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Bird - Lore 



liitdsonicus nigricans) surpassed in num- 

 bers even the remarkable flight of 1913. 

 (See Wright, 'The Auk,' 19 14, pp. 236-42, 

 and 'The Auk,' 1917, pp. 164-70, and 

 Townsend, 'The Auk,' 1917, pp. 160-3.) 

 During the autumn and the early part of 

 the winter, Red Crossbills were fairl}' 

 common and White- winged Crossbills 

 occurred in small numbers. In spite of the 

 presence of many northern birds, a marked 

 scarcity of Brown Creepers was noted. 



The beginning of the spring migration 

 was delayed about ten days by inclement 

 weather. The first arrivals were Song 

 Sparrows and Bluebirds on March 21. 

 Both soon became common. Red-winged 

 Blackbirds, Crackles, Robins, Fox Spar- 

 rows, and Cowbirds came a few days later, 

 also ten days late. I noted one Phoebe on 

 March 27, a normal arrival date. 



Hence, on April i, in spite of the delay 

 at the start, all the species due at this 

 date have arrived, but as some species, 

 notably Phoebe and Fox Sparrow, are 

 represented by few individuals, the season 

 must be regarded as still somewhat back- 

 ward. — WiNSOR M. Tyler. 



New York City Region. — This region 

 received its full quota of the irregular 

 visitors from the North whose abundance 

 made this the most interesting winter 

 ornithologically in at least the last two 

 decades. The abundance was in species 

 rather than in individuals, as only the Pine 

 Siskin and the Redpoll were abundant. 

 The Siskin was hardly more than an 

 autumn transient, as few, if any, were 

 seen after December; the Redpolls ap- 

 peared as the Siskins left and stayed till 

 mid-March. But few Evening Grosbeaks 

 were observed about the city, though large 

 flocks were reported near or beyond our 

 fifty-mile radius. Remarkable numbers of 

 Goshawks were seen and taken in north- 

 western New Jersey and, chiefly beyond 

 our boundaries, in Connecticut and 

 vicinity. Several Pine Grosbeaks and one 

 Northern Shrike were recorded nearby. 

 Unfortunately, our conifers raised a very 

 poor crop of cones last year, and the half- 

 dozen or so Red Crossbills noted hurried 



through early in the season. The White- 

 winged Crossbills fed on sweet gum seeds 

 and tarried with us; three males spent 

 several weeks on Staten Island, leaving in 

 March, and there were other records. Five 

 winter stations for the Brown-cap Chicka- 

 dee (Penthestes hudsonicus nigricans) were 

 found: one (one bird) at Englewood, N. 

 J.; three (four birds) in the Watchung 

 Mountains, N. J.; and one (four birds), 

 the southernmost record for the species, 

 on Staten Island; none was seen after the 

 first week in February. Black-cap Chicka- 

 dees were extraordinarily common, but 

 most of them left during the latter half 

 of March. 



There is little to be said of the spring 

 migration, which, on the whole, has pro- 

 gressed so far about normally. There 

 have been rather unusual numbers of the 

 commoner River Ducks and a notable 

 abundance of Holboell's and Horned 

 Grebes. One party, on March 25, counted 

 nearly 150 Grebes along five or six miles of 

 Long Beach, L. I.; of these over one- 

 third were of the larger species. Rusty 

 Blackbirds have been, perhaps, more 

 than ordinarily common. — Charles H. 

 Rogers. 



Philadelphia Region. — During Janu- 

 ary the common winter residents were 

 present in their usual numbers. The 

 Carolina Wren, however, was almost 

 entirely absent at different stations in 

 New Jersey; in Pennsylvania it was 

 apparently as numerous as ever. 



January proved to be a month of great 

 interest to local bird students because of 

 the abundance of boreal birds which had 

 made their appearance early in the winter. 

 These were Pine Siskins, Horned Larks, 

 Redpolls, Red and White-winged Cross- 

 bills and, most notable of all, Evening 

 Grosbeaks, a species never before recorded 

 so far south. Most reports have come 

 from the pine-barrens region of southern 

 New Jersey. Mr. Samuel Scoville, Jr., 

 discovered a flock of seventy-four at New 

 Lisbon, N. J., on January 29. Smaller 

 flocks have been noted at different points, 

 some very near Philadelphia. 



