The Season 



311 



Local Ducks, mostly Mallards and Blue- 

 winged Teal, were plentiful on the opening 

 days of the season and limit-bags were made 

 by hunters all over the state. But after the 

 first two or three days' widespread bom- 

 bardment, most of the Ducks not killed left, 

 and since that time the shooting has been 

 rather poor. A few Canvasback Ducks have 

 been at Heron Lake recently but for the 

 most part the northern birds have not come 

 down yet. Mr. Alfred Peterson, a corres- 

 pondent at Pipestone, in southwestern Min- 

 nesota, wrote October 10: "This is a re- 

 markable year for Widgeon in South Dakota. 

 I never saw so many of them before." There 

 are no recent records of this bird nesting in 

 Minnesota and it is commonly regarded here 

 as a transient. 



On October ii, the first White-crowned 

 and Harris' Sparrows and Golden-crested 

 Kinglets were seen at Lake Minnetonka by 

 Mr. F. W. Commons. White-throats had 

 been abimdant for some time. — Thos. S. 

 Roberts. Zoological Museum, University of 

 Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. 



Kansas City Region. — Terns, Pied- 

 billed Grebes, two Cormorants (Double- 

 crested), numerous shore-birds, together 

 with a few straggling Pintails and Blue- 

 winged Teal, were recorded by William 

 Andrews daring early and middle August. 

 From his favorable station in the Eton Bend 

 of the Missouri River, below Kansas City, 

 he was able this year to record an unusual 

 invasion of Little Blue Herons, a southern 

 species seen here only for a limited period 

 between August 15 and September 15. 

 Greater numbers than usual of both mature 

 birds and the pure white juveniles were seen. 

 The first to appear were a few of the immature 

 white birds on August 10, followed during 

 the next week by both old and young in 

 some numbers. This early date was also 

 marked by a flight of Least Terns (happily 

 increasing), and numbers of Great Blue 

 Herons, eighteen being seen feeding on a bar 

 at one time. Between August 11 and 17 

 Kingbirds were numerous, and though insect 

 prey was varied and abundant, these birds 

 preferred the dogwood berries beloved of 

 most of our common song-birds. Mr. 



Andrews states that this flight of Kingbirds 

 devoured the entire crop of dogwood berries 

 on the wooded bluffs between Courtney and 

 Eton, leaving the hordes of later-arriving 

 Robins to seek elsewhere for their favorite 

 fruit or eat less desirable fare. From August 

 19 to 24, mixed flocks of Terns were numerous 

 on the river. Mr. Andrews knows these 

 birds well and identified the Caspian, Com- 

 mon, Black, and Least, and thinks it likely 

 that Forster's were among them. Between 

 August 25 and September 9, small Grebes, 

 several Terns, Herring Gulls, Pintails, Blue- 

 winged Teal, Bank and Barn Swallows, 

 Martins, Blue Jays, and Bluebirds formed 

 the procession, and on the last named date 

 migrating Hawks of several species passed. 

 On the nth, Mr. Andrews noted 78 flocks of 

 Blue- winged Teal of from 10 to a 100 birds 

 to a flock. On the i8th, the Pelicans (White, 

 of course), nearly a thousand strong, arrived 

 about on schedvde. The first few Mallards 

 and a flight of Marsh, Pigeon, and Red- 

 tailed Hawks were noted on the iSth. During 

 the next ten days there were numerous 

 flights of all the more common water- and 

 shore-birds and Hawks. 



Mr. Andrews states that on September 29 

 there were rafts of Blue-winged Teal in sight 

 of his cabin, which he estimated to contain 

 10,000 birds. Knowing the habitual and 

 safe conservatism of this observer it can 

 well be imagined that many more than this 

 number were present. 



The first flocks of Mallards of any size 

 came in on October i, and the first Canada 

 Geese and Widgeon (Baldpate) were noted 

 on the 8th. Mr. Andrews states further that 

 he has never before seen such great companies 

 of migrating Blue Jays as during late Sep- 

 tember and early October of the present year; 

 and that the Ruby-throat remained later this 

 fall than for many years past. 



Notes for the current period other than 

 those furnished by Mr. Andrews are indeed 

 meager. The writer noted that the per- 

 sistent Dickcissel was not heard singing after 

 the second week in August. This seems early 

 but records for previous years are not 

 available. It was also noted that the last 

 bird of the prairie regions to become silent 

 is Bell's Vireo, in song until late September. 



