The Season 



35 



this season. — Harry C. Oberholser, 

 Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 



Oberlin (Ohio) Region. — The out- 

 standing feature of the autumn was the 

 almost uninterrupted mild weather. There 

 were two light frosts in early October, and 

 some six inches of snow in the second week 

 of November, which melted in three days 

 and was followed by mild weather until 

 the opening of December. At the present 

 writing (December 15) the ground is not 

 frozen and the grass is still green. 



This mild weather seemed to have no 

 effect in holding the mass of the birds in 

 this region. Of course, many of the water- 

 birds did remain — are still with us. By 

 the middle of October, while the trees 

 still retained most of their leaves, the woods 

 and fields had assumed nearly their winter 

 aspect as far as the bird-life is concerned. 

 Such birds as the Warblers, Sparrows, 

 Swallows, Thrushes, and the like, had 

 betaken themselves southward at their 

 accustomed times, at best leaving only 

 casual stragglers behind. One may still 

 find an occasional Towhee, Robin, Crackle, 

 Hermit Thrush, and even Catbird by 

 diligent search; but this is not unusual. 



Perhaps the most significant fact is that 

 there are none of the birds from the north 

 which visit us during the more snowy 

 winters. The only winter visitants which 

 are in their usual numbers ",re the Tree 

 Sparrows and Junro: 



Among the resident birds the Cardinal 

 seems to have considerably decreased in 

 numbers, for some unknown reason. 

 Carolina Wrens have not been found in 

 six years. The Northern Pileated Wood- 

 pecker seems to have finally entirely 

 disappeared from the region. The same is 

 true of the Ruffed Grouse. Under the 

 protection of the state law the Bob-white 

 seems to be increasing slowly. The long 

 continued snow and severe weather of last 

 winter did not seem to lessen its numbers. 

 — Lynds Jones, Oberlin, Ohio. 



Kansas City Region. — The lesser 

 migrants, especially the Sparrows, passed 

 through this region with a rush during 



early autumn and have not tarried in 

 numbers as is usual when food is abundant 

 and the season mild and open. A few waves 

 were noted during the last half of October, 

 notably on the 23d when Sparrows, War- 

 blers, Kinglets, and other small species 

 were everywhere, but thirty days later 

 there was a most unusual dearth of life in 

 the woods and thickets. 



Conflicting reports were received dur- 

 ing the early weeks of the current period 

 regarding the numbers of passing Ducks 

 and Geese. Lake- and marsh-hunters 

 maintained with enthusiasm that the old- 

 time abundance had been noted, and a 

 few have been honest enough to praise the 

 law that has made this possible, thereby 

 admitting their error in opposing it so 

 stoutly. Contrary to this good news there 

 comes a report from my most trustworthy 

 source of information on the Missouri 

 River (Wm. Andrews) that with the excep- 

 tion of almost unprecedented numbers of 

 Green- winged Teal during late October the 

 flight has been subnormal. Conditions 

 not easy of analysis have operated a 

 few times in the past to cause a like deser- 

 tion of the big river during the fall migra- 

 tion. Andrews' notes show encouraging 

 numbers of Geese of all species during late 

 October and early November, but this 

 conservative observer will not admit that 

 there has been the least indication of any 

 increase in numbers over recent years. 



Chief among the species noted late in 

 October were 15 Lesser Snow Geese on the 

 24th, and 21 Horned Grebes, 11 White- 

 fronted Geese, 26 Franklin's Gulls, 30 

 Hutchins's Geese, 75 Ring-billed Gulls, 

 300 White Pelicans (very late), great 

 numbers of large Hawks (sp. ?), and six 

 species of the commoner Ducks on the 

 25th. 



November opened with every upland 

 lake and pond black with Mallards, 

 Pintails, Red-heads (few), Ring-necks, 

 Scaup, Lesser Scaup and Shovellers, while 

 on the river were some Gadwall and im- 

 mense numbers of Green-winged Teal. 

 On the 7th a party of 5 Golden-eyes were 

 seen, and on the loth a flock of 14 Bufile- 

 heads, with a few Mergansers and Hooded 



