72 



THE OOLOGIST. 



They appear to be regular winter resi- 

 dents liere, going north in the spring. 



Feb. 6. Warm and bright like the 

 past week. A Redbird sings merrily at 

 a distance. 



Saw the first Larks {Prairie Horned 

 Lark ) They are around in flocks of 

 ten to twenty. Heard individual:^ sing- 

 ing from the ground and also on the 

 wing. One was singing in the air, 

 about 60 yards up, rising and falling 

 and uttering its notes. Presently it 

 descended to the earth like a flash, 

 falling straight down to within 10 feet 

 of the ground with closed wings, when 

 it sudd .nly checked itself, alighted on 

 the gronnd and continued to sing. 



Ducks and geese going north by the 

 hundreds. I saw six flocks go over in 

 less than a half-hour. They were fly- 

 ing all day. 



Feb. 9. Heard the twitter of a Blue- 

 bird this morning, and saw it sitting in 

 the top of a tall maple ia town. This 

 is somewhat earlier than it appeared 

 last year, which was Feb. 25. Warm 

 and bright. 



Feb. 10. Bright and pleasant. Blue- 

 birds twittering from the tops of maple 

 trees. Ducks have been flying north- 

 ward today and yesterday. 



Feb. 11. Heard the chirping of a 

 Robin this morning, and saw several 

 during the day, in town. Saw five at 

 one time, sitting in the top of a maple. 

 They are eleven days earlier than last 

 year. 



Saw a flock of about twenty Black- 

 birds ■■ (5row26cZ Orackle,) in the morn- 

 ing, and saw several straggleri during 

 the day. Warm, but cloudy, threaten- 

 ing rain all day and sprinkling at 

 times. 



Ducks fljing all day, one flock after 

 anjother, steadily pursuing their way 

 northward. One or two flocks were in 

 sight at any time of the day. 



Wild Pigeons are also flying very 

 thickly. They are very numerous in 

 the timber, and 1 counted as many as 



thirty and forty in each of several large 

 oak trees. They have never been ffj- 

 ing all day. 



Saw several Red-headed Woodpeck- 

 ers in the woods. Also a Red-bellied 

 Woodpecker. 



Feb. 13. The flrst Ground Robin, or 

 Chewink, appeared in town. It was in 

 an evergreen tree when I observed it. 

 Warm and pleasant, but windy. 



Feb. 14. Warm and bright. Robins 

 and Bluebirds here in numbers. The 

 Bluebirds can be heard warbling on all 

 sides, as well as Robins singing. 



Feb. 15. I have noticed all winter 

 that the Redbird associates with the 

 Cedarbirds. When any Cedarbirds are 

 around, a Redbird is not far away. (If 

 this were not a record of mistakes as of 

 authentic observations, I should omit 

 the foregoing note. It became evident 

 to me a little later that I was mistaking 

 the female Cardinal for a Cedarbird. 

 The real fact was that it was the mat- 

 ing season of the Cardioal, and the 

 male was loitering in the vicinity of the 

 female P. M. S.) 



Ducks and Geese continue to pass 

 over on their way north. 



Feb. 17. Chilly and cloudy, after a 

 good rain last night. Dacks passing 

 over all day in numbers, several flocks 

 being in sight at almost any time dur- 

 ing the day. 



Saw a small flock of Blackbirds go- 

 ing north toward evening. 



Feb. 18. Ducks continue to pass 

 over in great numbers. Today they 

 are all flying from northwest to south- 

 east. More were seen than on any 

 other day this spring. One large flock 

 of Geese, out of a number of flocks 

 seen, flew over very low, going north. 



Noticed the first Red-winged Black, 

 bird today. It was in a tree growing 

 in a swamp. Female Redbirds (the 

 record should be Cedarbirds) common 

 in the timber. 



Feb ]9. Recognized the first Chip- 

 ping Sparrow today. It was gleaning 

 about some gooseberry bushes, hopping 

 about on the ground in town. 



