224 



Bird - Lore 



that have always found a refuge in the 'plum 

 thicket' nearby are likewise doomed to a 

 speedy exile. A list of breeding species of this 

 delectable spot would, I believe, astonish 

 even its discoverer and one-time chronicler, 

 Ralph Hoffmann. It numbers 48 species! 



Pairs of Blue-winged Teal have been ob- 

 served all spring about ponds near the city 

 and on two of the park lakes within the city. 

 At least one pair have begun building opera- 

 tions, though it is quite too much to hope 

 that they may succeed in bringing off young 

 within plain sight of a busy street-car line 

 and within throwing distance of a boulevard. 



Warbling and Yellow-throated Vireos mi- 

 grating in numbers on April 29 were late, as 

 were Savannah, Vesper, and Grasshopper 

 Sparrows on May 3. Passing Prothonotary 

 and Tennessee Warblers were numerous in 

 the Missouri River bottoms on May 14, and 

 migrating Bitterns were flushed on the up- 

 lands near Waldo on the same date. 



Up to the middle of May but compara- 

 tively few Tennessee Warblers had been 

 heard in the parks and along the boulevards 

 where usually at this season the staccato call 

 of this busy insect-gleaner is much in evi- 

 dence. The present scarcity would seem to 

 indicate a dearth of canker-worms and other 

 pests of the elms. 



Great numbers of migratory Thrushes were 

 present from May 11 to 15 in all wooded 

 situations over the entire region. Professor 

 Shirling reports having seen the Veery {H. f. 

 salicicola?) in unusual numbers on May 13 

 and also having heard the song of this species 

 in his yard near Swope Park. This is the 

 first authentic record known to the writer of 

 the local singing of this bird. The migratory 

 Thrushes are usually silent on their passage 

 through this region, but all save the Hermit 

 have now been heard here at one time or 

 another. 



Roy Woodworth reported a small flock of 

 Bobolinks on May 14. Seasons occasionally 

 pass without this species being seen here at 

 all, and it has rarely been heard here in full 

 song. 



Notes received from Johnson Neff, of 

 Marionville, Mo., mention the Double- 

 crested Cormorant and Sandhill Crane as 

 two rarities seen at his station in early May. 



Much correspondence has failed to bring 

 to light any further data on the Magpie in- 

 vasion of the lower Missouri Valley. Mr. 

 Charles Bankers' notes on the fifty individ- 

 uals in Holt County mark, so far as I can 

 learn, the southern limit of the remarkable 

 migration of this species. — Harry Harris, 

 Kansas City, Mo. 



Denver Region. — While the wave of 

 spring migration was slow in reaching us, and 

 then seemingly of small magnitude as com- 

 pared with previous similar periods, the rush 

 of nesting with our local birds was sudden 

 and most pronounced. There are more young 

 Robins and young House Finches in this 

 vicinity than ever before observed by the 

 writer at this date. Many other species have 

 been found nesting more commonly in the 

 suburbs this spring, to-wit. Lark Sparrows, 

 Lark Buntings, and Meadowlarks. And the 

 Bluebird has nested during the past eight 

 weeks nearer in toward the denser portions 

 of the city than for several years past. 



One of the outstanding and very striking 

 features of this season's local bird-life has 

 been the almost total absence of Warblers; 

 a single Audubon's Warbler was seen in one 

 of our parks on April 28, another in the 

 outskirts on May 28, and a single Macgilli- 

 vray's Warbler on May 16. These are the only 

 Warblers detected by the writer, in the city, 

 excepting, of course, our summer resident 

 Yellow Warbler, which arrived here on Maj' 

 7 (about its average). As usual, it came at 

 once in numbers and has remained common 

 since its first appearance. 



One of the great pleasures and possibilities 

 inherent in one's interest in birds, as has 

 often been said before, is the unexpected sight 

 of a rare bird, an experience coming to the 

 writer twice this spring. On .^pril 25, a 

 Golden Eagle was seen majestically sailing 

 over his neighboring park. .\ few of these 

 grand birds haunt the mountains within 

 thirty miles of Denver, and nest in the can- 

 yons within this area. 



Gambel's Sparrow was first noted here on 

 .\pril 24, though in all probability it was 

 present in the outskirts much earlier, and the 

 White-crowned Sparrow came in to Chees- 

 man Park on May 8, on which date, and in 



