Among the Migrants at Hamilton, 

 Ontario. 



BY K. C. MCILWBAITH. 



Two years ago when looking around for out 

 door exercise with an object,! turned my attention 

 to collecting birds and making up the skins. I 

 need scarcely say that this has suited my purpose 

 admirably, besides affording a great deal of en- 

 joyment. As many of your readers may bo simi- 

 larly situated to myself I have thought it might 

 interest them to hear the result of one or two 

 short collecting trips which I have recently made 

 with considerable success. 



Being at school, Saturday is my only available 

 day, and the second and third Saturdays in May 

 are looked forward to with more interest than any 

 others of the year. This year there was a slight 

 increase in the number of the early species about 

 the 10th of May, but from that date until the 

 21st, the weather was bright and cool and bird 

 life remarkably still. On the 22d it rained 

 slightly all day and kept on during the night. On 



the morning of Saturday, the 23d, tlie rain had 

 ceased but everything was enveloped in thick fog. 

 I liked llie look of tlie morning very much, and 

 leavhig the city at about G a. m., drove six miles 

 to a well known point, where I tied up the liorse' 

 and soon liad plenty to do. From the numbers 

 ^ of small birds wliich swarmed everywlicre it was 



evident that a "wave" liad iioen passing over, but 

 liad been delayed by tlie fog and now the only 

 difficulty was to select the most desirable species. 

 I tried to do tliis as I best could, but after all 

 brouglit down some common ones by mistake. I 

 stayed till 11 o'clock, and I hen returned with the 

 following " bag" : 



1 Carolina Rail, 1 Scarlet Tanager, 1 Oven 

 Bird, 1 Red-eyed Vireo, 1 Wood Pewee, 1 Yellow- 

 bellied Flycatcher, 1 Swamp Sparrow, 2 Redstarts, 

 1 Alice's Thrush, 2 Lincoln's Sparrows, 3 Black- 

 burnian Warblers, 2 Chestnut-sided Warblers, 8 

 Spotted Canadian Warblers, 1 Yellow-rump 

 Warbler, 1 Black-and-yellow Warbler, 1 Nash- 

 ville Warbler, 2 Bay-breasted Warblers, 2 Green 

 Black-capped Warblers, 5 Mourning Warblers, 2 

 Connecticut Warblers. The above wore collected 

 by two guns between 7 and 11 o'clock. 



In the afternoon another of our party visited 

 the same locality and returned at 7 p. m. with 1 

 Whip-poor-Will, 1 Titlark, 1 Rod-eyed Vireo, 1 

 Short-billed Water Thrush, 4 Spotted Canadian 

 Warblers, 1 Hooded Warbler, 5 Bay-breasted 

 Warblers, 1 Black- throated Green Warbler, 1 

 ■Black-throated Blue Warbler, 1 Black-and- Yellow 

 Warbler, 2 Mourning Warblers, 1 Connecticut 

 Warbler, 2 Green Black-capped Warblers. 



Sunday the weather was still foggy, and on 

 Monday, the 25th, it began to clear away. This 

 day being Queen's Birthday, and a holiday, I was 

 again at liberty, and with my former companion 

 reached the same point at 7 a. m. and returned at 

 noon with the following birds: 2 Blue Jays, 3 

 Black-billed Cuckoos, 2 Carolina Doves, 1 Marsh 

 Wren, 1 Indigo Bird, 2 Lincoln's Sparrows, 2 

 Yellow-bellied Flycatchers, 1 Warbling Vireo, 4 

 Mourning Warblers, 2 Black-throated Blue War- 

 bler, 1 Black-and-yellow Warbler, 2 Blue Yellow- 

 backed Warblers, 1 Blackburnian Warbler, 2 



P 



Green Black-capped Warblers, 2 Black-poll War- 

 blers, 1 Maryland Yellow-throat, l^Spotted Can- 

 adian Flycatching Warbler, 1 Redstart. 



Tuesday, the 26th, was bright and clear, the 

 same locality was visi'ed again by one of our 

 party, but except a few Black-polls which were 

 loitering about, all the migratory birds were gone, 

 to be seen no more for a time. We have usually 

 got one or two Mourning Warblers at this point 

 each year but never so many as this time. The 

 Lincoln's Sparro w, Hooded Warbler and Connecti- 

 cut Warbler are all first records for the locality. 



