JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



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were here in flocks of fifty individuals 

 or more and it was as late as the 18th 

 of April before they were all gone, for 

 on that day I saw two stragglers. A 

 small flock of red-winged blackbirds 

 was seen on the 18th of March. 

 These birds nest in considerable num- 

 bers at . Great pond, near the Two 

 Lights, and a few pairs have been seen 

 nearer Portland and on the islands. 

 Blue jays are summer resident'-, 

 though in no great numbers. The 

 pine warbler was seen April 5 and dur- 

 ing the summer has been quite plenti- 

 ful. Early in April great flocks of 

 bronzed grackles filled the trees and 

 rusty blackbirds in considerable num- 

 bers were noted later. For some 

 years the meadowlark has been rare 

 in these parts, but this season has 

 been observed in several nearby lo- 

 calities. April 19 at Westbrook on a 

 visit to Mr. Norton, I saw the logger- 

 head shrike, brown creeper, ruffed 

 grouse, tree swallow, and vesper spar- 

 row. The yellow palm warbler was 

 seen April 21, not very early to be 

 sure, but after that they were fairly 

 plentiful. Myrtle warblers, in splen- 

 did plumage, were seen in sparing 

 numbers. Field sparrows came early 

 and have been very common during 

 the nesting season. Quite a number 

 of yellow-bellied sapsuckers were ob- 

 served about April 22, though they 

 have not been observed since. 



In April a pair of sparrow hawks 

 was seen morning after morning, sit- 

 ting on the same tree, so close to- 

 gether that they were in actual con- 

 tact. I resolved to seek out their nest 

 when they should build it, but the fe- 

 male (I think) one day flew down to 

 a neighboring farmyard after a chick- 

 en and broke her neck against the 

 fine wire that surrounded the coop. 

 The other bird has been living here 

 ever since, and I see him frequently 

 sitting alone in a tree near the 



meadow where he gets the most of his 

 food. May 25 I saw a white-breasted 

 nuthatch, the first one that had ever 

 come under my observation, though 

 the red-breasted nuthatch has always 

 been fairly common here. Last year a 

 pair of the red-breasts nested at the 

 Cape, and I frequently watched the 

 birds coming and going and feeding 

 their young. This year the tree which 

 contained the nest blew down and the 

 birds found another habitation nearby, 

 though I have not found the exact 

 place; but they have been there all 

 summer, and now have a family of 

 young birds. 



Several black-throated blue warblers 

 were seen on the migration. The 

 northern parula warbler was fairly 

 plentiful this year, and I presume is 

 nesting, as usual at Cliff island, Nash- 

 ville warblers have been quite fre- 

 quently seen in the Cape woods, and 

 the chestnut-sided warblers have been 

 almost the most plentiful warbler in 

 this vicinity. A few blue-headed 

 vireos were seen on the 9th of May 

 and succeeding week. Three or four 

 hewinks were observed about the 

 20th of May. They have nested in 

 this vicinity in years past, but this 

 year were absent from the accustomed 

 places. Perhaps they gave up their 

 lives to enrich the cabinet of some col- 

 lector, for I have heard that several 

 were shot for this purpose. The 

 Blackburnian warbler was first seen 

 May 25, and since then I have noted 

 one at South Windham and (I think) 

 one at Little Whaleboat island. At 

 this island I saw a yellow-billed 

 cuckoo, the first of that species ob- 

 served in this immediate vicinity. I 

 wonder if anybody has noticed the 

 comparatively scarcity of the black- 

 billed cuckoo this year. There are 

 few caterpillars here to attract this 

 bird into the orchards near the houses, 

 though I have heard of several cue- 



