Metcalf, on Birds of Gape Fear Region 
29 
front and the river gradnallv converge until they meet at Cape 
Fear, 8onie twenty-six miles southeast of Wilmington. It is 
tliis narrow peninsula that we Avere surveying and on Avhich 
we Avere located. The area is principally light sand and not 
very suitable for cultivation, therefore, the southern half of the 
l)eninsnla is practically Avithont inhal)itants and has groAvn u]) 
to a mixed groAvtli of pines and oaks cliietly. The northern half 
is more thickly populated and supports some good truck farms 
and one or two snmmer colonies on the beach. A typical cross 
section of the sonthern lialf, starting at the river, Avonld be as 
folloAvs : a narroAV river beach rising abruptly to a higher level, 
Avhich continnes for about three-fourths of the Avidth of the 
peninsnla, then a sudden drop to a broad salt meadow flanked 
by sand dunes just back of the broad ocean beach. These de- 
tails are given tliat one may better understand onr local situa- 
tion. Further north the broad salt meadoAV is replaced by the 
sound, Avhich is a favorite haunt for certain Avater birds. 
Along tlie river front the most frequent birds Avere the Rough- 
Avinged SavuIIoavs and the Egrets. In the woods the Bine Jay, 
Carolina Chickadee, Tufted Titmouse, Carolina Wren, YelloAV- 
throated and Parnla Warblers held SAvay. In the salt marsh 
Clapper Kails and Chnch-Aviirs-AvidoAV. Along the ocean beach 
Fish CroAVs, Least Sandpipers, BroAAm Pelicans, Gulls and Terns 
Avere most frequently oI)served. 
From the standpoint of the birds observed the tAvo Aveeks 
Avere most enjoyable, and Avhat more pleasant memories could 
remain after half a year than that in spite of hard work and a 
blistering sun, in spite of mosquitoes in onr tents and ants in 
our beds there remains the steady roar of the ocean on one 
side and the call of the Chuck-Aviirs-AvidoAv and the plaintive 
frog-like clatter of the Clapper Kail on onr land side to sing ns 
to sleep. 
In this connection a comparison of the list of birds by 
Fleisher, made betAveen April 13 and April 20, on the land side 
of the river, is interesting ( Ank, Oct. 1020, 565 - 572). IT^ofessor 
Fleisher saAV ninety-eight species in April. I saAV eighty-eight 
species in May and June, and sixty of the species are common 
to both lists. 
From the standpoint of interest the chief records are of the 
Scarlet Tanager and the Kedstart. This is the first record 
of the Scarlet Tanager and the Kedstart along the coast in the 
breeding season. The Barn SwalloAv has been recorded only 
