The Season 



367 



for what reason was not apparent. About 

 the middle of the month they left this place 

 entirely and chose for their evening gath- 

 ering some trees in Judiciary Square, sev- 

 eral blocks farther north. The last bird 

 was seen this year on September 7, but 

 previous to this time their numbers at the 

 roost had become very greatly depleted. 

 It will be interesting to see for how many 

 future years the Martins will return to 

 gather in this interesting manner in the city 

 of Washington. — Harry C. Oberholser, 

 Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 



Minneapolis (Itasca State Park) Re- 

 gion. — August 15 to September i. The 

 weather at this northern locality was ex- 

 ceptionally warm throughout the present 

 season, nights as well as daytime, and the 

 usual blankets and woolen garments were 

 not needed. After the middle of August 

 the nights became somewhat cooler, but, 

 with the exception of a very light and local 

 frost on one occasion near the end of the 

 month, the customary severe late August 

 frost did not occur. 



Shortly after the middle of August the 

 many Great Blue Herons and Black Terns 

 that had bred in the Park left the lakes and 

 were not seen thereafter. By the 20th of 

 the month the tree-tops were alive, every 

 now and then, with the great, mixed fall 

 assemblages of Warblers, Sparrows, Vireos, 

 Flycatchers, Nuthatches, etc., moving leis- 

 urely hither and thither, with much sociable 

 conversation among themselves, and drift- 

 ing, as a whole, steadily southward on their 

 autumnal pilgrimage to milder climes. On 

 August 28, and for two or three days fol- 

 lowing, large numbers of Night Hawks 

 swooped about over the pine forests, com- 

 ing from their summer abiding places far- 

 ther north, for this bird is an uncommon 

 summer resident in the Park. The tireless 

 Red-eyed Vireo and his louder and sweeter - 

 voiced relative of these Canadian wilds, the 

 Blue-headed Vireo, were still singing 

 blithely up to the very last days of the 

 month, and no doubt lent a cheer to the 

 stillness of the earlier fall days by their 

 musical notes. On the evening of August 13 

 a Whip-poor-will passed through the Park 



and stopped long enough in a deep and 

 dark ravine beside the Lodge to proclaim 

 his presence by a few resounding and 

 spring-like call-notes. This came as a sur- 

 prise, as the voice of this bird is rarely 

 heard here, and there is but one other 

 authentic record for the Park — on May 25, 

 191 7 (J. P. Wentling). 



As the fall approached, the Pileated 

 Woodpecker became more and more in 

 evidence, and it was heard or seen daily. 

 A pair had raised a brood this season, as 

 for several seasons past, in a hole in a Nor- 

 way pine (formerly occupied by a pair of 

 Wood Ducks) directly in front of the cabin, 

 nearest to the main Lodge. The young left 

 the nest shortly before July i. On the 

 evening of August 29, one of the birds was 

 seen to enter the old nesting-hole and re- 

 main for some time, but left before it was 

 entirely dark, and, whether or not it re- 

 turned, was undetermined. This suggested 

 that they used the nesting-places later as 

 shelters. On July 7 of the present year, 

 Mr. William Kilgore and the writer watched 

 two of these birds for some time at close 

 range (they are not at all shy) and saw 

 one of them, a female, feed the other, a 

 full-grown and beautifully plumaged male 

 larger than herself, by regurgitation exactly 

 in the manner of the Flicker. This big, 

 gaily attired youngster, for so we con- 

 sidered him, sat quietly by while his worn 

 and much-soiled mother labored assidu- 

 ously on the near-by jack pines to secure 

 the food that must still be pumped forcibly 

 into his maw. It was an entertaining sight 

 and aroused some surprise that this big 

 bird required to be thus fed and was appar- 

 ently so helpless for such a long time after 

 leaving the nest — for it probably belonged 

 to the brood that left the Lodge-nest, just 

 mentioned, late in June. 



It is a pleasure to be able to state that 

 the Ruffed Grouse in the Park shows, this 

 year, a very marked increase in numbers 

 over the scarcity of the last few years. At 

 least twelve or fifteen covies were reported, 

 where two years ago it was rare to flush a 

 single bird. On August 24, a covey consist- 

 ing of fifteen or sixteen fully grown birds 

 was encountered close by the Lodge, and. 



