Notes from Field and Study 



209 



THE SEASON 



II. April 1 to June 15, 1917 



Boston Region. — April was abnor- 

 mally cold; snow fell on the 9th and the 

 temperature remained below freezing for 

 thirty-six hours. Juncos were present in 

 thousands and Fox Sparrows in hundreds, 

 delayed by the storm for three or four 

 days. After their departure there was 

 little evidence of migration for ten days, 

 until forty-eight hours of mild weather on 

 the 2ist and 22d brought Barn Swallows 

 and Myrtle Warblers (early) and Field 

 and Chipping Sparrows (late). Again 

 there was practically no movement of 

 birds for two weeks. A marked increase 

 of White-throated Sparrows was noted 

 May 6, after which came only scattered 

 new arrivals until the i6th, when overdue 

 residents (e. g., Swifts and Oven-birds) 

 began to appear in good numbers. 



Thus far cold and rainy weather had 

 prevented a general migration of any 

 magnitude. The trees were nearly bare, 

 the vegetation over ten days later than 

 normal. Birds had appeared in small 

 numbers, much behindhand, and had been 

 silent. Even the nesting Robins had sung 

 little. The swamps, woods, and scrub- 

 land were nearly barren of bird-life. 

 Migrants were noted locally, in small 

 flocks, feeding silently, low in the leaf- 

 less trees, and often on the ground. 



On the establishment of summer 

 weather (May 18-20) there came a rush of 

 Warblers in the normal manner — in full 

 song and well distributed. In spite of cooler 

 and rainy weather, this influx of Warblers, 

 comprising the transients, continued into 

 the first week of June and proved the most 

 remarkable Warbler- migration in the 

 history of this region. It was remarkable 

 for the exceptionally late dates to which 

 many birds tarried, for the great number 

 of birds, and especially for certain rare 

 Warblers in numbers actually and pro- 

 portionally far above previous records. 

 Every day for two weeks one of our rarest, 

 the Tennessee, was abundant; a dozen or 

 more were frequently seen collected in 



some favorable locality and their song was 

 heard throughout Lexington and surround- 

 ing towns until June 8. Cape May and 

 Bay-breasted Warblers, usually rare, 

 occurred commonly, although less so than 

 the Tennessee. 



A few Evening Grosbeaks lingered in 

 Lexington till May 30, Juncos till the 2 2d, 

 and there was a definite migration of Pine 

 Siskins between May 20 and June 4. 

 During the first few days of June our 

 breeding Cedar Waxwings arrived. Parula 

 and Black-poll Warblers are reported 

 from West Roxbury on June 15 — excep- 

 tionally late. — WiNSOR M. Tyler, Lex- 

 ington, Mass. 



New York City Region. — April 

 started with the migration about up-to- 

 date or a bit ahead (e. g.. Great Blue 

 Heron and Pine Warbler, Runyon, N. J., 

 April i), but the failure of Tree Swallows, 

 Yellow Palm Warblers, etc., to reach any- 

 thing like their usual abundance till 

 toward the end of the month indicated a 

 tardy arrival of insectivorous species. 

 The daily mean temperature of the first 

 twelve days of May averaged 10° below 

 normal, so that a 20-mile walk near 

 Plainfield, N. J., on the 13th, over a route 

 good for a hundred species at the height 

 of the spring migration (normally about 

 this date), netted barely eighty-six, and 

 these included the following birds usually 

 gone northward by this time: Rusty 

 Blackbird, Junco, Yellow Palm Warbler, 

 Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Sapsucker, Siskin 

 (another next day), and Savannah Spar- 

 row — all but the last three (one each) 

 represented by at least ten individuals. 

 Furthermore, there were many more 

 Blue Jays and White-throated Sparrows 

 than usual so late, and Chipping Sparrows 

 and Barn Swallows, of which few if any 

 but breeding individuals are normally 

 here at this date, were still present in 

 flocks. And of the following species, all 

 of which should have been well represented 



