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Bird - Lore 



the first ones were seen the last stragglers 

 were hurrying to overtake their companions. 

 Where did these Martins come from? 



During our brief stay in Kingsville I saw 

 a Least Bittern and a Mockingbird. Of the 

 latter there are only a few previous records 

 for Ontario. — Ralph Beebe, Detroit, Mich. 



A Mockingbird in the Bronx 



On the evening of October 9, we happened 

 to be at Hunts Point, when we noticed a 

 slaty gray bird, with a whitish chest, a little 



smaller than a Thrasher, with a long tail that 

 showed much white when in flight. It flew 

 into some dense underbrush and was hidden 

 from view. We were puzzled — could it be a 

 Mockingbird? Sure enough. Soon it reap- 

 peared, and perched in plain view, and in 

 excellent light upon a protruding branch. 

 We watched it at close range, with our field 

 glasses, for a full quarter of an hour, noticing 

 the long straight bill and the peculiar mark- 

 ings on the wings, and were absolutely certain 

 of its identification. — John and Richard 

 KuERZi, New York City. 



THE SEASON 



Edited by J. T. NICHOLS 



XXXIV. August 15 to October 15, 1922 



Boston Region. — The exceptional feature 

 of the past two months was the absence of a 

 severe killing frost. As a result of this holding 

 off of winter there occurred a remarkable 

 autumnal blossoming of certain species of 

 fruit trees and spring-flowering shrubs, and 

 many of the summer flowers continued to 

 bloom far into the fall. Although the country- 

 side presented the appearance of flourishing 

 summer vegetation, most of our resident 

 birds left, as usual, during the four weeks 

 following mid-August. 



Late in August the Kingbirds gathered into 

 companies, often of a dozen or more, and 

 accordin^ to their usual habit, disappeared 

 almost completely before September i. I 

 know of no species of bird in this region which 

 each year on a given date, vanishes as sud- 

 denly as the Kingbird. The Barn Swallows 

 left the barnyards, and, in preparation for 

 migration, collected on roadside wires, and 

 within a week of the Kingbirds' departure 

 they, too, were gone, leaving the country 

 nearly deserted. 



The first group of migrants from the North, 

 e. g., BlackpoU Warblers, White-throated 

 Sparrows, Brown Creepers, and Juncos, 

 arrived on normal dates, or, in some cases, 

 a little early. With them came the vanguard 

 of the Golden-crowned Kinglets, the leaders 

 in a Kinglet migration which proved an ex- 

 ceptional one. This Kinglet has not occurred 



here so numerously since the autumn of 1916, 

 and since then in some years it has been so 

 scarce as to excite comment in print (see 

 F. H. Allen, Bird-Lore, 1919, pp. 361, 362). 



There was a heavy migration of Double- 

 crested Cormorants, and Gannets are off our 

 coast now in remarkably large numbers. 

 The shore-bird flight, which began conspicu- 

 ously in late July, is still passing, represented 

 by Greater Yellowlegs, Semipalmated and 

 Black-bellied Plover, Sanderlings, and Turn- 

 stones. During September, Golden Plovers 

 were reported as occurring numerously on 

 Cape Cod. 



Mr. Forbush ('Notes for Observers,' 

 October 16) speaks of "an influx of Wood- 

 peckers in Maine" and advises us to "look 

 out for Arctic Three-toed Woodpeckers this 

 winter." A favorable place to look for them 

 is in a burned area where dead trees are still 

 standing. — Winsor M. Tyler, Lexington, 

 Mass. 



New York Region. — The flight of shore- 

 birds along the ocean side of Long Island in 

 the latter part of August is reported to have 

 been large, the Greater Yellowlegs and 

 Black-breasted Plover especially being pres- 

 ent in unusual numbers. A Marbled Godwit 

 was definitely identified at Cedarhurst, 

 August ry (Rolfe Floyd, Jr.). A flight of 

 Hudsonian Godwits occurred August 28, 



