The Season 



207 



were probably results of the late cold. On 

 this date Bronzed Crackle nests contained the 

 full complement of eggs. The first White- 

 eyed Vireos were heard on the 4th, and on the 

 5 th Gray-cheeked and Olive-backed Thrushes 

 were numerous and a few were singing. 



On May 5, the up-river lakes and ponds in 

 Platte and Buchanan counties contained 

 numbers of Pied-billed Grebes, Coots, Mal- 

 lards, Baldpates, Gadwall, Pintails, Shovel- 

 lers, Blue-winged Teal, and Yellow-legs. A 

 pair of large Grebes could not be identified. 

 Red-winged Blackbirds were not yet build- 

 ing, as but few females had arrived. Num- 

 bers of Lincoln's Sparrows in song, a small 

 flock of Bobolinks, and three small troops of 

 Jimcos were seen. 



A visit to Holt County on the loth dis- 

 closed the fact that breeding birds were far 

 behind those in the Kansas City region, onl}^ 

 a hundred miles to the south. Meadowlarks 

 were found to be mostly Western, and, for 

 the first time in western Missouri, migrating 

 Blue-headed Vireos were heard in full song. 



Returning on the nth, Kansas City was 

 found swarming with Tennessee Warblers, 

 and out on the prairie regions Grasshopper, 

 Savannah, and Harris's Sparrows were every- 

 where. A small flock of Bobolinks, a very 

 rare bird here, was seen at 63d and Brookside 

 Streets, and one was heard to sing lustily as 

 they flew off. A Whip-poor-will was flushed, 

 and singing migrant Thrushes were still 

 common. 



Nests and eggs too numerous to list were 

 found during the first half of May, and during 

 this period the late migrants, which are usu- 

 ally silent, were all in full song. On the 17th 

 three Bob- whites' nests, containing i, 3, and 

 5 eggs respectively, were found in the south- 

 ern part of the city, and in the same region 

 on this date a successful stalk was made on 

 the four treasures of a noisy pair of Killdeers. 



The flood-tide of Warbler and Flycatcher 

 migration seemed to be on May 20, which 

 is a little later than usual. Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoos were mating, and a pair of Blue Gros- 

 beaks were seen on this date. Nests of Yel- 

 low Warbler, Orchard Oriole, Bell's Vireo, 

 Red-winged Blackbird, Bank Swallow, and 

 Dickcissel, containing full sets of eggs, were 



found on the same day. A set of three 

 Broad- winged Hawk's eggs was foimd on the 

 2 2d. On the 23d migrant Thrushes were still 

 present — very late. 



On the 24th the following nests were found 

 in the southern part of the city in a wild 

 thicket, little suspected by the neighbors of 

 containing such wild birds: Bob-white, 17 

 eggs; Field Sparrow, 4 eggs; Green Heron, 

 4 eggs; Cooper's Hawk, 5 eggs nearly ready 

 to hatch; Red- winged Blackbird, 4 eggs with 

 3 of the Cowbird; and Dickcissel, 5 eggs. 



Grasshopper Sparrows are again present 

 this summer on the Swope Park rifle range 

 meadow, but even rope-dragging fails to 

 discover the hiding places of their nests. 

 Traill's Flycatcher nests were found on June 

 1,5,8, and 12, with the search still on. Black 

 Terns were noted on the Missouri River on 

 the 12th and 13th. 



William Andrews has assumed the 

 guardianship of a nesting pair of Wood Ducks 

 on Mill Creek, near Courtney, but is not very 

 hopeful that they will ever succeed in bring- 

 ing off their young. He states that boys and 

 Mexicans in the neighborhood are too bounti- 

 fully supplied with ammunition. 



It is regretted that interesting matter re- 

 ceived from Sidney Hyde, of Topeka, and 

 other correspondents cannot be included this 

 time. — Harry Harris, Kansas City, Mo. 



Denver Region. — If the flood of spring 

 migration in this region during March and 

 April was small and slack, it soon became a 

 tidal wave after April 15. The writer cannot 

 recall a season when the birds returned seem- 

 ingly all at once and in large numbers. This 

 was especially true of the summer resi- 

 dents, and, to some extent, with the passing 

 migrants. 



The region has swarmed with Robins, 

 Chipping Sparrows, Yellow Warblers, and 

 there has been an unusually large influx of 

 Bullock's Orioles and Black-headed Gros- 

 beaks. This spring's crop of yoimg Robins 

 and young House Finches is extremely large, 

 more so than for years past. Some individ- 

 uals of these species began housekeeping 

 promptly and very early; thus there were a 

 number of full-fledged young Robins out of 



