonka, a big lake not far from 

 Minneapolis and the central area in a 

 State Game Refuge, in such numbers that 

 local papers carried facetious articles call- 

 ing upon the Commissioner of Game and 

 Fish to provide a remedy for the impeded 

 navigation ! 



Of other migrant birds and late dates 

 the following records are of interest — all 

 for the vicinity of Minneapolis: October 

 19, 3 young Harris's Sparrows. On 

 October 26, during a walk of two hours 

 in the outskirts of the city, in company 

 with Mr. Burton Thayer, some 250 

 birds were seen, divided very unequally 

 among 32 species, the features of special 

 importance being a flock of 25 Sandhill 

 Cranes flying over high in the air, i 

 Solitary Sandpiper beside the frozen 

 margin of a small lake, 3 much-belated 

 Chimney Swifts, 3 Fox Sparrows, 2 very 

 late Hermit Thrushes, 3 Red-headed 

 Woodpeckers, and the first distinct fall 

 'wave' of Juncos and Tree Sparrows. On 

 November 8, Burton Thayer and Charles 

 Phillips reported i Pied-billed Grebe and 

 3 Coots at Lake Minnetonka, which was 

 still open and full of Ducks. Migrating 

 Juncos and Tree Sparrows were abundant 

 everywhere on that date. A walk on 

 November 23 over the same route followed 

 on October 6, revealed only the dreary 

 conditions and paucity of bird-life found 

 here in the winter season. Silence and 

 loneliness prevailed in the woodlands, and 

 many skaters gliding over the surfaces of 

 the lakes replaced the water-fowl that had 

 so recently fled. 



Winter visitant birds have appeared in 

 various parts of the state, in some instances 

 rather earlier than usual. Dr. Leslie O. 



Dart reported that on October 23, the 

 date of the first big snowstorm, there 

 occurred just north of Leech Lake a great 

 flight of Snow Buntings, "thousands and 

 thousands of them in successive flocks." 

 They came in the midst of the falling snow 

 and replaced a horde of Juncos that 

 scurried away before the advancing storm. 

 On the same date, or thereabouts, Mr. 

 Carlos Avery witnessed a similar occur- 

 rence on the west shore of Red Lake and 

 says that many Redpolls appeared there 

 at the same time as the Snow Buntings. 

 Bohemian Waxwings have been seen in 

 numerous places as far south as Minnea- 

 polis and even away out on the south- 

 western prairies at Madison, Lac qui 

 Parle County (Miss Mary Donald). 

 No Evening Grosbeaks have been seen 

 as yet and Pine Grosbeaks in only one 

 or two places. But it will perhaps be 

 better to leave the winter-bird conditions 

 for a general summary later after more 

 complete data have been obtained. — Thos. 

 S. Roberts, University of Minnesoja, 

 Minneapolis, Minn. 



Kansas City Region. — Recent efforts 

 to interest rural observers in this region 

 to send in notes on the birds, especially 

 during the seasons of migration, have 

 resulted in the accumulation of some data 

 of no little value. Chief among the items 

 of interest to record is the addition to the 

 writer's list of the birds of this region of 

 the Eared Grebe. It is indeed strange 

 that this species has been so long over- 

 looked here, seeing that it breeds com- 

 monly in Nebraska and occurs regularly in 

 Iowa during migration. There are records 

 even for eastern Missouri, yet the first 

 authentic instance, known to the writer, 

 of the bird's occurrence in the entire 

 western Missouri and eastern Kansas area 

 was recorded on October 28. A specimen 

 was taken on this day from a scattered 

 flock of a dozen individuals on the Missouri 

 River, a few miles below Courtney, by 

 William Andrews. Fortunately, the skin 

 was preserved. This observer has also 

 furnished some exact information bearing 

 on the question of increase in the numbers 



