BIRDS AND SEASONS xiii 



With May come the Thrushes — Wood Thrush, Veery, 

 Olive-back and Gray-cheek, the last two en route to the 

 north — the Orioles, Cuckoos, Vireos, and the Bobolink 

 who began his four thousand mile journey from northern 

 Argentina in March. But May is preeminently the 

 Month of Warblers, "most beautiful, most abundant, and 

 least known" of our birds. To the eight species which 

 have already arrived, there may be added over twenty 

 more, represented by a number of individuals beyond 

 our power to estimate. We may hear the Robin, Thrasher, 

 and Wren, without listening, but we will see few Warblers 

 without looking; and this, in a measure, accounts for the 

 fascination which attends their study. 



After May 15 there is an evident thinning in the 

 ranks of the migrating army, and by June 1 we shall 

 see only a few stragglers. The Transient Visitors will 

 have gone to their more northern homes and our bird 

 population will then consist only of the ever present 

 Permanent Residents and the Summer Residents which 

 the great northward march of the birds has brought us 

 from the South. 



Although June may be called the Month of Nests, 

 nest-building begins long before the migration ends. 

 Some Owls and Hawks lay in March, and the Bluebird, 

 White-breasted Nuthatch and Robin have eggs by April 

 20, while most of our birds go to housekeeping during 

 the latter half of May. Nevertheless, it is in June that 

 their domestic life is at its height; and to the student of 

 birds' habits this is by far the most interesting month in 

 the year. 



Birds that raise two or even three broods will still be 

 occupied with household affairs in July, but one-brooded 

 birds, having launched their families, will seek retirement 

 to undergo the trying ordeal of molt, whereby they will 

 get a complete new costume. Often this will be quite 



