The Season 



227 



on April 23, and on several previous dates. 

 A flock of seven or eight Loons, also two 

 others, flying north\Yard over Washington, 

 were seen by E. A. Preble on May 2. The 

 species was noted on other occasions, 

 principally on the Potomac River, up to 

 May 4. The Olive-sided Flycatcher, which 

 is of very irregular occurrence in this 

 vicinity, was twice observed during this 

 spring — one indi\adual on May 16, by 

 E. A. Preble, near the Bureau of Standards 

 in Washington; and one, May 22, by Miss 

 M. T. Cooke, at Prospect Hill, Va. The 

 White-crowned Sparrow, another rare bird 

 here, was found by Miss M^ T. Cooke, at 

 Prospect Hill, Va., on May 2, and by F. C. 

 Lincoln in the ZoologicaFPark of Wash- 

 ington, on May 15. The Bachman Spar- 

 row, which has not been reported for two 

 years in this region, was seen by L. D. 

 Miner near Black Pond, Va., along the 

 Potomac near the mouth of DifEcult Run, 

 on May 22. A Lincoln Sparrow was seen 

 in the writer's dooryard in the city of 

 Washington, on May 10. 



Not only was the total number of birds 

 present during the height of the migration 

 large, but some species were unusually 

 abundant. Both the Bonaparte Gull and 

 the Ring-billed Gull were present in large 

 numbers on the Potomac River, and well 

 distributed as far up as Washington; -while 

 the Loon was seen more frequently than 

 usual. The Scarlet Tanager and Baltimore 

 Oriole were, in certain favorable localities, 

 very numerous; and the Indigo Bunting 

 was both abundant and widely distributed. 

 Rarely ever have we seen here greater 

 numbers of the Purple Finch than were 

 present during the present spring, and their 

 delightfully melodious songs were every- 

 where to be heard. — Harry C. Ober- 

 HOLSER, Biological Survey, Washington, 

 D. C. 



Oberlix Region. — The migration sea- 

 son opened on February 22, when Robins, 

 Bluebirds, and Killdeers arrived. There 

 was no further movement until March 2, 

 when a marked increase in numbers of 

 Crows and Song Sparrows was noted. 

 Meadowlarks and Red-winged Blackbirds 



came on the 9th, Wild Geese and Cow- 

 birds on the loth. On the 15th Bronzed 

 Crackles came in force, and on the i6th a 

 single Field Sparrow was heard singing. 



On the 1 8th, Mourning Doves and Mi- 

 grant Shrikes came, and on the 19th four 

 Redheads visited our water-works reser- 

 voir. On the 2ist a flock of Rusty Black- 

 birds, Phoebe, Turkey Vultures, and Lesser 

 Scaup Ducks arrived; and on the 23d two 

 Belted Kingfishers; on the 24th Vesper and 

 White-throated Sparrows; on the 25th Fox 

 Sparrows and Brown Thrashers. There 

 was nothing new on the 26th, but on the 

 27th Chipping Sparrows, Buflieheads, and 

 Tree Swallows came. Yellow-bellied Sap- 

 sucker and Bittern came on the 30th, and 

 Purple Martins on the 31st. Thus there 

 was no well-marked movement in March. 

 This was probably due to the lack of any 

 weather which would induce migration 

 waves involving many species. 



In April marked waves occurred on the 

 3d and 4th, nth and 12th, and 22dand 23d. 

 These waves were coincident with marked 

 warm waves of weather. The weather for 

 April was rather more than usually mild, 

 but with temperatures somewhat below 

 32 degrees at night, except during the 

 three periods mentioned above. 



There was a small but distinct wave of 

 migration on May 2 and 3, but after that 

 cold and wet weather prevailed until the 

 13th. During this period birds dribbled in 

 in a sort of half-hearted apologetic man- 

 ner, and most of them were sorry that they 

 had come. It was not until the third week 

 of May that there was any distinct Warbler 

 movement, and then the species were rep- 

 resented by fewer individuals than usual. 

 This delayed movement resulted in later 

 records for stragglers than usual. The last 

 tarried into the first week of June. 



It should also be noted that vegetation 

 was exceptionally backward. Most of the 

 trees which put out their leaves late were 

 nearly bare of leaves on the first day of 

 June. Insects were scarce during the 

 brief stay of the Warblers. 



The past migration season has fully 

 demonstrated that temperature is a potent 

 factor in the northward migration of the 



