8 



OBNITHOLOGIST [Yol. 13-No. 1 



up a short distance abov^ the sanderling and 

 make a dive down to within a few feet of it, 

 and hang there for a minute or two. My shells 

 were all loaded with fine shot, and 1 shot sev- 

 eral times at the hawk before he would leave 

 his prej'. He flew quite a distanoe up the beach 

 and alighted on the sand "ear the surf, but be- 

 fore I had got out of sight I saw him back 

 where I had left the sande'-Mng. 



Oct. 6th, wind north-west to south-west, 

 weather fair; small increase in Black-bellied 

 Plover. Only a few terns seen. Small increase 

 in Greater Yellow-legs. Shot Red-breasted 

 Sandpiper in adult plnmage out of a flock of 

 Blaek-bellied Plover. Saw several large flocks 

 of Night Herons just al dark. Bonaparte's 

 Sandpipers seen in small numbers. 



Oct. 7th, wind south-west, very fresh; small 

 decrease in birds. Two small flocks of Black- 

 bellied Plover seen. Collected one out of four 

 Golden Plover found on the meadow; also a 

 Semiplamated Sandpiper, which is very late for 

 this last bird to be found about here. Titlarks 

 come about the edges of the meadows. Belted 

 Kingfisher seen on sand bluff'. 



Oct. 10th, wind south-east, light, weather 

 fair; small decrease in birds. All of sander- 

 lings collected in changing plumage. Saw sev- 

 eral flocks of Black-bellied Plover. 



Oct. 11th, wind north to north-east, very 

 fresh, weather rainv- Increase of Greater Yel- 

 low-legs. Several flocks of Black Ducks flying 

 about. 



Oct. 12th, wind north-west, fresh, weather 

 fair. Increase in Greater Yellow-legs. Two 

 Carolina Bails shot on the meadows. A bunch 

 of six tern seen out in the bay. 



Oct 13th, wind north-west, very fresh, weath- 

 er fair. Increase in Black Ducks. One Golden 

 Plover taken on the meadow. Several small 

 bunches of Black-bellied Plover and Greater 

 Yellow-legs seen. 



From Oct. 13th to Oct. 25th, 1 was away from 

 the Island, and no notes were taken during 

 that time. 



Oct 2oth, wind north-west to south-west, 

 light. Water fowl much increased, and saw 

 large flocks of scoters, sheldrake and ducks. 

 Several small flocks of sanderlings and Black- 

 bellied Plover remain. Greater Yellow-legs 

 and Red-backed Sandpipers. 



Oct. 2.5tb, wind north-east to east, fresh, 

 weather cloudy. Shore birds the same as 

 previous day. Yellow-rumped Warblers and 

 Black Snowbirds come. Saw a flock of seven 

 Horned Grebe and two Long-tailed Ducks out 

 in the bay. 



Oct. 27th, wind north-east, fresh, weather 

 cloudy. Small increase in Greater Y(?llow-legs. 

 Saw several hundred of Bonaparte's Gnlls on 

 the bars. Three taken were in young plu- 

 mage. 



Oct. 28th, wind east, moderate, weather fair. 

 Saw large numbers of Bonaparte's Gulls. Out 

 of twenty taken, three wei-e in adult plumage. 

 Twelve or more Great Black-backed Gulls 

 seen. Long-tailed Ducks, one Bed-brea.sted 

 Sandpiper and one Tern noticed. 



Oct. 29tli, wind south-east, light, weather 

 fair. Shore Birds greatly decreased. Two 

 Horned Grebe seen out in the bay. 



Oct. 30th, wind north-east to north, weather 

 fair and cold. Large numbers of Titlarks fly- 

 ing about. Five Pectoral Sandpipers and four 

 Snow Buntings found on the meadows. One 

 Ipswich Sparrow taken at the edge of the 

 meadows. 



Oct. 31st, wind north-east, moderate. Three 

 flocks of Sanderlings and Red-backed Sandpi- 

 pers seen, also several small bunches of Black- 

 bellied Plover. A large flock of Bonaparte's 

 Gulls on the bars. Out of twenty-two taken, 

 six were in adult plumage. Three Pectoral 

 Sandpipers still remain on the meadows. 



Nov. 1st, wind north-east, blowing a gale, 

 with rain, hail and snow. Large number of 

 Black Duck seen. Found one Golden Plover 

 and several Pectoral Sandpipers on the mead- 

 ows, and shot the formei'. Other Shore Birds 

 seen were six young Black-bellied Plover, two 

 Greater Yellow-legs, several Sandeiiings, and 

 a small bunch of Bed-backed Sandpipers. Sev- 

 eral Shore Larks noticed. 



