NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



59 



bers they are few, much fewer I 

 think than in former years. Blue- 

 birds, especially are very scarce 

 and thus far I have seen, I believe, 

 but two of these birds. These 

 were seen on April 18th. On April 

 7th I heard the calls of two or three 

 as they passed over, going north, 

 but remember of hearing them at no 

 other time. 



A. Houghton, 

 Potsdam, N. Y. 



Last year and the previous years, 

 the Bluebird was very common, 

 even as much so as the Robin, and 

 usually was here in great numbers 

 by the 25th of February. 



This year I have seen but one 

 Bluebird, on March 27th. 



The Robins also are very scarce 

 indeed, last year they were here 

 commonly, and were incubating at 

 this date, but 1 have not seen over 

 10 Robins, and as yet no traces of 

 nest building. Regarding the oth- 

 er migrants they are on an average 

 three weeks behind time, and the 

 Red-headed Woodpecker 25 days 

 later, than last year. 



Let us hear more on this subject 

 from other localities, especially 

 South, for where can the Bluebirds 

 have gone to unless, as suggested 

 by Mr. No well. 



Walton Mitchell, 



St. Paul, Minn. 



Not a Bluebird have I seen this 

 year though every Sunday this 

 spring I have gone from 5 to 15 

 miles watching the birds and often 

 during the week days, I have been 

 out for a few hours at a time in the 

 favorite haunts of the Bluebird. 



The Robins are much less 

 abundant than formerly. 



All the other birds seem about 

 as plentiful as usual, so far as I 

 have noticed. 



May the gun "hang fire" that is 

 directed toward Sialia sialis this year 

 at least. 



Virginius H. Chase, 

 Wady Petra, Ills. 



There is a universal absence of 

 the sweetest of our spring songters, 

 the Bluebird. From all the country 

 comes the perplexing question: 

 ' 'Where are the Bluebirds ?" Since 

 the unusual winter I have seen only 

 two. But where are they? I be- 

 lieve as nearly everyone else that 

 they were frozen. Several instan- 

 ces have come to my notice: recent- 

 ly I noticed an old Titmouse nest 

 and determined to explore it. On 



pulling away the bark, I saw a dead 

 Bluebird. This had doubtless tried 

 to escape the cold by entering the 

 hollow. One farmer says that he 

 has found six dead Bluebirds in one 

 hollow, shortly after the freeze. 



Previous to this season I knew 

 of more than twenty favorite nest- 

 ing places of the Bluebird which 

 were occupied annually. I go 

 there now but they are vacant, — 

 no birds are seen. 



Clarence L. McCartha, 



Troy, Ala. 



I find that the Bluebird which 

 has always been our most common 

 bird is missing. I have only heard 

 of one pair being seen anywhere 

 within ten miles of here they may 

 come yet but they are fully six 

 weeks behind time now. If you 

 have any information that you can 

 give as regards them you would 

 oblige me greatly by letting me 

 know either through your paper or 

 otherwise. 



Robert Smith, 



Mill Grove, Ont. 



I was very much interested in the 

 article in Natural Science News 

 of April 27th, concerning the late 

 arrival and scarcity of the Blue- 

 birds. Up to date I have only 

 heard one Bluebird. April 27th I 

 attended a lecture in Springfield, 

 Mass., given by Mr. Colburn late 

 principal of the High School, who 

 is a good authority on Mass. birds, 

 especially those found in the vicin- 

 ity of Springfield. In the course 

 of his remarks on the birds found 

 near his home, he stated that he 

 had just received a letter from a 

 friend stating that during the cold 

 snap in Florida last winter, that 

 hundreds of Bluebirds we found 

 dead on the ground, having been 

 killed by the cold weather prevail- 

 ing in the South. This probably 

 is the cause of the scarcity of the 

 beautiful "harbinger of spring." 

 All lovers of birds, will do well to 

 protect every nest of this species. 

 We haven't seen as many birds of 

 any kind this spring as usual, in 

 our rambles in the fields and woods. 

 We saw our first Swallows May 2nd. 

 The Natural Science News is a 

 welcome visitor to our home and 

 we wish it success. 



Erwin G. Ward, 



Palmer, Mass. 



Bluebirds, from being one of our 

 most common summer residents 

 has changed to a very rare species. 

 Formerly they were one of our 



most numerous breeders, and now 

 I have failed to hear of a single 

 pair nesting in this section. Thus 

 far I have only seen four specimens. 



H. J. GlDDINGS, 



Sabula, Iowa. 



The first real spring migrant we 

 have, the Bluebird seems to pro- 

 claim to us the coming of spring. 

 Always looked for on Feb. 22 and 

 seldom failing to put in an appear- 

 ance by that date or even earlier, 

 we have looked for him this year 

 until we almost despaired of seeing 

 him. All the favorite swamps and 

 hillsides were searched in vain and 

 it was not until March 19 that a 

 pair made its appearance. They 

 seemed to be the last of their 

 race for it was not until April 11 

 that the next ones were seen, a 

 small flock of six or seven flying 

 ( overhead. Since then we have 

 hunted for them in vain. The us- 

 ual haunts where they have been 

 so abundant for years seem desert- 

 ed now and the orchards where 

 they were building their nests at 

 this time last year do not contain a 

 single pair. 



I am afraid it is only too true as 

 stated by Mr. J. Rowland Nowell 

 in the Natural Science News of 

 April 6 that numbers of certain 

 species of birds have perished from 

 the cold or lack of food and that 

 they are returning to us in greatly 

 reduced numbers. Let us hope 

 that it is not as bad as we now fear 

 and that the Bluebirds and others 

 so dear to us will continue to mul- 

 tiply and increase for many years 

 to come. 



Foster H. Brackett, 



Boston, Mass. 



During the first .part of the win- 

 ter in the months November and 

 December, the Bluebirds were ex- 

 tremely common. Found common- 

 ly in small flocks of six or more. 

 Since the heavy snows that follow- 

 ed in Jan., Feb., and March, I 

 have recorded but 13 live Bluebirds. 

 On several occasions since the last 

 snow I have found dead Bluebirds, 



On April 20th while out collect- 

 ing I found four dead males in an 

 excavation in a fence post. My 

 notes show 22 frozen Bluebirds 

 since the last snow storm, among 

 which are 13 males and the rest fe- 

 males. I know of only two pairs 

 at present. Both pairs have nests 

 and it is safe to say that they will 

 rear their broods in peace. 



The Bluebird is an abundant 

 resident in this part of the state. 



