The Audubon Societies 319 



or so just succeeding the nesting-period; for we must not forget that birds do 

 not all nest at the same time. Before the young are fully grown, ready to start 

 on their long southward journey, there appears to be a brief season of family 

 life among many migrating species, when the parents still keep near the newly 

 fledged young out in the open, bringing food in some cases, or finding congenial 

 feeding-areas for them. Although the birds which have nested in any particular 

 locality may remain there several weeks after the young are able to fly, they 

 stray about at some distance from the abandoned nest, as the search for 

 food and inclination may dispose them to do, until the period of molt comes on. 

 It is probable that this period lasts some time, for of course, the birds even of a 

 single species do not all molt at exactly the same time. The Yellow Warbler 

 or Red-eyed Vireo which has sung so energetically near your window all 

 through the summer suddenly becomes silent for a week or more, although not 

 far away other birds of this kind are likely to be singing. It is a period of droop- 

 ing, discomfort, and sickness almost for the birds until fresh plumage is 

 attained, when a brief but intermittent song-period may follow before our 

 feathered friends leave for the winter. 



Just how to study birds to the best advantage at this time it is rather 

 difficult to say. If you have been so fortunate as to really become acquainted 

 with your bird-neighbors through the summer, then you will be prepared to 

 judge which ones are actually leaving your neighborhood, and which ones are 

 passing through it. 



On Long Island, the bird-population, along the North Shore at least, is 

 increased by the arrival of the Solitary Sandpiper as early as the third week in 

 July; while along the South Shore, by the last of the month, the Semipalmated 

 Sandpiper and Plover of the same name are present in considerable numbers, 

 and an occasional Great Blue Heron, or even a Loon, may be seen in suitable 

 localities. 



Other shore- and water-birds, if not already this far south on their regular 

 migration-route, follow shortly, until in early August quite a variety of travel- 

 ers are added to the list of permanent and summer residents. It is a time 

 for keeping eyes and ears open, since daily surprises await the constant 

 observer. 



Not only from the north, but also from the south, visitors may come. An 

 immature Little Blue Heron or an' Egret Heron, though rare, is not an improba- 

 ble transient for a brief sojourn. 



In northern Vermont, as August wanes and the real summer days give 

 place to fitful weather, the birds become shifting and uneasy. One may chance 

 upon a bevy of Bluebirds and Crested Flycatchers one day, a flock of Vesper 

 Sparrows by the roadside, with a stray Nuthatch flying aimlessly from tree 

 to fence-rail, as though uncertain of its destination, and scattered groups of 

 various species feeding and exploring here and there. For a few days, Gold- 

 finches — perhaps a late-nesting pair — call almost monotonously in one place, 



