538 
FOREST AND STREAM 
September, 1918 
MIGRATORY BIRD LIFE ON THE NEVERSINK 
SO FEARLESS AND FRIENDLY ARE THE LITfLE VISITORS THAT FISHERMEN OFTEN 
NEGLECT THE TROUT, FINDING THE BIRDS MORE INTERESTING THAN THE FISH 
By WILL L. HALL 
B IRD life on the Neversink last May 
was wonderful. In my six or seven 
years’ fishing on that stream I had 
seen nothing like it. Herman Christian 
has fished the Neversink for many years. 
be postponed until the end of their journey 
and nesting time. For the present they 
were wholly intent on filling up on the 
several varieties of olive and blue duns, 
hatching by thousands, before the trout 
gobbled them down. 
The plumage of some of the birds was 
brilliant, embracing a bewildering assort¬ 
ment of colors and shades. As they flut¬ 
tered over the pools in pursuit of the in¬ 
sects one could almost imagine they were 
flying flowers. 
To classify the birds I used the “Bird 
Guide,” by Chester A. Reed. Some days 
I took the book on the stream to help 
identify the animated bunches of feathers. 
had been a big hatch of flies and the trout 
had fed furiously; the birds were more 
interesting than the fish. 
Here is a note from my diary dated 
May 25, a cold, windy day: “Chestnut- 
Sided Warbler perched on stone near 
water in front of companion, tucked his 
head under wing, apparently asleep. W. 
approached carefully, thinking to touch the 
bird, and his hand was actually within six 
inches of the little faker before he flew, 
then only a few feet to another stone.” 
Another of this species fluttered around 
my hat and pecked at a fly fastened in the 
band. Failing to get the fly he perched .on 
my rod and remained there several sec- 
The Junco is one of the friendliest of 
birds and will eat gratefully at window 
shelves or feeding-boxes 
onds before darting away to pluck a tiny 
insect from the air with such neatness and 
dispatch as to fill one with admiration. 
After this bit of clever work he perched 
upon a bush not three feet from where I 
stood, his little head moving from side to 
The Scarlet Tanager, most brilliant-colored of birds found in northern latitudes; 
center, the Bam Swallow, whose tiny mud huts plaster eaves and rafters 
Illustrations through the courtesy of the Audubon Society. 
He told me that the number, variety and 
fearlessness of the birds far exceeded any¬ 
thing he had ever seen. 
The birds observed by me were mostly 
migratory. The list embraced the Slate 
Colored Junco, Scarlet Tanager, Bank and 
Barn Swallow, Chestnut Sided Warbler, 
Golden Crowned Kinglet, Bay Breasted 
Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler and the 
Phoebe. 
A few of these birds have some reputa¬ 
tion as song-sters. Not a note did I hear 
from one of them beyond a low twitter of 
satisfaction after the capture of an evi¬ 
dently unusually luscious morsel in the 
shape of a fly. They were all too busy 
feeding to lose time singing; that could 
This method I found had its drawbacks. 
Often before I could get the book from 
my pocket and find the proper illustration 
the tantalizing little rascal had darted off 
after an insect, perhaps across the stream 
to another observation post. The best 
scheme was to keep your eye on the bird, 
reach for your diary and rapidly note col¬ 
ors, markings and size of bird. After a 
good supper of fried trout and trimmings, 
with the old pipe drawing satisfactorily, 
it was a simple matter, by the help of the 
book, to classify the birds. 
So fearless and friendly were the little 
visitors that it was a pleasure to be with 
them on the stream. Several times I re¬ 
turned with an empty creel, although there 
