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Bird - Lore 



the birds, this great obelisk does not seem 

 to be so dangerous as many lighthouses, 

 which, by their brilliant lights, are much 

 more seductive. 



The Chimney Swifts are, as usual, 

 roosting in large chimneys in the midst 

 of the city of Washington. On two occa- 

 sions, September 7 and 8, a flock of 300 

 to 400 was seen circling and entering a 

 chimney from 10.30 to 11 o'clock, a.m. 

 At that hour, on the first of these days, 

 the weather was rainy, and on the other, 

 damp and lowery. 



An incident of bird-Ufe, interesting 

 from more than one standpoint, is a roost 

 of European Starlings in one of the parks 

 of the city, which was, throughout the 

 months of August and September, occu- 

 pied nightly by from 100 to 500 birds. 

 The species has evidently come to Wash- 

 ington to stay, for there were several 

 instances of its breeding in this vicinity 

 during the past season. Occupying this 

 same roost with the Starlings, and often 

 associated with them in their flights to 

 the place of rendezvous, were from 1,000 

 to 4,000 Purple Crackles. There were 

 also, roosting with these, several thousand 

 Purple Martins, an account of which 

 appears in another article in the present 

 number of Bird-Lore. — Harry C. Ober- 

 HOLSER, Biological Survey, Washington, 

 D.C. 



Oberlin Region. — The most notable 

 thing about the birds during the summer 

 was the late singing and the late nesting 

 of most of them. This was due, no doubt, 

 to the exceptionally cold summer. Most 

 of the birds were in nearly full song, even 

 as late as the first week of September. 



The migrations of transient birds 

 began early in July, as usual, but the 

 numbers of individuals was considerably 

 increased over what is regarded as the 

 average. Semipalmated Plover, Semi- 

 palmated Sandpipers, and Caspian Terns 

 were noted on July 6. Swallows, Swifts, 

 and Martins had left the region by the 

 last week of August, which is much earlier 

 than normal. Swifts are usually found 

 until the last week of September, and Tree 



Swallows often linger into late October. 

 On the other hand, transient Warblers 

 are still present and seem to find abundant 

 food among the leaves which still cling to 

 the trees. The birds which feed almost 

 exclusively upon flying insects which they 

 catch, in mid-air departed from two to 

 four weeks early, while the seed-eaters 

 and those which feed largely upon larvae 

 remained later than usual. This can be 

 correlated with the available food-supply 

 of each group. — Lynds Jones, Oberlin, 

 Ohio. 



June 15-August 15 



Denver Region. — The year 19 17 has 

 been of exceptional interest, ornitholog- 

 ically speaking, in this region, and while 

 the period from June 15 to August 15 has 

 exhibited no startling events, yet it has, 

 in a measure, partaken of the imusual con- 

 ditions characterizing 191 7. 



The Denver Region has been, and re- 

 mains unusually verdant, and a much 

 larger area than ordinary has been cul- 

 tivated this season; whether or not these 

 two conditions have lead to the return of 

 several species and an increase in the 

 frequency of others, the writer feels 

 unable to decide. There is a much larger 

 number of Bullock's Orioles in and about 

 Denver than for several years past. The 

 writer's records also seem to show a 

 noticeable increase of Arkansas Gold- 

 finches and a decidedly unusual number of 

 Pale Goldfinches in Denver and its envi- 

 rons. Pine Siskins frequently linger about 

 the city after the first brood is raised, 

 until late in June, but all seemed to dis- 

 appear this year from the Denver Region 

 some time before June 15. 



It is highly probable that the Western 

 House Wren has nested successfully in 

 Denver before, but such an occurrence 

 has never, in twenty-three years' experi- 

 ence here, fallen to the writer's notice. 

 This summer, however, a pair built a 

 spurious nest in a nesting-box on the 

 writer's premises, but placed their true 

 nest in a neighboring yard; and it is 

 highly probable that the Western Yellow- 



