48 THE AUDUBON BULLETIN 



Rockford was especially favored in November for the 30th a flock of 

 twenty Bohemian Waxwings came and have been reported from various 

 places about the city ever since, the last date being January 30th. 



Our list for the year contains 168 birds, not as large a list as in some 

 previous years but it has been impossible . to obtain a complete list of 

 water birds. 



Have Redpolls, Pipits, Longspurs or Snow Buntings been observed 

 elsewhere in this vicinity? We have no record of them this winter. 



Edith Van Duzer, 

 Of the Nature Study Club. 



Sioux City, Iowa 



Field Work in the Sioux City area has not been as diligently carried 

 on during the winter of 1919-20 as in some other years. Although the 

 season is not yet over, the most interesting records, so far, would include 

 a number of Purple Finches, noted by Mr. A. F. Allen in November and 

 December; and a small flock of Red Crossbills observed by Mrs. H. M. 

 Bailey, early in November. A single Red-breasted Nuthatch has visited 

 Mrs. F. W. Marshall's food shelf almost daily through the greater part 

 of the winter. A flock of about two dozen Magpies were seen about ten 

 miles from Sioux City, on the Nebraska side, and one specimen was shot 

 and brought to our local taxidermist, Mr. Anderson, for mounting. This 

 flock remained in the same general locality for some time. 



No doubt the most interesting event in the bird field has been the 

 marked flight of Bohemian Waxwings. They were first noted in the city 

 parks on December 16, 1919. On several later dates flocks were seen in 

 different parts of the city. These flocks varied in size from five to about 

 fifty individuals. On the 23rd of December a large flock of about one 

 hundred were seen. Mrs. Bailey also had forty-nine in her yard on the 

 5th of January. 



On the 25th and 26th of December Miss Aiken saw a flock of thirty-two 

 feeding on the frozen , apples in an orchard at Carroll, Iowa. In this 

 region the Waxwings feed much on the hackberries, which are native ; they 

 are also very fond of the Russian Olives, which have been introduced in 

 the city parks, and which afford a very abundant food supply. This season 

 these birds have been observed to feed on the asparagus fruit. They are 

 also fond of wild grapes, which, however, are not plentiful here. 



While the Waxwings are not especially rare in our locality the point 

 of interest this year was the "sudden onslaught" of the flight. Those who 

 are familiar with the movements of the birds from year to year are quick 

 to appreciate the difference between the arrival of a few individuals and a 

 flight of considerable proportion. 



This season we have had no Pine Siskins or Redpolls. The birds of 

 prey, such as Goshawks, Western Horned Owls, and Snowy Owls, have 

 also failed to appear. 



Prof. T. C. Stephens, 

 Morningside College. 