On Nov. 2nd, wind north-east to north-west, 

 fresh, weather fair. A few scattering Sander- 

 lings seen on the beach at high tide. Bona- 

 parte's Gull remains the same. Out of nineteen 

 taken, about half were in adult plumage. 



Nov. 3rd, wind north-east, light, weather 

 fair. A bunch of twelve Black-bellied Plover 

 and a few Sanderlings on the beach at high 

 tide. Saw one Kittiwake Gull flying over. 



Nov. 4th, wind south, very fresh, weather 

 fair. Sanderlings seen on the flats at low 

 tide. Two Black-bellied Plover seen on the 

 meadow and one on the flats. One Greater 

 Yellow-legs on meadow. Large flocks of Long- 

 tailed Ducks flying about. Two flocks of 

 Brant, one of twenty and the other of six, seen 

 near the cut through in the shoal water on the 

 flats. Shore larks common. Several Snow- 

 Buntings and a Bobin seen near the house. 

 Large flocks of scoters, large gulls, sheldrakes, 

 and Eider duck seen on the water outside of the 



Jan. 1888.] 



Am OOLOGIST. 



9 



surf. Saw a large seal swimming outside of 

 the breakers. 



Nov. 5th, wind northwest, very fresh, weath- 

 er fair and cold. A walk out on the sand hills 

 and meadows was taken in the forenoon. Found 

 a large number of Shore Larks but no Titlarks. 

 Meadow Larks abundant. Went over on to the 

 beach at high tide in the afternoon. Shore 

 Birds seen were four Black-bellied Plover, 

 three Sanderlings, and fifteen Bed-backed Sand- 

 pipers. One Bed-poll Warbler taken in the 

 bushes near this house. 



Nov. 6th, wind west to southwest, very fresh, 

 weather fair. Snow Buntings very common. 

 Saw flocks of ten to forty flying about and 

 several pairs feeding on tlie beach, on seeds 

 washed ashore fronj the sage grass. Several 

 Ipswich Sparrows and one Field Sparrow seen 

 on the sand blufts. 



Nov. 7th, wind south-west, very fresh, weath- 

 er fair. Shore bii-ds remain the same. Large 

 number of shore larks distributed over the is- 

 land. 



Nov. 8th, wind south-west, fresh, weather 

 fair. A flock of sixty Brant seen on the flats, 

 and a bunch of eight geese out in the bay. 

 Several Horned Grebe seen near the Island. 



Nov. 10th, wind south to south-east, moder- 

 ate, fresh, weather fair. Three Black-bellied 

 Plover the only shore birds seen to-daj^ 



Nov. 11th, wind west, very fresh. Only birds 

 noticed on the island were Shore Larks, Snow 

 Buntings, and Meadow Larks. A flock of 

 twenty geese flew over the house. 



Nov. 12th, wind north-west, very fresh, 

 weather fair. Saw one Greater Yellow-legs. 

 A flock of Buffle-headed Ducks seen and a few 

 shot. 



Nov. 13th, wind north, moderate, weather 

 fair. No shore birds seen. Shore larks and 

 water fowl flying about in large numbers. 



Nov. 14th, wind south-west, moderate, weath- 

 er fair. The wind being light and the weather 

 pleasant, I improved the opportunity by 

 cruising about in my boat nearly all day. 

 Found a large flock of Bonaparte's Gulls in the 

 bars. One Kittiwake Gull and a young of 

 Wilson's Tern taken, and were the only ones 

 seen. A flock of twenty Brant, and a bunch of 

 four and six Eider Ducks, observed in the 

 channels between the flats. On the beach at 

 high tide found a flock of fifteen, and four 

 Black-bellied Plover, and several small bunches 

 of Bed-backed Sandpipers and Sanderhngs. 

 Over one-halt of Bonaparte's Gulls now seen in 

 adult plumage. 



Nov. 15th, wind south-east, very fresh. 



weather rainy. Black Ducks seen in small 

 numbers on the meadows which were over- 

 flowed, also started three geese off of the mead- 

 ows. No shore birds seen. 



Nov. 16th, wind north-west, weather fair. 

 Large flocks of water fowl flying about. No 

 shore birds seen. 



In the Fall migration, shore birds have not 

 been as plentiful as usual this season, and, in 

 fact, several have been scarce. There were no 

 flights of Pectoral Sandpipers that we have in 

 September, and only a few Yellow-legs were 

 seen. It may be that that these birds did not 

 stop with us on account of the meadows not be- 

 ing mowed, so that they could not feed in those 

 places. The Greater Yellow-legs were far 

 short of their usual number. Terns did not stop 

 as late as last season. ^ „ 



Q.&O .XIII. Jan. 1888 p. ^T- f. 



