24 



Bird - Lore 



December 13, Mr. Fryklund reports 

 nothing new except Snowy Owls. 



Prof. Eugene Van Cleef, of Duluth, 

 reports December 12: "I have failed to 

 see any of the winter visitants and 

 wondered whether this was due to any 

 lack of observational powers. I have in- 

 quired of some people whom I felt ought 

 to know something about the situation 

 here and they report likewise the absence of 

 any visitants. S. George Stevens . . . 

 states that he has heard a flock of Red- 

 polls but has not seen them. . . I 

 would incidentally call your attention to 

 the fact that a year ago, i. e., October, 

 1916, we saw 'myriads' (taking this 

 word from our notes) of Bluebirds in the 

 city en route south. Whereas this year 

 we saw none within the city limits and 

 only a few outside. It would seem to be 

 an off year with the birds." 



Dr. J. C. Hvoslef reports December 12, 

 from Lanesboro, Fillmore County, in the 

 extreme southeastern corner of the state: 

 "Your letter was received yesterday and 

 from it I learned that you have had about 

 the same experience in regard to the bird 

 migration this fall as I had myself in my 

 field of observation in and about Lanes- 

 boro." — Thos. S. Roberts, University of 

 Minnesota, Minneapolis. 



Denver Region. — The period covered 

 by this report has not been entirely color- 

 less ornithologically. It is normally 

 quiet, with little bird-movement except 

 toward its end. This year it has been 

 quieter than usual because of the mild 

 weather, October and November, and 

 December up to date, giving the Denver 

 area nearly 75 per cent of the possible 

 sunshine, resulting in bright, warm days. 

 Yet most of the breeders did not linger, 

 but seemed, on the contrary, to leave 

 perhaps earlier than usual. And, notwith- 

 standing the mild autumn, some of our 

 winter birds appeared on time, or even 

 ahead of the schedule. The various 



species and races of Junco came rather 

 earlier, driven down, perhaps, by the 

 more severe conditions in the neighboring 

 higher altitudes. The Slate-colored Junco 

 is very uncommon about Denver, and yet, 

 on November 11, the writer saw a large, 

 scattered flock of Juncos, which contained 

 many of the Slate-colored species about 

 two miles from the foot-hills, near the 

 mouth of Platte Canon. 



The Clay-colored Sparrow and Audu- 

 bon's Warbler were common until the 

 third week in October, which is their 

 ordinary time of departure, and the 

 Northern Shrike arrived on time late in 

 the same month. It was a surprise to see 

 the Western Tree Sparrow as early as 

 October 24, even well out on the plains 

 (along the small creeks and in the weed- 

 patches adjacent thereto). This, in the 

 writer's experience, is at least two weeks 

 ahead of their usual arrival. The American 

 Rough-leg Hawk also was on hand two 

 weeks earlier than under ordinary con- 

 ditions, appearing the second week in 

 November. The Robin is about the only 

 bird which met the writer's expectations 

 by remaining longer than usual because 

 of the fine weather; this bird remains all 

 winter in the vicinity of Denver, but is 

 seldom seen in the city itself after the 

 middle of November, yet this year one was 

 noted in town on December 4. Three things 

 stand out in the local records for this 

 period: the comparatively large number of 

 adult male Marsh Hawks seen, the very 

 large number of Ferruginous Rough-leg 

 Hawks, and the considerable number of 

 Longspurs also, noted near the city and its . 

 environs. It is over twenty years since the 

 writer has seen more than a stray Long- 

 spur of any sort close to Denver; how- 

 ever, this autumn a number of flocks were 

 noticed immediately south of Denver, 

 flocks which contained Chestnut-collared 

 and McCown's Longspurs, the latter be- 

 ing vastly in the majority. — W. H. Berg- 

 told, M.D., Denver, Colo. 



