64 THE CONDOR Vol. XXI 
On every one of these days a little flock of Lesser Scaups was on the 
pond, apparently the same birds, as there were five males and two or three 
females. These birds were quite tame, that is, they paid little attention to any- 
one, and fed and swam about uneconecernedly. The occasional Gadwalls and 
Spoonbills were much shyer and disliked having people about, often leaving 
when passersby approached. The morning of the 10th I found three Wilson 
Phalaropes on the pond with the ducks. They were apparently feeding on in- 
sects flying close to the surface of the water,.as the birds swam about with 
heads up and bills open, making darts here and there as if catching something. 
I did not see one take anything from the surface during the considerable time 
I watched. Though they kept quite well out from the shore most of the time, it 
did not appear to be from fear, as they occasionally came boldly quite close to 
where I was. A female Black-crowned Night Heron was seen then and was 
noted off and on for several days, usually about one particular grove of cot- 
tonwoods. To my great surprise I saw a male Evening Grosbeak, usually only 
a winter visitant, and an irregular one at that; I saw none the preceding winter, 
nor did I hear of any about town. 
The following day, the 11th, the first Black-headed Grosbeaks and House 
Wrens were seen, the latter about a nesting site which has been used for sev- 
eral years. The Grosbeaks were about on time, but the Wrens were a trifle 
late; I think they commonly arrive from three to six days earlier than this. 
From this date on for a week or more the weather improved somewhat until 
the little hot spell from the 15th to the 18th was past; then more bad weather - 
set in, lasting until the end of the month. 
On the 13th the first Green-tailed Towhees and Yellow Warblers were 
noted. The former should have been here by May 1 and the latter by the 7th. 
This day was also somewhat notable as being the first when the Scaups were 
not on the pond, nor were they seen again, though Gadwalls were noted on the 
15th. On the 14th Clay-colored and Brewer Sparrows were about in consider- 
able numbers. An Arkansas Kingbird was seen. | had thought possibly I saw 
one on the dth; if I did, the bird thought it wiser to go south again. ‘The 
present date is just a bit late. The first Catbird was also seen, the date being 
about normal. 
No Say Phoebes were seen about the park after the 9th. As soon as the 
weather had moderated so that they could obtain food almost anywhere they 
evidently scattered to their usual haunts. On the 15th the first Kingbird was 
observed, like the Arkansas, a bit late. The first Bullock Oriole, about five 
days late. A Red-headed Woodpecker was seen on the 17th, somewhere about 
the normal date for the species. 
When we come to analyze the above data it would appear ‘that SIX spe- 
cies, namely, Kingbird, Arkansas Kingbird, Bullock Oriole, Green-tailed Tow- 
hee, Yellow Warbler and House Wren, were all late in spcithes, with the pos- 
sible exception of the Arkansas Kingbird, while the Red-headed Woodpecker 
and Catbird came about on time; but their normal arrival dates being toward 
the middle of the month they would not be as apt to be affected by the storm. 
These delayed species may have met the storm and cold weather to the soutli 
of here and waited, and then come on when the conditions improved, which 
was the case when they finally did come. Observations over a larger territory 
in the region would have been better, for there are several species of birds 
which visit the park only occasionally and usually not on their first arrival, but 
straggle there later. 
