The Season 



429 



the main north and south route of bird- 

 migration, which lies considerably nearer 

 the Atlantic coast. Thus we get here only, 

 as it were, the overflow trafiic from the 

 main highway. As a consequence, during 

 August and September, the vicinity of 

 Washington is not a very favorable place 

 for bird-observation. 



During these two months in the present 

 year there have been three definite mi- 

 gration waves: one about September i, 

 another about the middle of September, 

 and still another during the last week of 

 the same month. These waves brought a 

 number of birds down from the north 

 earlier than common, yet no earliest 

 records were broken. The Lesser Yellow 

 legs appeared on August 24, three days 

 ahead of their average date of arrival; the 

 Pectoral Sandpiper, on September i 

 (average date of first appearance, Septem- 

 ber 5); the Slate-colored Junco, on Sep- 

 tember 28 (average, October 8); the 

 Myrtle Warbler, September 28 (average, 

 October 7); the Black-poll Warbler, Sep- 

 tember 14 (average, September 24); the 

 Connecticut Warbler, September 14 (aver- 

 age, September 23). The Red-breasted 

 Nuthatch came on August 31, nearly a 

 month in advance of its time, which is 

 September 24; and it was fairly common 

 during the month of September, which is 

 welcome information, as it was almost 

 wholly absent during last fall and last 

 winter. 



The mild, pleasant weather of Septem- 

 ber evidently induced some species to 

 overstay their allotted time. The Balti- 

 more Oriole, the latest previous date of 

 which was August 26, 1887, was observed 

 by Raymond W. Moore on September 7; 

 the Purple Martin remained until Septem- 

 ber 20, its latest previous date being Sep- 

 tember 14, 1889; and the Olive-sided Fly- 

 catcher was observed by L. D. Miner and 

 Raymond W. Moore on September 14, the 

 only other autumn record being an indi- 

 vidual noted in September, 1881. Fur- 

 thermore, the American Redstart re- 

 mained until September 29, although ordi- 

 narily it departs about the 19th of this 

 month; and the Green Heron stayed until 



September 28, whereas its average date of 

 departure is August 27. 



With the migration wave of the middle 

 of September came a large flight of Ameri- 

 can Robins, and this species was very 

 abundant in the city on September 14. On 

 September 22 Miss M. T. Cooke observed 

 a flock of about a thousand Broad-winged 

 Hawks, and another of some two hundred. 

 These birds were driving in a southerly 

 direction at a great altitude over the city, 

 and apparently made part of the south- 

 ward migration of the species. The Pied- 

 billed Grebe first appeared on September 

 24, and since then has been uncommonly 

 numerous for this season of the year. The 

 Black Tern, first observed on August 17 

 at Chesapeake Beach, by Dr. A. K. Fisher, 

 has likewise been present on the larger 

 streams near Washington in unusual 

 numbers during the latter half of August 

 and most of September. The American 

 Egret, which has been rare of late about 

 Washington, was seen on the Anacostia 

 River on September i by Raymond W. 

 Moore, but only three individuals were 

 noted. 



An interesting incident was observed by 

 the writer on September 14 in the wooded, 

 hilly country along Scott's Run, near the 

 Potomac River. A fine, adult Bald Eagle, 

 sailing about majestically at a moderate 

 height, was spied by a big Red-tailed Hawk, 

 soaring at a much greater altitude. After 

 circling about for a time over the Eagle, 

 the Hawk suddenly closed its wings and 

 plunged almost vertically, with incredible 

 swiftness, directly at the Eagle, checking 

 himself only when a short distance away. 

 He then proceeded to chase the Eagle out 

 of sight. 



There were in the city, during August 

 and September, the customary Purple 

 Grackle roosts, but none of them seemed 

 to be as well populated as usual. There 

 were no large roosts of European Starlings 

 observed, such as were noted last year. 

 During the month of August, however, a 

 few birds, never over seventy-five, roosted 

 near the Purple Martins; they later dis- 

 appeared from this vicinity, possibly tak- 

 ing up their abode elgewhere, as a f§w 



