2l8 



Bird - Lore 



being no apparent pronounced waves which 

 are a special delight to the bird-lover. This 

 condition was no doubt due to the favorable 

 weather conditions encountered, the migrants 

 passing through without delay. Certainly 

 the bulk of the Warblers had come and gone 

 by May 14. On May 14, an excursion 

 by canoe from New Lisbon, N. J., to Mt. 

 Holly, via the Rancocas Creek, piloted by 

 Mr. Nelson Pumyea, yielded 83 species, only 

 three of which were at all out of the ordinary 

 run of birds expected at that time of year 

 (Loon, Osprey and Golden-winged Warbler). 

 The apparent total lack of some of the more 

 common migrant Warblers was surprising. 

 Those who were out a few days earlier saw 

 many more, and among them were found a 

 scattering of Tennessee, Wilson's, and Cape 

 May Warblers. The Yellow Warbler, 

 Yellow-breasted Chat, House Wren and 

 Wood Thrush seem to be decidedly more 

 common than usual this year. 



The coast migration of shore-birds is re- 

 ported to have been very satisfactory, numer- 

 ous Hudsonian Curlew, Dowitchers, Turn- 

 stones, Greater Yellow-legs, a scattering of 

 Knots, and a host of smaller Sandpipers 

 passed through during the latter part of May. 

 Least Sandpipers and Semipalmated Plovers 

 are still here at Camden June 9. 



Two young Yellow-billed Cuckoos out of 

 the nest and able to fly short distances (June 

 8), seems a rather early date for such an 

 occurrence. — Julian K. Potter, Camden, 

 N. J. 



Washington Region. — The spring mi- 

 gration of 1922 about Washington proved to 

 be unusually interesting. Most of our sum- 

 mer residents and transients arrive from the 

 south in April and the early part of May, and 

 during these two months of the present year 

 there were not only gratifyingly large num- 

 bers of birds present, both of species and 

 individuals, but many rare or otherwise 

 attractive ornithological visitors made their 

 appearance. 



The weather was moderately cool up to 

 the middle of May, thus setting the stage for 

 a migration movement that in many respects 

 was about normal. The four most noticeable 

 migration waves occurred (i) from April 29 



to 30, its effect lasting until about May 3; (2) 

 May 7; (3) May 10 to 12; and (4) May 14. 

 In all of these the migration movement began 

 on the night of the day preceding the first 

 dates above given. The height of the migra- 

 tion season was about May 12, and the tide 

 rapidly receded after May 14, until by June 

 I practically all of the transient species had 

 passed northward. 



The cold weather of the early spring 

 induced a few species to remain later than 

 usual, as, for instance, the Ring-billed Gull 

 to May 14, its average date of departure 

 being April 21; the Pied-billed Grebe, noted 

 up to May 13, the average departure of which 

 is May 3 ; and the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 

 April 29, the average departure of which is 

 April 23. The Canada Goose, moreover, was 

 observed as late as April 2 1 , on which date Dr. 

 H. H. T. Jackson saw a flock of 50 to 60 flying 

 over the city of Washington, which record is 

 three days beyond its previously latest spring 

 stay (April 18, 1920). 



A feature worthy of mention is the gener- 

 ally early arrival of the spring migrants. 

 About thirty species were from three to 

 eighteen days ahead of their average spring 

 appearance, and some of them close to their 

 best records in this respect. Furthermore, 

 the Wilson Thrush noted on April 9 by Mr. 

 F. C. Lincoln, at Plummer Island, Md., was 

 thus earlier than its previously early appear- 

 ance of April 20, 1889; and the Traill Fly- 

 catcher, seen May 7 in the National Zo- 

 ological Park, was one day ahead of its pre- 

 viously earliest spring record (May 8, 1906). 

 A few species, however, most of them nor- 

 mally rather late migrants, such as the Lorg- 

 billed Marsh Wren, Yellow-breasted Chat, 

 Nighthawk, and Scarlet Tanager, were 

 unusually late in putting in their appearance, 

 but this may be due to lack of observations, 

 an element always liable to cause error in 

 records of the non-appearance of species in 

 the spring. 



Among the birds taking part in this spring 

 migration were a number that were unusually 

 numerous, such as the Tennessee Warbler, 

 Bay-breasted Warbler, Myrtle Warbler, 

 Canadian Warbler, Scarlet Tanager, and the 

 Purple Finch. Some, however, that should 

 be common were apparently decidedly un- 



