Birds and Seasons 6i 



Water-Thrush, t Green Heron; 4-11, Rose-breasted Grosbeak; 5-11, Bobolink, Chestnut- 

 sided Warbler, Prairie Warbler; 7-10, Wilson's Thrush; 7-12, Wood Thrush; 7-13, 

 Hummingbird; 7-15, Blackburnian Warbler;t 8-11, White-eyed Vireo; 8-15, Night 

 Hawk, Black-billed Cuckoo; 8-16, Scarlet Tanager, Black-throated Blue Warbler, t 

 Magnolia Warbler;t 9-12, Golden-winged Warbler, Orchard Oriole ;t 9-15, Crested Fly- 

 catcher, Lincoln's Finch, t White-crowned Sparrow, t Florida Gallinule, J Henslow's Spar- 

 row, | Red-eyed Vireo, Yellow-breasted Chat; 9-18, Olive-backed Thrush, t Yellow-billed 

 Cuckoo; 10-15, Wilson's Blackcap, t Solitary Sandpiper;! 10-17, Blackpoll Warbler;! 

 10-20, Indigo Bunting; 13-21, Wood Pewee, Canadian Warbler;! 15-20, Bay-breasted 

 Warbler,!tTennessee Warbler,!! Cape May Warbler,!! Short-billed Marsh Wren,! Sharp- 

 tailed Finch,! Grasshopper Sparrow;! 15-25, Gray-cheeked and Bicknell's Thrushes;! 

 May 23 to June 3, Alder Flycatcher,! Mourning Warbler,! Olive-sided Flycatcher.!! 

 Departures in April and May. — April 15-25, Fox Sparrow; 20-30, Tree Sparrow; 



25-30, Golden-crowned Kinglet; — Red-poll, White-winged Crossbills, Shore 



Larks, Snowflakes; April 20 to May i, Junco, Brown Creeper, Winter Wren; May 3, 

 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, American Pipit; 5-10, Hermit Thrush, Herring Gull; 6, 

 Wilson's Snipe;! 9, Rusty Blackbird; 10, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Yellow Palm War- 

 bler; 12, Blue-headed Vireo; 15, Pine Finch; 15-24, Myrtle Warbler, White-throated 

 Sparrow; 20-23, Black-throated Blue Warbler; 20-25, Parula Warbler; 25-28, Mag- 

 nolia Warbler, Wilson's Blackcap; 28, Gray-cheeked Thrush; 30, Canadian Warbler; 

 May 30 to June i. Northern Water Thrush; June i, Olive-backed Thrush; 2-3, Black- 

 poll Warbler. Note. — Red Crossbills often linger well into May; stragglers, in fact, may be seen at any time. 



* Occasionally, or not infrequently, earlier. 



t Migrant. See, however, June list (in June Bird-Lore) for rare breeders. 



I Date uncertain. 



APRIL AND MAY BIRD-LIFE NEAR NEW YORK CITY 



By Fr.'Vnk M. Chapman 



April and May are exciting months for the field student. Throughout 

 the winter they have been anticipated with an eagerness and enthusiasm 

 which the events that so crowd them never fail to satisfy. Time cannot 

 pass too rapidly until the calendar marks "April i;" then we live in the 

 assurance that each day may bring some old friend or new acquaintance. 

 The feast of spring follows the famine of winter. 



From April i to about May 10, birds increase in number daily; then, 

 as the transient visitants pass onward to more northern summer homes, 

 they become rapidly less abundant and by June 5 we have left only the 

 ever-present permanent residents and the birds which have come to us 

 from the south to nest. 



As the days become warmer and the weather more settled, so do the 

 birds return with greater regularity. The times of arrival of the early 

 migrants may vary several weeks, from year to year, but the birds of May 

 come almost on a given day. The date of a bird's appearance depends 

 primarily, in most instances, on the nature of its food. The length of its 

 journey, or, in other words, its winter range, is also to be considered here; 

 but since that is also, to a greater or less extent, determined by food, we 

 may consider the ever- important question of food as the most potent single 

 factor governing a bird's time of arrival. 



