The Season 



205 



and Mr. Orcutt Frost, members of my bird 



class, and by Mr. William Kilgore, Jr. First 



records in italics. 



April 15. A completed Robin's nest. 



April 17. Yellow-headed Blackbird, 2 males; 

 Pied-hilled Grebe; Bittern. Many Herring 

 Gulls passing. Vegetation has advanced 

 but little of late. 



April 18. Chipping Sparrow. Sapsuckers tap- 

 ping trees extensively. In bloom: Dutch- 

 man's breeches and bloodroot. 



April 19. Myrtle Warblers, Cowhirds, Loons. 

 Many Yellow-headed Blackbirds, all males; 

 the males arrive ten or twelve days ahead 

 of the females,. Rusty Blackbirds mi- 

 grating in numbers. White-breasted Nut- 

 hatch building. 



April 24. Towhee, male; White-throated Spar- 

 row. 



April 25. Rue anemone and bellwort in 

 bloom. 



April 26. Swamp and Vesper Sparrows, Bank 

 Swallow, Sparrow Hawk, Lesser Yellow- 

 legs, Louisiana Water-Thrush. The Water- 

 Thrush was seen at the same spot where the 

 nest was found two years ago, the only 

 place where this species has been encount- 

 ered in this vicinity. It was a pretty sight 

 to see the bird walking mincingly along in 

 the shallow water, tossing the dead leaves 

 this way and that, and daintily picking up 

 the many tiny water creatures that came 

 into view. This species arrives here three 

 weeks or more in advance of Grinnell's, 

 which is only a transient in the southern 

 part of the state. A Pileated Woodpecker 

 excavating its nesting-hole in a dead stub 

 only 16 feet from the ground. 



In bloom: Three-flowered geum, ground 

 plum, wild ginger, marsh marigold, shad- 

 bush, plum trees, flowering almond, and 

 Missouri currant. Skunk cabbage leaves 

 8 to 12 inches high and many blossoms 

 still fresh. 



April 27. Brown Thrasher. 



April 29. Barn Swallow, Palm Warbler. A 

 Blue Jay's nest, 5 eggs, in a small pine tree 

 close by the front door of a suburban resi- 

 dence. The Blue Jay is increasing in num- 

 bers of late and it is not uncommon to see 

 parties of 8 to 10 roving about the country 

 or it may be within the city limits. Many 

 nest within the city. 



April 30. Chipping Sparrow building. Vis- 

 ited a colony of Great Blue Herons and 

 Double-crested Cormorants on an island 

 in upper Lake Minnetonka. The birds are 

 increasing rapidly in numbers. There are 

 now several hundred nests. During the 

 past two years many large elm and bass- 

 wood trees have died as the result of their 



being occupied by the birds. Twenty nests 

 were counted in one such tree. 

 Blue cohosh in bloom. 



May 2. Purple Martins. 



May 3. Turkey Vulture. 



May 4. Tennessee Warbler, House Wren. 



May 5. Lark Sparrow, American Pipit, 

 Black Tern (many), Wilson's Phalarope, 

 Least Sandpiper. 



Woods now quite dense. Oaks in bloorn. 



May 7. Sora. There has seemed to be a 

 great scarcity of this bird this year. 



May 8. Baltimore Oriole, Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beak, Chimney Swift, Solitary Sandpiper. 

 Lilacs in bloom. 



May 9. Yellow Warbler. 



May 10. Kingbird, Veery, Catbird, Red- 

 headed Woodpecker. 



Red-berried elder in bloom. Wood and 

 rue anemone at their best. 



May II. Common Tern. 



May 12. Bobolink, Yellow-throated Vireo, 

 Pine and Black and White Warblers, Gray- 

 cheeked Thrush, Semipalmated Plover. Eight 

 Wilson's Phalaropes in pairs. Lark Spar- 

 row's nest just completed. 



May 13. Red-eyed Vireo, Warbling Vireo. 



May 15. Oven-bird. 



May 17. Magnolia Warbler. 



May 18. Least Flycatcher. 



May 19. The one great bird 'wave' of the 

 season came today. Foliage dense, like 

 summer. Nashville, Chestnut-sided, Black- 

 poll, Wilson's and Canada Warblers, Red- 

 start, Maryland Yellow-throat, Grinnell's 

 Water-Thrush, Scarlet Tanager, Black- 

 billed Cuckoo, Ruby-throated Hummingbird, 

 Crested Flycatcher, Wood Pewee, Solitary 

 Vireo, Wood Thrush, Olive-backed Thrush. 

 Many Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, White- 

 throated Sparrows, Tree Swallows, and 

 other belated birds came today. 



May 20. Country appears like summer, a 

 very rapid advance in vegetation lately. 



May 21. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 



May 21. Young Killdeers just hatched; Bit- 

 tern's nest, one egg. 



Small white and small yellow cypri- 

 pediums in bloom. 



May 22. Bird 'wave' of 19th has passed; but 

 few northern migrants left. Baltimore 

 Oriole building. Male Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeaks fighting furiously. Watched 

 Sapsucker visiting its 'borings' closely fol- 

 lowed by a male Hummer. 



May 22. Wild thorn apple in full bloom. 



May 28. Four nests of Brewer's Blackbird — ■ 

 eggs and yoimg. This bird, formerly rare 

 here, is steadily increasing in numbers 

 until now it is a common summer resident 

 and generally distributed. It nests in 

 colonies. Rose-breasted Grosbeak's nest, 

 3 eggs. Young Meadowlarks out of nest. 



