28o 



Bird - Lore 



Night Heron, one of 102 Herons banded by 

 him and Messrs. Floyd and MacKaye on 

 June 17, at West Barnstable, Mass. The 

 bird was found dead on August 7, lying under 

 electric wires at Kennebunkport, Maine. 

 The young bird had moved northward in 

 midsummer over 100 miles. — Winsor M. 

 Tyler, Lexington, Mass. 



New York Region. — At Mastic, L. I., on 

 June 24, two Yellowlegs were observed flying 

 together. One, from its notes, was definitely 

 a Lesser Yellowlegs; the identity of the other 

 was uncertain. On June 25, a Greater 

 Yellowlegs was sighted on the same bit of 

 marsh, and, although flushed several times, 

 did not leave. In notes and actions it seemed 

 like a late spring bird which had been living 

 there. On July i, there was a Lesser Yellow- 

 legs (and there were also about ten south- 

 bound Least Sandpipers) on this marsh, and 

 on July 2, a Greater Yellowlegs flying over it. 



The Lesser Yellowlegs on June 24 may be 

 considered an early south-bound bird, June 

 27 being the previous earliest south-bound 

 date for Long Island; June i, the latest 

 north-bound. The Greater Yellowlegs on 

 June 25, however, was probably north-bound. 

 Had there been a Greater Yellowlegs es- 

 tablished here July i , the presumption would 

 be that it was the same bird, which had 

 summered over the critical few days between 

 the known north-bound and south-bound 

 migration periods of the species. None was 

 found, and the bird of July 2 may as well 

 have been or have not been the individual of 

 June 25. In this connection, see observations 

 on the Greater Yellowlegs in 1921, reported 

 by Charles A. Urner in the July (1922) Auk 

 (p. 413). Stray individuals of the species 

 occur rather frequently on Long Island with 

 the south-bound wave of shore-birds the 

 first week in July. One seen by E. P. Bicknell 

 at Long Beach, June 28, 191 7, seems referable 

 to either migration with equal appro- 

 priateness. 



As regards south-bound movement of land- 

 birds, Tree Swallows began to increase early 

 iri July and are now to be found in goodly 

 numbers along the shore and marshes. The 

 presence of the Yellow Warbler on July 29, 

 in scant bushes bordering a coastwise bay 



separated by a stretch of marsh from any 

 considerable cover, is taken as evidence that 

 the species was moving. August 6, E. P. 

 Bicknell noticed several species of transient 

 Warblers at Hewlett, L. I., and L. Griscom 

 also detected such migrants in Central Park 

 at about the same date. Two instances have 

 been personally observed of Oven-birds 

 striking against the screens or windows of a 

 house. One, which had probably met its end 

 in that manner, was picked up dead, and one 

 seen to fly against a piazza screen and drop 

 panting to the ground beneath, flew off in 

 the opposite direction when approached. 



Reports of southern Herons which have 

 come in so far (August 15) are confined to a 

 Juvenal Little Blue Heron at Greenwood 

 Lake, July 27 to 31 (R. F. Haulenbeek), and 

 several of the same species as well as Amer- 

 ican Egrets on the Newark Marshes (Miller 

 and Urner). 



At Demarest, N. J., B. S. Bowdish secured 

 two Song Sparrow 'returns' of interest in 

 connection with the study of that bird's 

 movements by means of banding. One of 

 these individuals (No. 50024) which had been 

 banded April 26, 192 1, was retaken July 9, 

 1922, and another (No. 50045), banded 

 July 13, 1921, retaken July 16, 1922, signifi- 

 cantly close to the date of its original 

 capture. — J. T. Nichols, New York, N. Y. 



Philadelphia Region. — ^With the idea of 

 looking into the present status of some of the 

 Tern and Black Skimmer colonies of the New 

 Jersey coast, investigations were carried on 

 during the 'Season' just past on a number of 

 the more thinly populated beaches. 



Four colonies of Common Terns, con- 

 taining perhaps 75, 100, 50, and 100 birds; 

 three colonies of Skimmers of approximately 

 14, 20, and 60 birds; one colony of Least 

 Terns of 30 birds were looked into; also, 

 probably some 20 pairs of Piping Plover were 

 found. One downy young of the last species 

 was discovered on Seven-Mile Beach July 30. 



One of the smaller Skimmer colonies was 

 deserted by the birds before any young were 

 hatched, probably because of frequent visits 

 by summer cottagers, although a colony of 

 Common Terns nesting in the same locality 

 stayed and succeeded in raising a few young. 



