62 



NATUBAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



Bird Arrivals; Season and Migra- 

 tion. 



I have been much interested in 

 the notes given in recent numbers 

 of the Natural Science News 

 touching the irregular arrivals of 

 our birds and the missing Blue- 

 birds. 



However others may have found 

 it in their localities, I cannot use 

 my list of arrivals for 1894 as an 

 average by any means. 



It was an unusually precocious 

 spring — that is in its earlier part. 

 I slept in an old ruin of a stave 

 mill on the night of March 21 

 while on a duck hunt, the weather 

 being as comfortable as in sum- 

 mer. I remember scribling on a 

 beam in the loft these words: "My 

 brother Lawrence and myself 

 spent the night of March 21, 1894, 

 in this loft; retired at 1 1 o'clock, 

 called at dawn by porter Pewee. " 

 — signed. 



So in the table below I have 

 used the arrivals for 1893 instead 

 of those of 1894, whereby I think 

 we get a truer comparison. 



It is a singular and interesting 

 fact that Robins, Meadowlarks 

 and Flickers turned up here and 

 there and now and then all through 

 the very severe winter just past. 

 A single Song Sparrow was my 

 especial protege, though very shy, 

 and fed upon the crumbs which I 

 scattered about the door. Sin- 

 gularly this little fellow invariably 

 disappeared with every big drop 

 of the thermometer, and returned 

 only with milder weather. Where 

 he went is a mystery; surely he 

 could have found no place where 

 he would be more certain of food. 

 But this is a puzzling way which 

 all the birds have which erratically 

 reside with us all winter, On 

 mild or balmy days they are all 

 activity and you are sure to find 

 them — a sudden drop — and they 

 are gone, not to be found with dil- 

 igent search. 



My notes show the following 

 comparisons: 



1893. 1895. 



Bluebird March 7 April 7* 



Flicker March 7 resident 



Robin March 8 resident 



Killdeer March 9 March 23 



R'd-w'g'd Bl'k-b'dMarch 9 March 27 

 Bronzed Grackle. March 11 March 1 



Meadowlark March 13 resident 



Phoebe March 20 April 8 



Brown Thrush April 4 Apr.l 21 



Wood Thrush March 31 April 20 



Yellow Warbler. . .April 20 April 25 



Barn Swallow April 13 April 19 



King Bird April 13 May 2 



Bobolink May 1 April 30 



Chimney Swift May 1 April 30 



Baltimore Oriole. . . . May 1 April 30 



* I did not see this bird myself nor did I see 

 any before April 31. 



The latter part of this spring has 

 been in every way conducive to 

 safe and speedy migration, fair, 

 warm weather by night and day, 

 no severe storms either of wind or 

 rain and an unusual evenness of 

 temperature. The weather — 

 though not wet enough to cause 

 speedy and profuse vernation — is at 

 least very suitable for the germi- 

 nation and transformation of insect 

 life. 



As I spoke of the earliness of 

 the spring of 1894 it may not come 

 amiss to give a list of some of the 

 arrivals of that spring, 



1894. 



Bluebird February 28 



Robin March 4 



Flicker resident 



Killdeer March 4 



Red-winged Blackbird March 4 



Bronzed Grackle March 4 



Phoebe March 18 



Meadowlark March 8 



Che wink March 22 



Yellow Warbler April 20 



Chimney Swift April 20 



Of Bluebirds I have seen seven 

 — with all my tramping — I literal- 

 ly live in the fields and woods and 

 I think I saw two of these over, so 

 five is doubtless the correct number. 

 And as yet I have not heard a 

 warble. They were plentiful 

 enough last November, warbling 

 away as though it had been spring. 

 And with the Blackbirds, Killdeers 

 and Meadowlarks were overtaken 

 in the severe cold snap which 

 came November 5th and lasted till 

 the 22d of the month. 



Then the weather was very fair 

 and fine again until December 25. 

 This peculiar sandwiching of such 

 bittter weather — it reached 18 de- 

 grees above zero and snow lay 

 during the seventeen days — be- 

 tween such pleasant spells seemed 

 to fool the birds. Evidently there 

 was not a thorough migration of 

 some of the more lingering species 

 many birds doubtless protracting 

 their stay until departure was im- 

 possible. 



The birds noted above as resi- 

 dents during this severe winter 

 prove this I think. 



On December 23 I found a Red- 

 breasted Nuthatch in a bit of 

 swamp. This species is recorded 

 as wintering only in western Ohio. 

 About this time some unknown 

 "sea-fowd" as was thought was 

 stranded in the neighboring town 

 of Salem — unfortunately the writer 

 did not get to see it — but it was 

 evidently some water fowl, either 

 flying to or from Lake Erie, al- 

 most 60 miles away. 



December 27, mercury down to 

 14 degrees above zero I met a 



Sparrow Hawk in the woods where 

 he was evidently watching a large 

 flock of Tree Sparrows, Spizella 

 monticola. Jitnco hiemalis ap- 

 peared early in September, not- 

 withstanding the mildness of the 

 season. While during the winter 

 I saw great numbers of Snow- 

 flakes, P. nivalis; more in fact than 

 I ever saw before. Several flocks 

 which must have contained be- 

 tween two and three thousand 

 birds. 



That the autumnal rains which 

 came after the long summer 

 drought had their effect on migra- 

 tion there can be little doubt. 

 New verdure put forth, new grass, 

 leaves and in many cases flowers. 



I noted eleven species of plants 

 sending up new stalks, with bloom 

 in November. A Choke Cherry, 

 Primus virginiana produced ab- 

 normal inflorescence; instead of 

 the long racames the flowers were 

 gathered in short dense heads. 

 The peduncle being shortened to 

 less than half an inch the pedicels 

 almost entirely wanting. Found 

 this November 4. 



On September 14 found a Lo- 

 cust tree, Robinia pseudscacia, 

 nearly dead one side of which had 

 six racemes of white sweet-scented 

 flowers — carrying me back to spring 

 with a vividness which only scents 

 can. Fruit trees flowered, and 

 here and there a grape vine thrust 

 out fresh- tendrils, bloomed, and 

 had ripe and green fruit and flowers 

 all at the same time. This fresh- 

 ness could not help having effect 

 on the insect world — consequently 

 upon the birds. It was a sort of 

 secondary spring. This is the 

 manner in which I attempt to ac- 

 count, in a measure, for the tardy, 

 and in some cases, omitted migra- 

 tion. The Bluebird is not able to 

 stand very severe weather. I have 

 seen them come to the house in 

 March, 1894 and peck at the Ara- 

 pelopsis berries during a slight 

 snap of winter, and a few days la- 

 ter found several dead in the or- 

 chard evidently frozen. 



It would be interesting to know 

 how far north, and how late in No- 

 vember or December the Bluebird 

 was seen last, or noted through a 

 long period of the past winter. 

 Who is able to draw that wavy line 

 across the map of the United 

 States, which fixes his ordinary 

 winter limit northward? Not any 

 one of us, but perhaps all of us 

 might help. We don't know much 

 concerning the internal action of 

 the "laws" of migration after all. 

 Many things unknown seem to en- 

 ter into the problem. It is one of 



