General Notes 41? 



Mr. Gurney writes me (Aug. 3, 1915) : "The old tree, which was 

 an oak, blew down ; it was quite hollow, and some of the pellets 

 were in fragments, which had the appearance of being many months 

 old. They were all soaked in water, and the skulls carefully laid 

 out in rows and counted." 



From the viewpoint of practical, economic ornithology, it would 

 seem that the issuance of such slips by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture to the more intelligent class of farmers and general 

 agriculturists, all over the country, would be of immense service In 

 this direction, and doubtless accomplish much good in sparing our 

 smaller and medium-sized species of Owls, — birds which, in fact, 

 belong to the most useful class, in so far as the interests of agri- 

 culture are concerned. 



R. W. Shufeldt. 



Wq^shington, D. C. 



FIELD' NOTES FROM THE CHICAGO AREA. 



My observations during last spring's {migration — limited though 

 they are, owing to preoccupation — confirm Prof. Lynds Jones' re- 

 mark respecting the correlation between bird migration and the 

 weather. While the last winter was notable here for the continued 

 cold weather, with snow on the ground for a longer uninterrupted 

 period than usually, the second half of February brought us milder 

 and sunnier weather than in other years. As if unable to resist 

 the lure of such fine days the Bluebirds appeared on the ISth, when 

 two were seen, whereas in other years they only appear between 

 the 10th and 15th of March. On the 20th five were seen, which 

 were warbling cud enjoying themselves in a way that almost led 

 one to believe '.'ifat spring was here in earnest and not only up to 

 one of its not h infrequent deceptions. The Robin appeared on the 

 scene on the ' ifet, to disappear again with the Bluebirds on the 

 23d, when a Cu.'cl wave came. The other members of the batch of 

 first arrivals here did not seem to be influenced by the warm days, 

 as the first Meadowlark was heard on the 11th of March and the 

 first Killdeer on the 13th, and owing to the situation and location 

 of my home I can see and hear the first of these without fail. The 

 other members of what I would call the first migrant-association 

 to arrive here are the Junco, Song Sparrow, Redwing, Grackle and 

 Cowbird. The 13th of March seems to have been an auspicious day 

 for birds this year, for while passing through Waller's Park, com- 

 ing from Thatcher's Woods, where I had seen a Cardinal, I saw 

 30 to 50 Bluebirds, about the same number of Robins and Tree 

 Sparrows, all singing as loud as they could, and heard a Song 

 Sparrow. 



