THE SEASON 



VII. February 15 to April 15, 1918 



Boston Region. — During the month 

 following February 15, seven snowstorms 

 delayed the advance of spring, until the 

 earliest birds were ten days overdue. 

 Between March 18 and 20 the first group 

 of migrants arrived in full force — Red- 

 winged and Rusty Blackbirds, Bronzed 

 Grackles, Song Sparrows, and Bluebirds. 

 Two days later there began a remarkably 

 heavy flight of Fox Sparrows and Juncos, 

 with a few Cowbirds — the Fox Sparrows 

 appearing at their normal date, the Juncos, 

 migrating earlier than usual, hurried for- 

 ward, evidently, by the general movement 

 of birds toward the north. 



Cold weather again delayed migration 

 until, on April 2, Vesper Sparrows entered 

 this region and were soon present in full 

 breeding numbers. Another period of low 

 temperature followed with a fall of 6 

 inches of snow on April 12, some of which 

 still remains on the ground (April 15). 



So far the present spring has been, on 

 the whole, the kind of spring we New 

 Englanders must expect — a slow yielding 

 of winter, with periods of summer weather, 

 during which the birds appear suddenly 

 in large numbers, alternating with days of 

 storm and cold, when migrating birds are 

 at a standstill. 



The failure of other Sparrows to move 

 north during the favorable weather chosen 

 by the Vesper Sparrows is to be noted; 

 there are very few Field and Savannah 

 Sparrows and Purple Finches here even 

 now (April 20), and no Chipping Sparrows. 

 Flickers are in great abundance. A possible 

 explanation is the menace of Starlings to 

 the southward of this region. 



There was a prominent winter migra- 

 tion of Robins late in February; as usual 

 the resident Robins appeared about our 

 houses the latter part of March. — Winsor 

 M. Tyler, M. D., Lexington, Mass. 



New York City Region. — The weather 

 of late February and March was about 



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normal, though with, perhaps, even more 

 high wind than usual in March, especiall}- 

 on Sundays. The early migrants arrived 

 at just about their average times. The 

 first Bluebirds came well before the close 

 of February, but the first real spring Sun- 

 day was March 3, when migrating Song 

 and Fox Sparrows, Robins, and Bluebirds 

 were much in evidence, the first Grackles 

 were seen, and a Marsh Hawk and a Duck 

 Hawk seen up the Rahway Valley were 

 probably migrating. Later March 

 migrants arrived with similar promptness, 

 and Ducks (Black Ducks, Pintails, etc.) 

 were plentiful on inland waters. 



The Northern Shrikes dwindled greatly 

 in numbers in the latter part of the winter; 

 the last was seen on March 28 (W. DeW. 

 Miller, at Plainfield, N. J.). 



Fox Sparrows were perhaps less than 

 ordinarily numerous, and certainly dis- 

 appeared northward in a great hurry. 



Early April was cooler than is usual in 

 this region, and the migration slowed up 

 noticeably, so that birds were everywhere 

 about the city found scarce on Sunday 

 the 7th, though the first Yellow Palm 

 Warblers were noted on that day on Long 

 Island and in New Jersey, and a Robin was 

 observed gathering nest-material (J. T. 

 Nichols, on Long Island). During the 

 following week, a five-day storm, with a 

 great deal of northeast gale, hail, and (dur- 

 ing most of two days) heavy snowfall, kept 

 the migration practically at a standstill. — ■ 

 Charles H. Rogers, American Museum 

 oj Natural History, Neiv York City. 



Philadelphia Region. — The tempera- 

 ture of February averaged about normal, 

 while that of March was somewhat warmer 

 than usual, from the i8th to the 2 2d being 

 especially springlike. Early migrants 

 arrived about on time: Killdeer, February 

 16; Mourning Dove, March 17; Flicker, 

 February 27; Red- winged Blackbird, 

 Rusty Blackbird, and Purple Crackle. 



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