354 



Bird - Lore 



of southbound White Pelicans passed high 

 over the city, giving local newspapers their 

 first 'Wild Goose' opportunity of the year. 

 On September i8 migrant Warblers of several 

 species were present in all wooded places 

 visited, but, owing to thick weather, identifi- 

 cation was difficult. On September 20 a Red- 

 ' headed Woodpecker was noticed hammering 

 something into a crevice in an ancient 

 telephone pole. A close examination of the 

 pole showed it to be rent from top to bottom 

 with wide cracks, each one filled with acorns. 

 Several other old poles in the line were found 

 to be stored in a similar manner and notes 

 were taken for future reference. Little exact 

 data seems to have been published regarding 

 this well-known Redhead habit. 



September 22 was a grand moving day for 

 several common species, including Robins 

 and Flickers, and the fields were again 

 thronged with singing Meadowlarks. Im- 

 mense flocks of tired and silent Cowbirds 

 were seen where none had been noted lately 

 and where they tarried only for the day. 

 Yellow-billed Cuckoos were much in evidence 

 in widely scattered regions during the last 

 few days of September, but were not seen 

 after October i. On this day the behavior of 

 flocks of feeding Nighthawks and Chimney 

 Swifts was noted in the neighborhood of an 

 aviation field where more than a dozen planes 

 were constantly in the air. These birds, as 

 well as flocks of Crackles and Robins re- 

 turning to their roosts later in the day, paid 

 not the least evident attention to the monsters 

 How quickly the birds have adjusted them- 

 selves to this seeming menace! 



Another rain-storm on October 8, with a 

 sharp drop in temperature and a touch of 

 frost, settled passing migrants here in great 

 numbers for a few days. The wooded bluffs 

 and bottoms along the Missouri River in and 

 near the city, and the upland woods further 

 south were thronged with Kinglets, Brown 

 Creepers, Warblers (mostly Myrtle), and 

 the first Juncos. Two days later Harris's, 

 White-throated, and Fox Sparrows, with a 

 sprinkling of Song and Lincoln's were met 

 with in the weed flats near the mouth of Blue 

 River. A lone Vesper Sparrow was also 

 identified. Thousands of resting and feeding 

 Bluebirds were seen along the bluffs on this 



and the following day; in fact, the writer 

 never before met with such an immense 

 gathering of this familiar species. The sound 

 of shooting on the Missouri River during 

 these two days and the sight of a few strings 

 of Ducks in the air indicated a movement of 

 water-fowl. On October 11 at least a dozen 

 small Flycatchers, Traill's doubtless, but not 

 satisfactorily identified, were seen on a 5-mile 

 walk in the bottoms. On the 12th Myrtle 

 Warblers were abundant on the uplands as 

 well as in the bottom timber, and a flock of 40 

 Cedar Waxwings was seen flying over a point 

 of the bluff below the Big Eddy. A winter 

 feast awaits these berry-eaters in this region. 

 Local students and observers will grieve to 

 learn that the last wild stronghold of the 

 birds in the immediate vicinity of the city is 

 doomed to fall at once. Vireos, Tanagers, 

 Carolina Wrens, Rose-breasted and Blue 

 Grosbeaks, Cardinals, Towhees, Wood 

 Thrushes, and those other delightful songsters 

 that have had their homes in the bluff woods 

 beyond the Blue River, and the Orioles, 

 Dickcissels, Indigo Buntings, Chats, Cuckoos, 

 Traill's Flycatchers, Warblers, and the rest 

 that have loved the thick tangled and open 

 spaces of the adjacent bottom region, will be 

 met on their return next spring by the roar 

 of steam shovel and hydraulic nozzle. Not 

 the least of the beauties of this region to be 

 wiped out is the colony of hundreds of pairs 

 of Bank Swallows in Santa Fe Cut. — Harry 

 Harris, Kansas City, Mo. 



Denver Region. — This region has shared, 

 with other parts of the country, a prolonged 

 dry spell. However, this condition seems to 

 have made no difference in the current of 

 bird-life here. The last Black-headed Gros- 

 beak was seen on August 19, and the Yellow 

 Warbler was last seen on August 18, both 

 dates being a trifle early, perhaps, for the 

 departure of these species. Long-eared Owls 

 seem to have been much more rare during the 

 past three or four years, and I had begun to 

 fear that the species was really getting un- 

 common, as it is in many regions in the East. 

 It was a pleasure, therefore, to hear several 

 of these Owls calling over the meadows and 

 prairies at Parker (20 miles from Denver) on 

 August 15. 



