200 



Bird - Lore 



THE SEASON 



XXVI. April 15 to June 15, 1921 



Boston Region. — At the close of the 

 period covered by the last report, the season 

 was far in advance of the average; birds 

 normally due here during the first week of 

 May were confidently expected on their 

 breeding-grounds long before their usual 

 dates of arrival; an April Oriole was a possi- 

 bility. The weather, however, changed sud- 

 denly; for nearly a month the wind blew 

 from the east and, chilled by countless ice- 

 bergs, held back vegetable growth and in- 

 fluenced the birds either to retard their north- 

 ward progress or to seek an inland route of 

 migration. Late in April and early in May, 

 day after day brought no new arrivals, or 

 only a single individual of a species not re- 

 corded previously. For a month there was 

 so little movement of the migrant birds that 

 it seemed as if the spring migration were over, 

 although the great May flight was still to 

 the south of us. 



Birds already on their breeding-grounds in 

 the first part of April responded to the ad- 

 vanced state of the season by commencing 

 to breed at early dates; Mr. George Nelson's 

 records show that the Bluebirds and Robins 

 began to build in Lexington as early as in 

 any year during his long experience; Wood- 

 cocks discontinued their twilight aerial songs 

 before their normal time of year. 



Another instance of precocious nesting is 

 furnished by a breeding-record of a Brown 

 Creeper in Sharon, Mass. Mr. and Mrs. 

 E. N. FuUerton, of Stoughton, kindly inform 

 me that they saw the bird building on April 

 8 and 13, and that "the young had left the 

 nest by May 11." This record seems to me 

 of unusual interest in showing that a northern 

 bird, finding suitable conditions for breeding 

 well to the south of its normal range, was 

 able to take advantage of the advanced 

 season and breed more than a month earlier 

 than the dates indicated in the rare previous 

 records for this state. 



The flight of Warblers in May was a disap- 

 pointment; they straggled along during the 

 first half of the month until the 15th when 

 the chief wave came, which comprised few 



individuals of the rarer species (very few 

 Tennessees, Cape Mays, and Bay-breasts), 

 and in which the Blackpoll was represented 

 in very small numbers, compared to recent 

 years. A good flight of Canadian Warblers 

 brought up the rear of the spring migration, 

 which was practically over on June i. The 

 abundance of Purple Finches and the con- 

 tinued increase of House Wrens is worth re- 

 mark. — WiNSOR M. Tyler, Lexington, Mass. 



New York Region. — The most interest- 

 ing ornithological phenomenon recurring an- 

 nually during this period is the wave of 

 migrants from the South (summer residents 

 and transients en route to more northern 

 nesting-grounds) which arrives more or less 

 coincident with the leafing- out of the trees. 

 This year, on about April 20, the foliage was 

 fully two weeks in advance of its usual con- 

 dition at that time. It might have been ex- 

 pected that the migration would have been 

 exceptionally early and, in fact, in late April 

 there were very early records for a few indi- 

 viduals of some of the species. Then followed 

 weeks of cool easterly weather, unfavorable 

 for migration, during which few birds arrived, 

 though the leaves continued to unfold, the 

 general impression now being that birds were 

 late. Their arrival was far behind the vegeta- 

 tion and slightly behind the normal dates. 

 The main wave of birds arrived and passed 

 through all in a bunch, May 10 to 15. 



To compare the arrival of the birds with 

 the early vegetation the writer spent con- 

 siderable time in the field at Mastic, Long 

 Island, from April 23 to May 10. This is an 

 excellent locality for summer resident species, 

 but remote from any spring migration route, 

 so the absence of any particular transient 

 species is not significant. For purposes of 

 discussion he presents herewith dates of 

 arrival. Mastic 1921, together with the earli- 

 est date for Long Isknd in previous years, 

 and the normal date of arrival, the latter ob- 

 tained by averaging Long Island dates in the 

 tables in Eaton's 'Birds of New York.' 

 April 24, Brown Thrasher (earliest April 2, 



