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Migrants in New York City 



On May 15,1921, Madison Square, a small 

 park in the very heart of Manhattan, was 

 the scene of an astonishing migratory bird 

 exhibit. Bewildered in the thick weather of 

 the preceding night, large numbers of small 

 birds had dropped into this haven of refuge 

 and through the kindness of Mr. George 

 Gladden, of the New York Linnsean Society, 

 who telephoned me of this remarkable event, 

 I was able to make a rough census on two 

 successive days, and to investigate the cause 

 of such an unusual happening. 



Arriving about i p.m., I was surprised to 

 find the birds swarming over the lawns, but 

 relatively few of them up in the trees. It was 

 a novel sight to watch Redstarts and a Chest- 

 nut-sided Warbler flitting about on the close- 

 cropped sod, and the birds seemed so 

 ravenously hungry that even Maryland 

 Yellowthroats were to be seen pecking at the 

 pieces of bread thrown in by passers-by. 

 Grasshopper Sparrows appeared more at 

 home, as they crouched low in the short 

 grass, where they probably found more 

 natural food. 



The total number of birds, on the 15th, I 

 estimated at about 525, exclusive of House 

 Sparrows. Ovenbirds were decidedly in the 

 majority, scattered everywhere through the 

 park, while the next most abundant birds, 

 White-throated Sparrows, were gathered in 

 more or less of a flock in the center of the 

 Square. Twenty- three species of native 

 birds were seen alive, and one more, the 

 Magnolia Warbler, was represented among 

 the birds picked up dead. 



By the following day more than three- 

 fourths of the birds had left. Among those 

 remaining, of course, were some that had 

 suffered injuries, but others seemed quite 

 unhurt. Of the larger and stronger species, 

 such as the Catbird, Towhee, and White- 

 throated Sparrow, even a smaller proportion 

 was left. 



The species and the estimated numbers of 

 individuals present on these first two days 



(91 



are as follows, but Ovenbirds and a few others 

 remained for many davs thereafter. 



May 

 15 16 



Lincoln's Sparrow i o 



Chipping Sparrow 8 2 



Field Sparrow 4 i 



White- throated Sparrow 100 15 



White-crowned Sparrow 2 o 



Swamp Sparrow 4 o 



Grasshopper Sparrow 8 i 



Towhee 50 8 



Northern Water-Thrush 2 2 



Ovenbird 200 60 



Maryland Yellow-throat 80 30 



Yellow-breasted Chat i o 



Redstart 4 2 



Chestnut-sided Warbler i i 



Black-throated Blue Warbler 2 o 



Myrtle Warbler i o 



Parula Warbler 2 i 



Black-and-white Warbler 7 1 



House Wren 3 o 



Brown Thrasher 3 o 



Catbird 35 4 



Wilson's Thrush 3 o 



Gray-cheeked Thrush 2 o 



Many birds of the species enumerated 

 above were found dead in the vicinity of 

 Madison Square, and the cause of the disaster 

 is not far to seek. The night had been very 

 foggy, and it was against the tower of the 

 Metropolitan Life Building, to the east of the 

 Square, that the birds had hurled themselves. 

 The brilliant electric lights at its apex, and 

 the illuminated clock-dials lower down doubt- 

 less played a part. So many of the dead 

 birds had been carried off before my arrival 

 that it was impossible to estimate accurately 

 the number that had succumbed. The 

 superintendent of the Metropolitan Life 

 Building tells me that about one hundred 

 were found on the building, but two or three 

 times that number probably fell in the park 

 and on nearby streets. We noted that few 

 Towhees or Sparrows had been killed; most 

 of the casualties were among the weaker 



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