248 



Bird - Lore 



seen there on May 19. As an aftermath 

 of the winter's abundance, a few Hairy 

 Woodpeckers seem to have settled near the 

 towns. One on the main highway at 

 Arlington attracted attention from passers- 

 by through May on account of his loud 

 and persistent drumming. 



As for the usual spring migrants and 

 summer residents, the continuously un- 

 favorable days of May seemed inconducive 

 to marked waves of migration. Most 

 species made their general appearance a 

 few days behind the average time of 

 arrival and came, unobtrusively, in small 

 numbers. On May 15, following a fine, 

 clear day, came the most marked flight, 

 when many species of Warblers, including 

 Blackburnians, and large numbers of 

 Parula, Myrtle, and Magnolia Warblers, 

 swarmed through the trees. The three last 

 continued to be conspicuous for several 

 days. Kingbirds seemed very late in 

 general arrival; the first were noted at 

 Lexington on May 18. The first songs of 

 Wilson's Thrushes were heard the same 

 date, eleven days after the first arrivals. 

 Baltimore Orioles and Rose-breasted Gros- 

 beaks came together in numbers on May 5. 

 A shy Lincoln's Finch was observed at 

 Lexington during parts of the 17th, in the 

 vicinity of a brush-pile, whence, with 

 characteristic caution, it would sally forth 

 into the grass, only to disappear utterly 

 and mysteriously if too closely approached. 

 Noticeable was the small number of 

 BlackpoU Warblers in contrast to their 

 abundance last fall. Yellow-throated 

 Vireos seem nearly gone from our region. 

 Only one singing bird at Lexington was 

 found after covering much open and 

 orchard country. One or two pairs of 

 Warbling Vireos are apparently settled in 

 the old elms of the town, but the species is 

 much less in evidence than it used to be 

 before the extensive spraying of shade 

 trees against insects. Cedar-birds also 

 seem to be very few. It is interesting to 

 find that the Tennessee Warbler, of 

 unusual abundance as a spring migrant the 

 two previous years, was present again this 

 season in small numbers. Singing birds 

 were several times recorded during casual 



walks between May 21 and June i at 

 Cambridge and Lexington. On the even- 

 ing of May 29, several small flocks of 

 Nighthawks, numbering eight to twelve 

 birds each, passed over, flying high, 

 steadily, and due north. The local birds 

 that breed on the graveled roof-tops of 

 Boston had arrived all of two weeks 

 earlier. This late migration of Night- 

 hawks, doubtless of more northerly breed- 

 ing birds, is a usual occurrence here in the 

 last days of May. This year it marked 

 practically the close of the spring migra- 

 tions. 



The local breeding birds are already 

 well started in nesting. Starlings were out 

 of the nest in Cambridge by the middle of 

 May. It is worth recording that they are 

 more noticeable this year in the suburbs 

 north of Boston, as at Arlington and 

 Lexington. As a city bird they are nesting 

 in the very heart of Boston. The Robins 

 and Bronzed Crackles, whose summer 

 roost at Lexington was described last year, 

 were already resorting to it nightly by 

 early May, but, apparently, these were 

 almost all male birds. Probably the females 

 were left to brood the eggs and young. By 

 the middle of June, Robins are already on 

 the wing and many of the earlier breed- 

 ing species, as Song Sparrows, Bronzed 

 Crackles, and Tree Swallows, have young 

 nearly ready to fly. Early June has proved 

 seasonable as to weather and favorable 

 for the hatching broods. — Glover M. 

 Allen, Boston, Mass. 



New York Region. — This year the 

 arrival from the south of the arboreal 

 birds, which come when the trees are leaf- 

 ing out, especially transient species, was 

 of much interest. Perhaps, due to the 

 spring being at first advanced and later 

 retarded, some species arrived late and 

 others at unprecedented early dates. 

 Among the latter the Black-poll Warbler 

 is noteworthy, reported the end of April, 

 and many of them arriving as early as the 

 first week of May. Learning of their 

 presence in Central Park, New York City, 

 on May 5, they were looked for carefully 

 at Garden City (though that locality is a 



