The Season 



349 



Shinnecock Bay (W. Pell, II); a flock, prob- 

 ably Hudsonian, near Hicks Beach, August 30. 



A flock of 23 white, and i blue Little Blue 

 Herons at South Plainfield, N. J. in August 

 (W. DeW. Miller), is remarkable. The north- 

 ward movement of this species may have been 

 further to the west than usual, but some also 

 followed the easterly course along Long 

 Island, as one was observed at Mastic, 

 August 26, and the species is recorded at 

 Montauk, September 5 (L. Griscom). H. F. 

 Stone observed a Least Bittern at Lawrence, 

 Long Island, September 21. This is a late 

 date, and the species is also rare on the island 

 even in migration. 



The Yellow Palm Warbler, Central Park, 

 N. Y., September 22 (Griscom), is early. 



Late September and early October weather 

 was unusually mild and summery. Conditions 

 seemed right for the southward flight of 

 arboreal Warblers, etc., to linger in this 

 latitude to unusually late dates as they some- 

 times do. Such seems not to have been the 

 case, however, with the single exception of 

 the Cuckoos. A transient Black-billed 

 Cuckoo in some low, scrubby trees in a field. 

 Garden City, Long Island, October 8, is 

 rather late for that species, and a Yellow- 

 billed Cuckoo in a big linden tree at Mastic, 

 October 14, is decidedly late. Though the 

 Mastic trees were almost everywhere full 

 leaved and green, only a little brown or a 

 little bare, other birds were essentially those 

 to be looked for at this fall date: Swamp 

 Sparrows, calling along the creek, White- 

 throats, Myrtle Warblers, Golden-crowned 

 Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, etc. — J. T. 

 Nichols, New York, N. Y. 



Philadelphia Region. — With the excep- 

 tion of a few days in mid-September, the fall 

 season has been abnormally warm and exceed- 

 ingly dry. Early October was especially 

 summer-like, the thermometer registering 

 93° on October 4. During the heat period the 

 wind blew almost continuously from the 

 southwest and bird-life seemed at times to be 

 almost absent. At Cape May, October i, 

 temperature 85°, on an all-day trip, only 

 eighteen species were recorded. 



The northward migration of Egrets and 

 Little Blue Herons it seemed was not up to 



the standard set by the summers of 1920-21. 

 However, a number have been about. Mr. 

 Delos Culver writes that he observed about 

 a dozen Egrets and Little Blues on the 

 meadows back of Wildwood, N. J., on Sep- 

 tember 23. 



A seasonable yet always interesting flight 

 of Hawks was observed at Cape May on 

 September 17; Sharp-shinned Hawk, 60; 

 Cooper's Hawk, 2; Bald Eagle, 4 (3 seen at 

 one time); Broad-winged Hawk, 52 (?); 

 Pigeon Hawk, 2; Osprey, 10; Duck Hawk, 2. 

 The wind on this date was northwest, a 

 seemingly necessary condition to produce a 

 big flight. A bunch of a dozen Hawks were 

 found which had been shot — 10 Sharp-shinned, 

 I Pigeon, and i Sparrow Hawk. While not 

 of an ornithological nature, yet of consider- 

 able interest to the nature-lover, was a tre- 

 mendous migration of monarch butterflies 

 on this date. They passed down the coast 

 literally by the millions, a continuous line all 

 day. At Cape May Point, where there is a 

 considerable growth of pine trees, many of 

 the insects had stopped to rest, and the pines 

 presented the appearance of deciduous trees 

 covered with dead leaves. Reports from 

 Atlantic City on the same day stated that 

 the insects were present in clouds. 



According to a local paper, the 'seagulls' 

 have become so numerous along the New 

 Jersey coast that the fishermen are up in 

 arms, and are intending to ask the lawmakers 

 to legalize the shooting of these birds. The 

 reason, of course, is very clear (?) : The Gulls 

 smash all the clams by carrying them high 

 into the air and then dropping them on the 

 hard sand. This is carried on so persistently 

 that there are no clams left for the fishermen 

 to gather for bait. Let us hope that the law- 

 makers turn a deaf ear to such flimsy reasons 

 for persecution. 



The bulk of the winter residents have not 

 as yet (October 9), it seems, put in appear- 

 ance, the Junco being the only one that is at 

 all common. 



October 12, two Turkey Vultures noted 

 feeding on a dead skunk at Oaks, Pa., 

 October 13, decided change in temperature, 

 45° this A.M., chirps of many migrating 

 Sparrows heard, last night. — Julian K. 

 Potter, Camden, N. J. 



