Notes from Field and Study 



3S5 



birds on the shore, and the first one that 

 came under the binoculars was a Sand- 

 piper with a slightly curved bill, pronounced 

 a Red-backed Sandpiper by Mr. E. E. 

 Caduc, my companion, a bird observer of 

 long experience. 



Next we saw two Least Sandpipers and 

 five Killdeers. On a little point were six 

 or eight Sanderlings and a Semipalmated 

 Plover. The Sanderling were beauties. 

 Some were well advanced in fall plumage, 

 being quite gray, and the spotted back 

 showing beautifully. Before we came back 

 to the road we had seen three or four 

 Solitary Sandpipers and a Green Heron. 



Then we started to go across a bridge 

 or culvert to get down the other side of 

 the reservoir. To the east the water 

 covers a space of a half-mile-square lake; 

 to the west it runs for five miles. 



We were nearly across the culvert when 

 we united in a shout of "There he is!" A 

 Bald Eagle was soaring a hundred feet up. 

 He was in full plumage, majestic and 

 wonderful, his white head and white tail 

 showing plainly in the clear sunlight. Far 

 down the lake we could see another Eagle. 



We went down the beach on the north 

 side for probably a mile and a half, every 

 little while coming upon one or two San- 

 derlings or one or two Solitary Sandpipers. 



On this north side, but east of the bridge, 

 were lots of Sanderlings and four Ring- 

 necked Plovers. 



Goldfinches were numerous, as were 

 Redwings, Cedarbirds, Maryland Yellow- 

 throats, and Savannah Sparrows. Other 

 birds were a cock Pheasant and a King- 

 fisher. Quantities of Barn and Cliff 

 Swallows were in the air and Great Blue 

 and Black-crowned Night Herons circled 

 around. 



.As we were eating our lunch we saw a 

 Marsh Hawk and an Eagle, and later we 

 saw two Eagles soaring high; looking the 

 other way, we saw two more, low, so low 

 that one of them picked something ou^ of 

 the water, and then they flew into a pine 

 tree. In the same direction we saw two 

 more Eagles, at least six separate birds. 

 Headed away from the lake, we took a 

 sharp turn in the road, and out of a tree 

 three rods away flew another Eagle. We 

 saw one or two Eagles half a dozen times 

 after that. Consideration led us to believe 

 we had seen nine Eagles altogether. 



Resting at the farmhouse, we heard a 

 note that Mr. Caduc said was that of a 

 Yellow-leg and in the air was a flock of 

 13 Yellow-legs, then a flock of 7, and then 

 out of the sky came at least 75. — Clarence 

 Houghton, Albany, N. ¥. 



THE SEASON 

 XXII. August 15 to October 15, 1920 



Boston Region. — In the region im- 

 mediately about Boston the past summer 

 was a very dry one — there were no rain- 

 storms, and most of the thunder showers 

 passed by to the north or south of us. Since 

 the heavy rain of September 10, we have 

 enjoyed a month of ideal autumn weather. 



The migration of small birds during 

 September and early October was remark- 

 ably regular. Usually at this season heavy 

 flights, bringing a multitude of birds, alter- 

 nate with days when there is a dearth of 

 bird-life, but this year the stream of mi- 

 grants was almost uninterrupted. The 

 northern Warblers appeared early, the 



Tennessee well in the van, their migration 

 hastened, doubtless, by early frosts in the 

 North. 



In addition to the rapidly moving hosts 

 of Warblers and Sparrows which the close 

 of summer and the autumn bring to in- 

 terest the bird-observers in this part of the 

 .transitional zone, there comes a change in 

 the behavior of some of our common 

 breeding birds. The Bluebirds which we 

 have scarcely seen or heard since they 

 were preparing for their second brood, be- 

 come a prominent feature of a walk on an 

 autumn morning. They fly overhead, 

 southward, in loose flocks, giving their 



