58 PROCEKDINGS MANCHKSTER INSTITUTE 



is a Spot suitable for nesting, there the Redwing seems now to 

 nest, even if it be but a single pair. At the Meadows the num- 

 ber of pairs has increased from one or two in the earlier years 

 of my observation to several pairs in the later seasons. 



Neighborhood flocks are formed after the middle of July 

 and are seen also in August. On August 6, 1906, a flock of a 

 hundred birds was observed in lyancaster, and on August 18, 

 19 10, a similar flock. In early September large flocks of 

 migrating Redwings have beeii seen by the Connecticut River, 

 notably one of 700 birds, according to estimate, on September 

 2, 1909. Some individuals are joined with the large flocks of 

 Rusty Blackbirds which appear by the Connecticut in early 

 October ; and at Cherry Pond a small remnant has been observed 

 between October i and 4 in some seasons. 



99. Sturnella magna magna. Meadowi^ark. 



A rather rare local summer resident, but becoming less 

 rare. The species had not been observed by me until 1903. 

 Mr. Spaulding testifies that he found a single pair nesting on 

 his father's meadows in L,ancaster in 1901, the first he had ever 

 noted there (Allen's Birds of New Hampshire). It was here 

 that the family seen by me in 1903 was located. In the more 

 recent years several pairs have been located in the upper or 

 northern part of Lancaster. On June 8, 1908, five singing 

 males were heard in that section. 



The same year two pairs were located at the Meadows in 

 Jefferson, separated from each other by a distance of about a mile. 

 That year undoubtedly marks the entrance of the species as a 

 breeding bird within the limits of Jefferson. In 1909 two pairs 

 were located respectively in the same fields as in the preceding 

 season. On July 6 my assistant took up out of the grass of one 

 of these fields a young bird, nearly full-grown, which from the 

 road had attracted our notice by its calling. In the season of 

 19 10 again two singing males were noted at the Meadows, but 

 these were heard in fields somewhat removed from the former 



