Notes from Field and Study 



309 



summer, and trying to make out whether 

 they caught flies or mosquitos in their 

 raids on the piazza, when suddenly a large 

 flock of Swallows came over the nearest 

 hill, and swept over the barn and the wide 

 meadow, like a great net to scoop up our 

 birds, when they flew back over the hill 

 again, with all our Swallows among them. 

 Ten minutes later, two — a pair — came 

 back and began carrying food into the 

 barn, and these two are the only Swallows 

 to be seen here now. I have not known 

 them to leave so early before nor have I 

 ever seen them start. 



The two Swallows which returned to 

 feed their young were joined, two days 

 later by two more, and three days after 

 that the young left the nest and are flying 

 over the meadow now with the old birds, 

 making ten in the flock — Caroline 

 Gray Soule, Shelbourne, N. H. 



Evening Grosbeak at Fairfield, Maine 



Fairfield, Maine, in the season of spring 

 19 13, proved to be a most valuable and 

 interesting field for bird students. On 

 March 2 a flock numbering twenty, 

 unusual birds were seen feeding on seeds 

 of woodbine at the step of the piazza of a 

 house in a thickly settled locality. The 

 birds were entirely without fear, and soon 

 lit on the floor of the piazza, going next to 

 vines over the window. 



The striking color of brilliant yellow 

 marked the birds as rare winter visitants. 

 Telephones were quickly utilized, and a 

 bird student reached the spot in five 

 minutes, to find that the flock had taken 

 flight. The beautiful visitors were fol- 

 lowed the length of the street, and were 

 soon found in the top of a maple tree, 

 feeding upon the new buds. The whole 

 twenty were counted — five males, the 

 remainder females. The followers did not 

 hesitate to name their prize the Even- 

 ing Grosbeak. The next morning, at 

 seven o'clock, the flock appeared at the 

 same house, apparently for breakfast. 

 They stopped twenty minutes, and then 

 moved on. The third morning, as if in 

 token of friendliness, they flew at half- 



past six to the window-sill of the one who 

 identified them; there they fed, as before, 

 on woodbine seeds and maple seeds that 

 had lodged on the sill of the window and 

 the roof of a nearby piazza. A favorite 

 perch was a telephone wire extending 

 from one corner to the side of the house; 

 eight would be on the wire at once. They 

 all fed heartily, the females, seeming the 

 more greedy of the flock, often taking 

 seeds from the males' beaks. The birds 

 did not care for bits of meat, apple,, and 

 grain, that had been put out for winter 

 birds. No continuous song was heard, but 

 often a soft little note from the low throat 

 that resembled the note of the Bohemian 

 Waxwing. Often at noon the flock 

 appeared again, selecting small spots of 

 bare ground and the gravel walk for 

 feeding-places. 



For afternoon visits they came at two 

 o'clock, making a short stay. As nearly as 

 could be learned, they chose an evergreen 

 growth back of the town for night shelter. 

 Other homes were visited at random, but 

 the birds were constant to the two 

 places first favored. It was, most assur- 

 edly, a pleasant sound to hear of a spring 

 morning — a whirr of wings, a soft chorus 

 of little notes, then all that beauty of form 

 and color just outside one's window- 

 sill. Almost any day the flock was 

 expected to enter the room. It was a great 

 privilege to see the birds. No one enjoyed 

 them more than a body of two hundred 

 and fifty school children — children who 

 are trained to know bird friends and to 

 protect their lives. For three weeks this 

 great happiness was at hand; then, with 

 the coming of warmer days, the Even- 

 ing Grosbeaks returned to their Canadian 

 home. It is a fact that a second visit will 

 be one of the strongest hopes of the chil- 

 dren (and a few "grown-ups") of Fairfield, 

 Maine. — Harriet Abbott, Fairfield, Me. 



Evening Grosbeak in Ontario 



I was interested in an article in Bird- 

 Lore about some Evening Grosbeaks 

 seen in Massachusetts. I should like to 

 let you know of a flock of the same birds 



