46 THE WREN, 
between me and the bird, giving me ample cover from which to 
stalk the bird. In this way I approached within ten yards, and was 
able to make out that the bird was undoubtedly a female Yellow- 
headed Blackbird. The upper parts, tail, wings, neck and top of 
the head were black; upper breast, throat, and line over eye clouded 
yellow; a dusky line through the eye. The note was a “check.” 
It may be of interest to note that of the other four state records, 
two are from Eastham (on Cape Cod), and one from Monomoy 
Island, and one from Watertown. 
J. L. Peters. 
SHORE BIRD MIGRATION — FALL OF 1909. 
The southward migration of shore birds this season was remark- 
able for the large variety of birds which were seen. Just what the 
conditions were to bring about such a flight are not always easy to 
determine, but a heavy storm is usually responsible for driving 
many birds to this coast which would otherwise pass by to the 
eastward. 
The flight commenced early in July, and was at its height through- 
out the last half of August and the first half of September. 
As early as July 4 Barron Brainerd, R. L. Creesy and I saw a 
male Turnstone and a few Semipalmated Sandpipers at Edgartown, 
but these birds may have been only stragglers. However, 4 Solitary 
Sandpipers and a Summer Yellow-legs which I saw at Pout Pond 
on July 13 could not be classed as such. 
On August 7 I went down to West Tisbury, Marthas Vineyard. 
On the 8th the number of birds seen along the pond shore and in the 
marshes consisted of a Ring-neck, a few Peep, and a Winter Yellow- 
legs. On the 13th, along the South Beach from Oyster Pond to 
Katama Point, a distance of more than five miles, I saw the above 
named species and a couple of small flocks of Sanderlings. 
This scarcity of shorebirds continued until the 17th; on that day 
there was a violent northeast storm accompanied by rain. ‘The 
result was a large number of shore birds of all kinds (I saw fourteen 
species). Particularly common were Black-bellied Plover, Sander- 
ling, and Pectoral Sandpipers. The Black-bellies confined them- 
