The Season 



305 



the first half of October, Yellow-bellied Sap- 

 suckers were unusually common. Promptly, 

 on October i, the Myrtle Warbler replaced 

 the Blackpoll, and the migrating Bluebirds 

 began to fly overhead in the early morning, 

 giving their soft call which is as character- 

 istic of October as is the 'wink' note of the 

 Bobolink in the early hours of daylight in 

 August. 



There has been no killing frost to October 1 8 . 



On October 16, in the town of Belmont, 

 Mr. George Nelson and I had an experience 

 which I wish we might have shared with bird- 

 lovers. The morning was a favorable one 

 for observing birds — warm and sunny, with 

 no wind — and twenty-five to thirty species 

 came almost immediately imder notice, but 

 it was soon apparent that the bird most 

 numerously represented was the Ruby- 

 cro^vned Kinglet, a bird which is usually met 

 with singly, or at most, not over two or three 

 together. But here were half a dozen in the 

 same tree and twice as many more within 

 hearing, many scolding all about us and 

 several singing a short variation of their song. 

 We estimated, quite conservatively, that 

 there were a htmdred Ruby-crowns within a 

 few hundred yards of each other, and even 

 then we did not determine the limits of the 

 gathering. Mr. Brewster says in 'The Birds 

 of the Cambridge Region,' p. 382, "the . . . 

 little birds are seldom very numerous, it 

 being unusual to meet with more than three 

 or four in the course of a single day; on 

 exceptional occasions, however, I have known 

 as many as a dozen or fifteen to be noted." 

 I have never heard of an exception to this 

 statement before. — Winsor M. Tyler, 

 Lexington, Mass. 



New York Region. — Up to about Sep- 

 tember 20, south-bound land-birds were 

 recorded from near New York at very early 

 dates. The height of the Blackpoll Warbler 

 wave came about September 14, and a few 

 Juncos, White- throated Sparrows, and Brown 

 Creepers had appeared here and there before 

 the 20th. On about the 20th, however, the 

 pendulum swung in the other direction, 

 thereafter birds being late rather than early. 

 Migration was slack from September 20 to 

 October 3, but between the 3d and the 8th a 



wave of birds of unusual magnitude passed 

 through, perhaps reaching its crest on the 

 night of October 4 to 5, when many Thrushes 

 arrived. Although their advance guard was 

 so early, the main flight of late Sparrows had 

 yet to reach us in mid-October, White- 

 throats and Juncos having only just become 

 common. 



Except for casual occurrences, the Hen- 

 slow's Sparrow at Bridgehampton, L. I., 

 September 11, and Least Bittern at Shinne- 

 cock, September 12 (C. Johnston); the Yel- 

 low Warbler and Yellow-breasted Chat in 

 Central Park, October 5 (L. Griscom); four 

 Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, Van Cortlandt 

 Park, October 10 (L. N. Nichols), appear to 

 establish latest dates for the New York 

 region. 



As regards the abundance of various spe- 

 cies, Tree Swallows were much in evidence 

 throughout this period, not occurring in very 

 large flocks for the most part, but streaming 

 steadily overhead for hours. Sapsuckers were 

 unusually numerous, after the earty October 

 flight. Both species of Kinglets seemed more 

 than normally numerous, so the scarcity of 

 Golden-crowns, extending over several years, 

 may be considered at an end. Myrtle War- 

 blers became abundant on the morning of 

 October 7; Red-breasted Nuthatches were 

 universally distributed, but the writer ob- 

 served no great numbers anywhere, and failed 

 to find them in a favorable Long Island 

 locality on October 16. 



On September 22, Mr. F. Kessler secured 

 a Hummingbird which had flown into one 

 of the laboratories of the American Museum 

 of Natural History. It squealed angrily and 

 continuously while he held it in his hand, and 

 when liberated at an open window lost no 

 time in taking its departure with the direct, 

 rhythmical, slightly undulatory flight which 

 migrating Hummingbirds employ. 



The extent and character of the Blue Jays' 

 migration is not fully known. Beyond a 

 question, this bird is migratory, and yet cer- 

 tain individuals in this latitude are strictly 

 resident. Some years ago a pair nested early, 

 close to the writer's house in Englewood, 

 N. J., which he is convinced were among 

 several birds that had been fed regularly 

 under his window during the preceding 



