ARRIVAL OF WHIPPOORWILL AND PURPLE MARTIN 



IN SPRING. 



Information of the time when these two species arrive in spring was 

 solicited in Bulletin 14. Only a very few localities were heard from, 

 but the presentation of records from these few will aid materially in any 

 further study of the movements of these birds. 



The record of Mr. Frank L. Burns, of Berwyn, Pa., is as follows: 

 For Purple Martin, April 4, 1889 ; April 22, 1890 ; June 2, 1896 ; April 

 2 3> I 897- At West Chester, Pa., March 24, 1897. Mr. Burns states that 

 this last is " very early ." For Whippoorwill, Mr. Burns has no spring 

 records. 



Mr. James Savage, Buffalo, N. Y., sends the following record : For 

 Purple Martin, April 16, 1894 ; April 23, 1896 ; May 19, 1897. At Ann 

 Arbor, Mich., April 15, 1890. For Whippoorwill, May 1, 1894 '• May 

 13, 1897. 



At Oberlin, Ohio, I have the following records : For Purple Martin, 

 April 8, 1896 ; March 31, 1897. The arrival of Whippoorwill has not 

 been observed. It is not common. 



Mr. J. N. Clark, Meridian, Wis., sends the following notes : For 

 Purple Martin, May 18 is the earliest recorded arrival, but since it is rare 

 in this locality it may come earlier. For Whippoorwill, April 23, 1891 

 is the earliest date, April 26, 1887. 



My Grinnell, Iowa, records are as follows : For Purple Martin, April 

 10, 1885; April 13, 1886; April 3, 1887; April 3, 1888; April 1, 1889; 

 April 8, 1890. For Whippoorwill, April 23, 1885 ; April 28, 1886 ; April 

 14 1887 ; April 17, 1888 ; April 19, 1889 ; April 23, 1890. 



Mr. John W. Daniel, Jr., Lynchburg, Va., sends the following records 

 for the Whippoorwill : April 2, 1896 ; March 26, 1897. 



Mr. O. M. Meyncke, records one Whippoorwill on March 2, 1897, at 

 Brookville, Ind., in The Osfirey for May, 1897, p. 123. 



My experiences with both species at Grinnell, Iowa, where they are 

 far more common than here in northern Ohio, led me to believe that they 

 were greatly influenced by weather. The Martins came with the first 

 genuine signs of spring, and the Whippoorwill's first note came in with 

 the perfume of opening blossoms. But with the Martins it is necessary 



