Birds and Seasons 



FIFTH SERIES 



AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER BIRD-LIFE NEAR BOSTON 

 By Ralph Hoffmann 



WHILE there is undoubtedly a steady diminution in our bird-life 

 during August, it is extremely difficult to name the exact date 

 when the bulk of any one species departs. Many birds are molt- 

 ing, and are consequently silent and retiring. The Yellow Warbler, how- 

 ever, sings constantly through July and early August; when, therefore, we 

 cease to hear his song, we assume that he and his tribe have gone. 

 Individual Yellow Warblers may be observed late in September, but these 

 are almost certainly migrants from farther north. In September again little 

 bands of Chimney Swifts may sometimes be observed nearly to the end of 

 the month, but our own birds have probably left us long before. The 

 chief interest in August bird-study lies in studying the plumages of the 

 young birds, and in learning to recognize the adult males in their autumn 

 dress. There is also a certain amount of wandering going on, which may 

 bring to us an early northern migrant before the regular September move- 

 ment begins. Along the shore there is a regular migration in August, and 

 there Sandpipers, Plover and the various sea birds offer a fascinating but 

 difficult field for study. 



September comes after August, somewhat as the spring does after mid- 

 winter. No other month except May offers so great a variety of birds. 

 But the birds sing little, are often much less conspicuously marked, and 

 seem more restless than in spring, so that the study of the autumn migrants 

 keeps one even more alert and watchful than the more stirring mornings 

 of May. Since the very first returning migrant in the fall is not awaited 

 so anxiously as in the spring, I have adopted a different system in recording 

 their arrival. I have given two dates, but the second is the time when the 

 last of the species leaves us for the winter, while the first is the approxi- 

 mate date when the first may be looked for. Where no second date is 

 given, the species remains all winter. 



BIRDS OF THE SEASON 



For permanent residents, see Bird-Lore, Dec, 1900, p. 183. 



Departures of Summer Residents in August and September. — August 18, Yellow 

 Warbler, Purple Martin; August 31, Cliff Swallow, Bank Swallow, Red-winged 



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