laads, N. Y. Aug. '88 TJ.H.Dr.tc}i. r. 



t\ . «©. Dendroica aestiva. Yellow WARBLER.—Standing on the concritT 

 at the foot of the tower on foggy nights and looking upward, we could see 

 around the lantern a broad halo of light, probably one hundred feet in 

 diameter. Outside of this halo was total darkness. This phenomenon 

 I presume, was caused by the refiection and refraction of the light by the' 

 minute particles of water in the yicinity of the lantern; and the darkness 

 beyond was due to the fact that very little, if any, of the small portion of 

 light that penetrated beyond the fifty-foot limit reached the eye. The mi- 

 gration, which had just begun when I arrived, could be splendidly observed 

 by means of this patch of light. The birds could be seen flying to and 

 fro in all directions, generally keeping within the ring, as if reluctant to 

 leave the region of light and go into the darkness beyond. Although it 

 would be an easy thing to distinguish the different families from each other 

 in the strong light of the lantern, it would take a good deal of practice to 

 tell the species apart. One species, however, was easily distinguishable 

 as the birdsflewback and forth,— the Yellow Warbler. It was, indeed, a 

 pretty sight to see these birds flitting around, their yellow breasts and 

 bellies illumined by the rays from the lantern. I identified but one other 

 species in the halo, the Redstart. Chas. B. Field said, however, that he 

 could sometimes in the migrations distinguish Robins and Catbirds. He 

 also remarked that in the fall migration all the birds struck on theW. S. W. 

 side of the lantern, instead of on the E. N. E., as it might be supposed 

 they would. All the birds that were picked up from the concrete were also 

 on the W. S. W. side of the tower, showing that they very probably struck 

 on that side. In the morning after every cloudy night, various Warblers, 

 that had either been weakened by striking afl^d had not the strength to go 

 on, or had been caught by daylight and stopped to feed, would be seen 

 flying around the shores of the island. Three species were thus observed. 

 Black-and-white Warblers, Yellow Warblers, and Redstarts, of which the 

 second species was most common. In fact the Yellow Warblers were seen 

 on both Great Gull and Little Gull Islands. But few birds of any kind 

 struck during my stay, probably because, although a number of the nights 

 were foggy, none were stormy. 



^!0k, VI. April. 1889. d. /J0-/3/. 



Birds of the Adirondack Region. 



24. Dendrceca aestiva (Gmelh/^ Baird. Summer Yellow-b 

 Breeds, but not very common. 



BuIJ,N.O.O. ©,Oot, 1881.P.227 



Birds observed in Naval Hospital 

 arouads, BrooMya. Q.H.OouaB 



30. Dendrceca aestiva. Yellow Wakbler. — Common ; breeds. 



BqIL N.O.O. 4, Jan. , 1879, p. 32 



May 4, Dendroica cestiva, (653). Yellow 

 Warbler. 



g,&0.XI.July.l888.p.i09 



