Field Notes 
187 
lightning as a curtain-raiser, it commenced snowing, and continued 
7 \ 
through the night; all the next day we were in the grip of an old-fash- 
ioned Iowa blizzard. It was worse than any storm we had received dur- 
ing the preceding winter. With snow nearly a foot deep on the level, 
drifts three to six feet deep a common occurrence, and in the blinding 
snow as well (which was very wet), the birds were in a poor position 
to secure food. 
Early on the morning of the blizzard, April 16, a number of Prairie 
Horned Larks, with a few Vesper Sparrows and Slate-colored Juncos, 
came about our farm buildings in their apparently unsuccessful search 
for food. I gathered up several shovels of hayseed from the barn floor 
and scattered it upon the nearby snow. They began working on it at 
once and could hardly be driven away from it. Of course, it was soon 
buried by the snow, but by replenishing the supply frequently, they had 
food most of the day. 
That afternoon I made a survey of a nearby wood to ascertain to 
what extent the blizzard was affecting bird-life. Robins were humped 
up in the trees and bushes. A Black-crowned Night Heron, snow-bound, 
sat dejectedly in a tall tree. I saw a Vesper Sparrow with a large chunk 
of snow stuck to its tail, which by its weight rendered that member prac- 
tically useless. My greatest surprise came when I found a number of 
Myrtle Warblers. During the period that I have kept migration records 
I have never known them to appear before the latter part of April, but 
the advanced spring doubtless accounted for their early arrival. Though 
their plumage was wet and ruffled, they twittered cheerfully as they 
searched for food among the fascicles of fresh tamarack leaves, quite un- 
mindful of the snow that fell heavily all around them. Kinglets worked 
by their side. 
That night Robins, Phoebes, and Vesper Sparrows came in through 
the open doors of the log-house and wood-house to seek protection for 
the night. 
The next day, Sunday, April 17, dawned bright and fair and in a 
short time the sun had restored the snow-covered world to a more cheer- 
ful state. The green earth eventually appeared and the birds went about 
their duties with their accustomed vigor, apparently none the worse for 
their brief exposure to one of Iowa’s extremely rare mid-April blizzards. 
Fero J. Pierce. 
Winthrop, Iowa, April 18, 1921. 
WILSON THRUSH IN ASHTABULA COUNTY, OHIO 
On May 7 of the present year I saw the first Wilson Thrush noted 
for the season. On May 21 I wandered further than usual and entered 
a thick swampy underbrush, in the township of Plymouth, Ashtabula 
County. Ohio. 
The day was fine. I became tired with my long walk and sat down 
to rest on an old log near a small pond of water. An abundance of birds 
were to be seen. Presently the stillness was broken by the sweetest bird 
music I have ever heard. It was a Wilson Thrush perched on a mossy 
