could, have wished and seemed to sing only when I 
w as not close by. Frequently a fragment of song 
was given when they sprang into the air after an 
insect but always in so low a tone that I could 
scarcely hear it. They allowed me to come very 
close and I was careful not to frighten them. 
They were of course the northern parula. They 
hunted low down through the gooseberry bushes and 
°n the ground along logs. Sometimes they turned 
pver the leaves to get insects or made a sally 
in to the air. I thought at last that I would 
leave them and went to looking at other birds but 
still they came around following me up as I had 
them. 
Downy woodpeckers were very common here. 
'ben two came together they gave a chuckling 
ch uck- a- chuc k-a. 
~ A single rough-winged swallow was sailing 
around over the Half Moon with several banks. 
I'hey made sweeping circles now high in the air and 
now barely missing the water. The rough-wing was 
s ilent but the banks called continually. 
Heard a harsh note like tht tht tht 
°ccasionally varied by oo e so coming the bushes 
one side. It had a queer ventriloquial quality 
that made it hard to place. I went softly along 
Peering into every bush and finally looking up 
a aw - a male cowbird sitting on a limb giving 
the notes about thirty feet off! I wonder what- 
ey er possessed them to give the strange notes. He 
f lew off fairly laughing at having outwitted me. 
Then a strange bird flew up ahead of me and 
^t in a bush for an instant. At first glance 1 
took it for D. Pensylvanica but then I noticed 
3 ome black on its head and followed it up until 
1 obtained the following description. Crown 
follow; chin and cheeks black; back grayish blue; 
ysllow patch on wing, rest of underparts white, 
'ben I got home I learned that it was a male 
Solden-winged warbler. It was very secretive 
hunted about the bases of the gooseberry 
