CONCORD. 
1905 
May 5 
Despite the remarkably cold wes.ther and the equally 
remarkably backward condition of vegatat'ion, the May birds 
are arriving every night and most of them considerably in 
advance of their usual dates. They -are coming scatteringly, 
however, and there has been no real rush since the 3rd. "esides 
the new ones noted above there was a marked increase to-day 
in the numbers of Nashville Warblers, bellow Warblers, Red¬ 
starts, Maryland Yellow-throats and Grosbeaks. r ^-' 
At 8 A. M. saw a pair of Downy Woodpeckers in young 
oaks behind Ball’s Hill, behaving very strangely. They kept 
flying from tree to free, flapping their wings slowly and 
feebly like butterflies, sometimes moving on a level plane, 
sometimes in long loops, occasionally sailing from tree to 
tree in a long deep loop. Their wings had a strange fin- 
like appearance due, probably, to the way they were held or 
flexed. They both uttered a low harsh chattering cry almost 
incessantly. No doubt this was a love performance, but they 
were male and female and both 11 showed off" in the same way. 
Both sexes drum, also. 
At 8.30 A. M. as I was near the Barrett Spring I 
heard twice and perfectly distinctly the long quavering 
laugh of a Loon, The bird was apparently flying north over 
Birch Field 
