Bird Walks 



2«I 



Strange as it may seem, the Public Garden in Boston. In the Garden alone 

 splendid lists of birds are made each year, including a number of the rarer 

 species that drop in during the night to rest and feed for a few days. 



In the Parkway near Longwood is a sheltered spot where a few large red 

 oaks grow, and, nearby, hawthorns and other small trees with a profusion of 

 shrubbery. The Warblers seem to be especially attracted to this spot. Appar- 

 ently, the swelling buds exude a sap that attracts the insects, and they in turn 

 make easy foraging for the northbound Warblers. Standing here in an open 

 spot last spring, Cape May, Tennessee, Nashville, Blackburnian and Bay- 

 breasted Warblers were in sight at one time, while most of the commoner 

 species, including the Water-Thrush, were in the immediate vicinity. When 

 such a favorable locality is discovered it is well to approach it quietly and then 

 remain in one place and identify the birds as they pass. 



To see certain species that are only found locally or in favored spots it is, 

 of course, necessary to take special walks, and trips have been made in search 

 of Golden-winged Warblers, Prairie Warblers, Prairie Horned Larks, Crested 

 Flycatchers, Chats, and Orchard Orioles. 



When the weather is sufficiently warm, suppers are carried so that more 

 time may be spent in the field and an early start for home will not be necessary. 

 The evening songs of many birds can be enjoyed while the party stops to rest 

 and eat supper and to wait for the nocturnal birds — the Whip-poor-will, 

 Nighthawk, Woodcock, and Owls. A marsh haunted by Bitterns, Great Blue, 

 Little Green and Night Herons, Rails, Gallinules, or Marsh Wrens, is an inter- 

 esting place at this time, for their activities are greatest at dusk. 



During June, July, and August, when the nesting season is in full sway, 

 fewer songs will be heard, and at this time, too, many of the club members are 

 away. This is the season for acquiring an insight into the family cares and prob- 

 lems of the birds, and much of interest and profit can be learned. But great 

 care should be used at all times in approaching nesting birds, that they may 

 not be frightened from their eggs or young. 



August brings us to the beaches for the first of the returning migrants, the 

 shorebirds or waders. Although the spring is the best time to look for the 

 Plovers, Sandpipers, and other waders, as they, like the land birds, are then 

 in the adult breeding plumage, without the confusing coloring of the imma- 

 ture birds to puzzle the observer, more varieties of shorebirds are to be seen in 

 August and September. The weather, too, is cooler along the beaches than in 

 the woods or open fields, and it is more comfortable for tramping. Duxbury, 

 Marshfield, Ipswich, and Nahant beaches may furnish surprises at this time. 



October and November with their clear, cold nights bring great waves of 

 returning migrants and splendid, comfortable walks can be enjoyed. A special 

 watch should be kept for those birds which only make their appearance during 

 the fall migration, using another route during the long spring journey. Con- 

 necticut and Orange-crowned Warblers, Pipits, Longspurs, and Ipswich Spar- 



