The Season 



363 



in song; the former, in numbers far above 

 normal, exhibited a marked habit of 

 catching flying insects on the wing. The 

 extreme heat following May 6 brought a 

 heavy flight of delayed summer residents 

 and transients comprising many species 

 but surprisingly few individuals. For ten 

 days birds were in active migration, but 

 they passed northward so rapidly and 

 inconspicuously that many observers 

 reported that there were no birds to be 

 seen after May 17, there was so little 

 evidence of migration. 



In this hurried migration, the Red- 

 starts lagged noticeably behind; Tennessee, 

 Cape May and Bay-breasted Warblers, 

 although present, did not occur in such 

 numbers as they did a year ago; all 

 four Vireos were rare. 



The Yellow Warbler is commoner than 

 it has been for the last few years, but 

 is found chiefly along the borders of 

 woodland and meadows instead of in 

 gardens. (Is this merely a local condition?) 

 By the first of June, the song-period of 

 many resident birds had begun to wane, 

 owing doubtless to the cares of nesting. — 

 WiNSOR M. Tyler, M.D., Lexingtoit, 

 Mass. 



Philadelphia Region. — The tempera- 

 ture for April was slightly above normal. 

 The noteworthy features of the month 

 were a local scarcity of Phoebes — only 

 one noted April 19; the abundance of 

 Wilson's Snipe from the loth to the 30th 

 and of Yellowlegs from April 20 to May 20. 

 Mr. William Evans, of Marlton, N. J., 

 informed me that his Martin-house was 

 occupied by only about half the number 

 of birds present last spring, and that some 

 houses in his neighborhood, which were 

 well tenanted a year ago, had none at all. 

 However, several places visited in southern 

 New Jersey seemed to have their full 

 quota of Martins. 



Six Blue-winged Teal, two Upland 

 Plover and a small flock of Pipits were 

 observed at Salem, N. J., April 28. 



Weather conditions for May were almost 

 the exact opposite of those last year, the 

 average temperature being five degrees 



above normal. The unusual warmth, 

 together with frequent rains, caused 

 vegetation to grow rapidly, and by the end 

 of the month it was said to be two weeks 

 ahead of the average. The trees were in 

 full leaf by May 12. Thick foliage made 

 birds difficult to see, and favoring weather 

 caused migrants to pass through without 

 stop. These facts may account, to some 

 extent, for the unprecedented scarcity of 

 some birds, especially Warblers. Observers 

 far and near all tell the same story: "Very 

 few Warblers seen," "Warblers very 

 scarce," "Very unsatisfactory Warbler 

 season," "Have not seen a single Magnolia 

 Warbler," "Hardly any Black-throated 

 Green or Magnolia Warblers." The 

 writer spent some time of each day in the 

 field from the ist to the 20th of May, and 

 the totals for the season for some of the 

 more common species are: Black-throated 

 Blue, i; Magnolia, o; Chestnut-sided, 3; 

 Black-throated Green, 3; Redstart, 6; 

 Canada, o. Black and White, Yellow, 

 Myrtle, Yellow Palm, and Black-poll 

 Warblers were apparently as numerous as 

 usual. 



Miss Anna Deeter, of Reading, Pa., 

 writes that Myrtle Warblers and Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeaks were more than ordi- 

 narily common this spring, and that the 

 Warbler season was disappointingly short, 

 practically ending May 19. Here at 

 Camden, the latest transient (Black-poll 

 Warbler) was noted May 31. 



With the exception of the House Wren 

 and the Maryland Yellowthroat, the breed- 

 ing birds seem about as abundant as ever. 

 — Julian K. Potter, Camden, N. J. 



Washington Region. — So far as bird 

 migration is concerned, April and May are 

 the most interesting months of the year 

 about Washington. Of this period the 

 weeks between April 15 and May 20 are, 

 in normal seasons, the most important. 

 The height of the spring migration, 

 individuals and species both considered, 

 is ordinarily from May 10 to May 15. 



The present spring has been, on the 

 whole, an unusually good season for birds, 

 and both species and individuals have been 



