eee UL BIOIN OB Us Tae N 7 
The time of day did not seem to make much difference. Most days 
were cold and overcast, and birds arrived at unexpected intervals all day 
long, two or three together, or up to ten or twelve bathing, shaking them- 
selves in the nearby crabapple tree, and disappearing. Intervals of no 
activity might be fifteen minutes to half an hour then another bevy ar- 
rived, bathed quickly, and left. One bird seemed to act as a decoy for 
others. There were more brilliant birds than ever before — Scarlet Tana- 
gers, both male and female, came two and three at a time (up to six at one 
time). Indigo Buntings, Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, and Baltimore Orioles 
were frequent visitors. Warblers, of course, held first place in numbers 
of species and individuals. 
Of the sixty species of birds seen at our bird baths, we added three 
new ones this year. A Clay-colored Sparrow spent about five minutes 
around and in the baths on May 12th, long enough to permit close and 
thorough study. An Acadian Flycatcher bathed on May 18th. The Wood 
Pewee is the only other flycatcher we have ever seen bathing. On May 24th 
the first woodpecker we have ever seen bathing here, a flicker, shuffled 
around on his short legs, throwing water over himself until he was be- 
draggled and his breast spots became streaks. In previous years the sap- 
sucker, flicker, and Red-headed Woodpecker have drunk but never bathed. es 
Certain species usually abundant were scarce. Redstarts came very 
late and even then were never as abundant as usual. , Magriolia Warblers 
were scarce this year, Chestnut-sided Warblers were infrequent visitors, 
and Swainson’s Thrushes, usually the most abundant thrush to bathe, were 
few in numbers. The Orange-crowned Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, 
and White-crowned Sparrow were unusually abundant. 
— On the afternoon of May 16th, 
from three to six p. m., while listening 
to the radio describing astronaut Gor- 
don Cooper’s final historic orbits, I 
watched and recorded the following 
bathers: Warblers — 22 Palms, 23 
Myrtles, 18 Tennessees, 4 Cape Mays, 
4 Nashvilles, 3 Bay-breasteds, 1 Orange- 
crowned, 1 Yellow; others — 7 Indigo 
Buntings, 2 Scarlet Tanagers, 1 Lin- 
coln’s Sparrow. A female Baltimore 
Oriole alighted twice on the horizontal 
pipe over the central bath. Each time 
a drop was about to leave the tip, she 
leaned over and caught it in her bill. 
Laurie Jones, age 13, who at that time 
was in his home-made blind in our 
P ee back yard using his 400 mm. lens and 
Baltimore Oriole drinking from pipe Miranda reflex camera, got an excel- 
lent portrait of this maneuver, as he 
did of many of the warblers at other times. Another day, Dr. William 
Beecher spent one morning curled up in Laurie’s blind, taking movies. 
The top day was Sunday, May 12th. The temperature was 60 degrees, 
with a north wind. We watched from 1 to 3 p. m. and recorded twelve 
Baltimore Orioles, ten Rose-breasted Grosbeaks, ten Scarlet Tanagers, 
eight Goldfinches, ten Indigo Buntings, two Veeries, one Gray-cheeked 
Thrush, the Clay-colored Sparrow, two Robins, and hundreds of warblers 
Zi, 
