358 



Bird - Lore 



visitor," with the earliest record from New 

 Haven, August 14, 1883, and the latest 

 from New Haven, May 24, 1900. The 

 authors of the book say: "That the list is 

 unsatisfactory and incomplete in many 

 ways the authors realize all too well, and 

 they hope that it will be a stimulus to 

 others to fill up the gaps by conscientious 

 collecting." 



I wish to fill in one of the "gaps," 

 not by "collecting," but by careful obser- 

 vation, backed by many witnesses, and a 

 photograph taken in mid- July. 



My work takes me up and down the 

 sound along some fifty miles of shore and, 

 throughout June, 1914, I saw Gulls in 

 varying numbers between Norwalk and 

 Greenwich. The largest number stayed 

 about Goose Island bar, in the Norwalk 

 Islands; and Smith's Ledge, near Stam- 

 ford, was also a favorite place. On an 

 average, two-thirds of the birds seen were 

 in immature plumage; the rest fine adults, 

 and not one showed signs of injury. 



Throughout July, the Gulls were to be 

 found at low water on the bars and reefs, 

 and a man living so as to overlook Goose 

 Island bar tells me that "There was seldom 

 a day when there were not between forty 

 and one hundred Gulls seen." 



July 18 and 19, 1914, I counted sixty- 

 four Gulls at one time, and the next day 

 there were twenty-eight in the same place. 

 They were also seen in varying numbers 

 on the 2 2d, 23d, and 28th; and, on the 

 31st, I counted forty on Goose Island 

 bar. 



Knight, in 'The Birds of Maine,' says 

 that "westward of their breeding range it 

 [the Herring Gull] occurs as a non-breed- 

 ing summer coast bird to beyond our 

 border." 



It is evident, then, that the Herring 

 Gull is a summer bird at this end of the 

 state, and has occured this summer in 

 larger numbers than formerly, and seems 

 akin to the "non-breeding" birds of Maine, 

 for, as the author of that work says: 

 "Breeding birds have other things to do 

 than to sit on a sand-bar and sleep and 

 preen their feathers." — Wilbur F. Smith, 

 South Norwalk, Conn. 



A Winter Pensioner 



The Downy Woodpecker in the picture 

 has been a winter pensioner; I fully be- 

 lieve the same one for about ten years. 

 This last winter, a dead chestnut tree, with 

 limbs cut within two or three feet from 

 the trunk, was placed on the ground, and 

 suet fastened to the limbs in several 

 places. This spring, on account of repairs 

 to the porch, it was greatly in the way, and, 

 being the last of March, and the weather 

 mild, it was decided to take it up. After 

 this was done, it was cut in two about five 

 feet from the top, the bottom to be uti- 



DOWNY WOODPECKER AT SUET 



lized as a post; but when Mrs. Downy 

 came and found the tree which she and 

 her mate had fed in every day all winter 

 had gone, her anxiety was very pro- 

 nounced. She viewed the wreck, as it lay 

 on the ground, from every available perch, 

 with loud exclamations, and directed them 

 particularly at my brother who was work- 

 ing on the piazza roof, coming not more 

 than ten feet away on the eaves of the 

 house just above his head. Finally, the 

 top section, which had a piece of suet 

 fastened where they had pecked out the 

 inside, making what remained look like 

 a nest or basket, was placed on the hitch- 

 ing post, as in the picture, and Mrs. Downy 



