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Bird - Lore 



but still not as much earlier as might have 

 been expected, due, perhaps, to the spell 

 of severe weather at the end of February 

 and in early March. Hazel bushes were in 

 bloom and the buds swelling on the maples 

 and elms on April 6. The earliest pasque 

 flowers had opened some days before. After 

 the limited numbers of last year, it was a 

 happy surprise to find the Juncos and Tree 

 Sparrows coming in great abundance in 

 late March and early April. The Purple 

 Finches, here all winter, were greatly 

 added to about April i, and since then 

 their sweet warble has been common music 

 hereabouts. Redpolls, abundant all winter, 

 disappeared earlv in April, and the last 

 Bohemian Waxwings were reported on 

 March 29 (Thayer). The Horned Larks 

 that were here the latter part of the winter 

 left about March 15, and none has been 

 seen since in the places frequented by them. 



For assistance in compiling the following 

 record of spring arrivals, I am indebted to 

 Mr. Burton Thayer and Mr. F. W. 

 Commons. 



February 22. A Kingfisher, probably a 

 winter bird. 



March 9. Crows became common (some 

 here all winter). 



March 15. Numerous Robins and Blue- 

 birds (all males); Red- winged Blackbirds 

 (males) in nesting-places. 



March 18. A Killdeer and Herring Gulls. 



March 22. Flickers (common April 13); 

 Great Blue Herons; Song Sparrows (com- 

 mon April 6). 



March 25. A Whistling S wan, killed near 

 St. Paul by some boys, sent to the Museum 

 by Prof. Riley, State Entomologist. Re- 

 port says that a number were seen in this 

 vicinity (Avery). 



March 27. Meadowlarks (common 

 March 29); Rusty Blackbirds abundant. 



March 30. Red-headed Woodpecker; 

 Migrant Shrike. 



April I. A pair of Sparrow Hawks. 



April 6. Phoebes; a Pied-billed Grebe; 

 Swamp Sparrows (common April 13); 

 Ruby-crowned Kinglets (common April 

 13); Loons; Brown Creepers very numer- 

 ous (a few present all winter). 



April 10. A Fish Hawk, taken at St. 



Paul, presented to Museum by Mr. Carlos 

 Avery. This bird was formerly common in 

 Minnesota but is disappearing of late 

 years. 



April 13. Golden-crowned Kinglets; a 

 male Sapsucker feeding, as usual, in the 

 early spring, among the catkins of a poplar 

 tree; American Coot; Wilson's Snipe; Her- 

 mit Thrush; flocks of Lesser Scaup and 

 Ring-necked Ducks in the lakes; a White- 

 breasted Nuthatch and a Robin building. 



April 14. First Myrtle Warblers. 



The most noticeable feature in the spring 

 movement thus far is the considerable in- 

 crease in birds over last year. — Thos. S. 

 Roberts, University of Minnesota, Min- 

 neapolis, Minn. 



Kansas City Region. — This region, ly- 

 ing close to the winter home of so many 

 species of birds, — in fact, being the home 

 itself of such a goodly number, — the effect 

 of an exceptionally mild and open winter 

 is readily noticeable in the early start of 

 the northward movement. The winter 

 just past was such a one, and while, for 

 some unaccountable reason, the wintering 

 birds were far less numerous, both as re- 

 gards species and individuals, than during 

 less favorable years, the sudden and early 

 appearance of large numbers of Crackles, 

 Red-wings, Rusty Blackbirds, Meadow- 

 larks, several species of Sparrows, both 

 Kinglets, Robins, and Bluebirds indicated 

 that our usual winter crowd had spent the 

 season not far to the south. 



The usual cold storms of mid-March 

 seemed to have had little or no effect on 

 the restless throngs, and, by the second 

 and third weeks of the month, migration 

 was under way in earnest. The continued 

 unaccountable absence of the usual num- 

 bers of Harris's Sparrows in their accus- 

 tomed haunts has caused no little specula- 

 tion among local observers as to the reason 

 for this favorite deserting us for a season. 

 Purple Martins were a week ahead of 

 schedule, two being seen on March 29. 



Black and White Warblers were seen on 

 April 5, which is six days earlier than any 

 previous date of arrival known to the 

 writer. Ruby-crowned Kinglets were 



