226 



Bird- Lore 



absent or not observed. Two noteworthy 

 exceptions, however, were the. Black and 

 White Warbler and the Ovenbird, their 

 notes being almost continuously in our ears 

 during the entire day's trip. A plentiful 

 supply of singing Goldfinches were on hand 

 and supplied us with pleasing music 

 throughout the day. On May i6 a short 

 excursion afield revealed a host of War- 

 blers present and seventeen species were 

 observed in the short space of three hours. 

 Apparently the peak of the Warbler mi- 

 gration was reached at about this time as 

 all the more common varieties, with the 

 exception of the uniformly late Black- 

 Poll, were noted. The migration averaged, 

 it seemed, about normal in numbers. — • 

 Julian K. Potter, Camden, N. J. 



Washington Region. — The spring mi- 

 gration season of 1920 has been of much 

 interest about Washington. Throughout 

 April and May the weather continued very 

 cool, with moderate rainfall, and the de- 

 velopment of the vegetation was conse- 

 quently very backward. These conditions 

 were reflected in the movements of the 

 birds, although not to the extent that might 

 have been expected. While many birds 

 were late in arriving and considerably pro- 

 longed their stay, many others were un- 

 usually early. The great migration move- 

 ment, however, was retarded, and the mi- 

 grants were present for a rather unusually 

 long period, this and other circumstances 

 making the spring migration as a whole 

 somewhat peculiar. 



The considerable number of early arriv- 

 als emphasized this anomalous state of 

 affairs, as the following list of birds will 

 show, the dates in parentheses indicating 

 past averages of arrival: the Woodcock 

 appeared on February 15 (March 10); 

 Least Flycatcher, April 24 (May 2) ; Grass- 

 hopper Sparrow, April 17 (April 22); Indigo 

 Bunting, April 21 (May i); Scarlet Tana- 

 ger, April 23 (April 30); Barn Swallow, 

 April 8 (April 1 2) ; Red-eyed Vireo, April 24 

 (April 29); Black-throated Blue Warbler, 

 April 23 (May i); Chestnut-sided Warbler, 

 April 24 (May 2) ; Hooded Warbler, April 24 

 (May i); Worm-eating Warbler, April 25 



(May 2); Parula Warbler, April 20 (April 

 24); Canadian Warbler, May 4 (May 8); 

 Yellow-breasted Chat, April 24 (April 30); 

 and Long-billed Marsh Wren, April 17 

 (May i). 



Two species were reported earlier than 

 ever before: the Black-throated Green 

 Warbler, found by B. H. Swales at Plum- 

 mer Island, Md., on April 18, the previous 

 earliest record of which is April 21, 1916; 

 and the Blackburnian Warbler, seen by 



A. Wetmore at Plummer Island, Md., on 

 April 23, which is four days earlier than 

 its previous earliest arrival, April 27, 1913. 



On the other hand, a large number of 

 species were decidedly late in putting in 

 their spring appearance. Among these were 

 the Black-billed Cuckoo, Bobolink, Bank 

 Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, Summer 

 Tanager, Solitary Vireo, Brown Thrasher, 

 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, Blue-winged War- 

 bler, Cape May Warbler, Yellow-throated 

 Warbler, Pine Warbler, Yellow Palm War- 

 bler, and Louisiana Water-Thrush. 



Two species were observed later in spring 

 than in any previous year for which we 

 have record: the Canada Goose, noted by 



B. H. Swales at Plummer Island, Md., on 

 April 18, the previous latest record of 

 which is April 13, 1913; and the Pintail, a 

 flock of eight of which was noted also at 

 Plummer Island, Md., by Mr. Swales, on 

 May 2, its previous latest spring occurrence 

 being April 17, 1915. 



Other spring migrants that delayed their 

 departure for a considerable period beyond 

 their normal dates were the Pied-billed 

 Grebe (seen. May 15), the Ring-billed 

 Gull, the Rusty Blackbird, Yellow-bellied 

 Sapsucker, Slate-colored Junco, Winter 

 Wren, Olive-backed Thrush, Blackburnian 

 Warbler, Yellow Palm Warbler, Canadian 

 Warbler, Purple Finch, seen on May 20 

 (average date of departure May 8), and 

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, noted May 15 

 (usual date of departure May 4). 



A few species of somewhat uncommon 

 occurrence about Washington have been 

 reported during the present spring season. 

 A Horned Grebe was seen by Mrs. Aspin- 

 wall at the Sixteenth Street City Reservoir 

 on the outskirts of the city of Washington 



