58 



OKNITH* 



The "Shore-bird Migration at Mon- 

 omoy Island, Cape Cod, Mass., 

 Spring of 1886. 



BY JOHN C. CAIIOON. 



By pbi-mission of the Bristol County Ornitliologloal 

 Club. 



I arrived on the island May dOth, and found 

 Piping Plover, Arctic, Eoseate, Wilson's and 

 Least Tern very common. Among the other 

 birds noted were Spotted Sandpiper, Semi-pal- 

 matedPlover, Semi-palmated Sandpipers, Savan- 

 nah Sparrows and Sanderlings. Several large 

 flocks of "Coot" were seen flying over the is- 

 land; Red-wing Blackbirds and Meadow Larks 

 were common. 



May 31, wind north-east; rain fell in the af- 

 ternoon. One Ked-breasted Snipe and twenty 

 i Blaclt-bellied Plovers seen ; Eichardson's Jae- 

 1 gars quite common. June 1st, wind north-east, 

 clear; Sanderlings common. On going down 

 to the sand bars, I noticed several Bonaparte 

 Gulls, while the Herring Gulls were abundant. 

 June 2nd, wind south, cloudy; Blacli-bellied 

 ; plover common. A Brant was shot by a gun- 

 { ner to-day. The bird was not a ci-ipple, and 

 I was a late occurrence for this species. Sis 

 Laughing Gulls were seen flying very high. 

 June 3rd, rainy; wind south, blowing very 



fresh, followed on the 4th by clear weather 

 and north-east wind. A single Eobin Snipe seen 

 to-day ; a few Sanderlings and Black-bellied ; 

 Plover still remain. June 8th, wind south- j 

 west. The weather the day previous was very \ 

 stormy and brought along to-day several Great- | 

 er Yellow-legs and Turnstones. Large num- 

 bers of Night Herons begin to come on the 

 island at high tide. June 9th, cloudy, wind 

 south-west and blew fresh. Three Robin Snipe 

 and several Bonaparte Gulls observed; Herring 

 Gulls remain in large numbers. June 10th, 

 wind north-east and south. First Ijcast Tern 

 in young plumage seen to-day. June 14th, 

 wind east. First set of Least Tern's eggs 

 found to-day. June 1.5th, cloudy; a bunch of 

 eleven Black-bellied Plover seen ; Herring j 

 Gull slightly diminishing in numbers. June I 

 16th, wind east and south-east; thick fog all! 

 day. A number of Least Tern found building | 

 on the high beach. June 17th, wind south-east ! 

 and south, rain and fog all day. Thick fog | 

 brought in over the meadows quite ji number 

 of Wilson's Petrel. Sheldrakes and Jaegars 

 noted. June 18th, wind north-west and weath- 

 er clear; only two Petrel seen. June ^.'jth, 

 wind soutli-east, accompanied by light rains. 

 A small flock of Plover still remain on the flats. 

 Arctic Terns, which have not beeii seen for some 

 time have now become more common. June 

 26th, wind south-west, clear. Saw a vei-y large 

 Tern, evidently a Caspian or Royal, fly over, 

 but owing to distance could not identify for 

 certainty. June 28th, wind north-east. A 

 Robin Snipe, adult female, was shot out of a 

 bunch of three ; a very late occurrence. June 

 30th, wind north-east and south-east, clear. 

 Not any of the Limcole noticed to-day ; Her- 

 ring Gulls still remain in numbers. 



The preceding notes only comprise the latter 

 part of the migration as the height of the move- 

 ment transpires between the first and middle of 

 May. The birds were late this spring and only 

 a few stopped on the island and those for only 

 a brief time. There was a large flight of Phal- 

 arope about the 15th of May, and I was inform- 

 ed by a gunner that they flew back and forth 

 over the island and were so tame that they 

 could be caught alive from a boat. These 

 pretty little swimmers are reported in large 

 numbers by the fishermen who go out many 

 miles from land, who call them " Whale birds." 

 They are seen in large flocks sitting on the 

 water and will allow a boat to approach within 

 a few yards and when they fly it is for a short 

 distance away. 



0.&O.XlI.Apr.l8S7 P.S7-S-V 



