^f A QL671 .VI57 * FOKTHE PEOPLE FOR EDVCATION FOR SCIENCE LIBRARY OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY M |;r, A kY i ) ] III The Wilson Bulletin Official Organ of The Wilson Ornithological Club >>6 /77./ An Illustrated Quarterly Magazine Devoted to the Study of Birds in the Field Edited by Lynds Jones Nineteen Hundred and Eight Old Series, Volume XX New Series, Volume XV Published by the Club at Oberlin, Ohio iw 1,/, :i i I B^nc(fK <&44f-^^ 10. *^9^/jC(fK THE WILSON BULLETIN NO. 62. A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF ORNITHOLOGY VOL. XX. MARCH, 1908. NO. 1. ALEXANDER WILSON. I. THE AUDUBON CONTROVERSY. ]?Y FRANK L. BURNS. The brief, almost accidental, meeting of Alexander Wilson and John James Audubon in the latter's counling-room, Louis- ville, Kentucky, IMarch 9th, 1810, and the ill-considered if not brutal accusations and recriminations following, proved the fruitful source of subsequent contentions not at all creditable to those involved. On Alexander Wilson, who had left unsaid a single unkind word of his rival ; long after death had claimed him for his own and personal vindication was out of the question; the offense was onerously placed. On the very last day's journey to that most disappointing town of Louis- ville, he was exposed to a storm from which he could not protect- himself, because his greatcoat was in request to cover his precious bird skins ! ^ The exposure and privations of that western trip resulted in the contraction of dysentery, fatal to him in a few brief years. In his poem descriptive of the journey, we have at least a pitiful truth in these lines : "Through western forests, deep and drear, Far from the haunts of science thrown. My long laborious course I steer, Alone, unguided, and unknown." — The Pilgrim. ^ Peabody's Life of Wilson. 4 The Wilson Bulletin — No. G3. Wilson has almost invariably appeared at a great disad- vantage whenever placed in opposition to Audnbon, even some of his greatest admirers, without due consideration of all the facts, have taken it for granted that he was altogether at fault, and cravenly hinted at his lowly birth and lack of opportunities in justification! It seems a great pity that those two remarkable men, so' unlike in temperament and in every- thing except their love and devotion to Nature, could not have met in good fellowship on that common ground.- To think of there being but two active ornithologists in all the country, each unconscious of the other's existence until a fortuitous meeting should reveal one to the other and start a quarrel of so many decades duration. Of Wilson — the Scotch-American — the very worst that could be said of him is that he was "a poor weaver, suffering from the many blights that had fallen upon his class in a land where the amenities of civilization had not done much to soften the manners of the working classes." ^ "Not accustomed tO' polished society in his earlier days ; and, as he was conscious of possessing powers greatly superior to those of the laborers with whom he associated, his manners, like those of Robert Burns, probably became somewhat impatient and overbearing." - "As a poet he missed greatness by those limitations of passion which seem so sad and unaccountable ; as a natural- ist, he achieved it by patience that knew no limitations until death interposed." ^ "Of middle stature, thin, cheek-bones projecting, eyes though hollow, displaying considerable vivacity and intelli- gence ; sallow complexion, a dash of vulgarity in his physi- ognomy which struck the observer at first view, but which failed to impress one on acquaintance." * By turns a poverty- stricken weaver, indorsing his indentures with the following : ^Buchanan's Life of Audubon. -Peabody's Life of Wilson. ^Coues' Key to North American Birds. *Ord's Life of Wilson. Bl'Rxs — On Alexander Wilson. 5 "Be't kent to a' the world in rhime, That wi' right mickle wark and toil, For three long" years I've ser't my time, Whiles feasted wi the hazel oil." An itinerant peddler when nothing better offered ; or to satisfy his longing for travel : "Hard fate has this ordain't, that I Maun dauner thro the warl'. The wants o' thousan's to supply, An' heavy lades to harl ; Sae aft, when E'ening brings the Night, In lanely desolation, I seek a corner, out o' sight, To mourn my condemnation." —The Pack. And ill-paid schoolmaster, of which he writes : "Of all professions that this world hath known, — : From humble cobblers upwards to the throne. From the great architects of Greece and Rome Down to the maker of a farthing broom, — The worst for care and undeserving abuse. The first in real dignity and use (If kind to teach, and diligent to rule), Is the learned master of a little school." — Tlic Dominie. Disappointed in love, a stranger to prosperity though help- ing others poorer than himself ; yet desiring so earnestly that he "might at least leave a small beacon to point out where he perished." Audubon, on the other hand, was the son of an admiral of France. "Educated with all the advantages wealth could bestow, and his natural taste for painting had been earl\ trained into a rich development under the guidance of the celebrated David." ^ ^ Brewer's Reminisceuees of Aiuliibon. 6 The \\'ilsox Bulletix — Xo. (i3. "Vivid and ardent was his genius : matcliless he was with hoth pen and pencil in giving hfe and spirit to the heautitul objects be dehneated with passionate love. The brilliant French-American natnralist was little of a 'scientist.' Of his work, the magical beauties of form, and color, and move- ments, are his all ; his page is redolent of Nature's fragrance.'"^ He was, according to his own description, "five feet, ten inches, erect and with muscles of steel, in temper warm, irascible, and at times violent." Fond of shooting, fishing and riding on horseback, ridiculously fond of dress. "To have seen me going shooting in black satin small-clothes or breeches, with silk stockings, and the finest rufiled shirt Philadelph'ia could afford, was, as I now realize, an absurd spectacle ; but it was one of my many foibles, and I shall not conceal it ; I purchased the best horses in the country, and rode well and felt proud of it ; my guns and fishing tackle were equally good, always expensive, and richlv ornamented, often with silver." - Fond of music, dancing, and drawing, in all of which he was well instructed. Without a care or occupation except that of amusement, until he became united to a woman of the highest devotion, appreciation and refinement ; not to have been a little vain and selfish would have been altogether im- possible. "He was handsome and he knew it. He was ele- gant and he prided himself upon it. He was generous in most things, but he did not love his rivals." ■' To the fastidious Audubon, Wilson's appearance was far from prepossessing. ''How well do I remember him, as he walked up to me ! Flis long, rather hooked nose, the keen- ness of his eyes, and his prominent cheek bones, stamped his countenance. with a peculiar character. His dress, too, was of ^i kind not usually seen in that part of the country, — a short coat, trousers, and a waistcoat of grey cloth."* ^ ("ones' Key to North Aniericnn T.irds. "Audubon's Journals. ^Buchanan's Life of Autlulion. ' Audubon's Ornitholotiical lUosraphy. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 7 Wilson opened his books, explained the nature of his occu- pation, and requested Audubon's patronage. "With hopes humble enough, asking only support equal to his merits, and the laudability of his intentions, expecting no more ; and not altogether certain of that." ^ Here were the first two volumes of a work which the great Cuvier afterward pronounced "equal in elegance to the most beautiful works of ornithology published in the old world." Drawn by one "to whom the art of bird painting had been acquired with fingers stiffened by toil and manual labor," - and "perhaps no other work on ornithology of equal extent is equally free from error, and its truthfulness is illuminated by a spark of the fire divine. This means immotalit,v." " Audubon continues : "I felt surprised and gratified at the sight of his volumes, turned over a few of the plates, and had already taken a pen to write my name in his favor, when my partner, rather abruptly, said to me in French, 'My dear Audubon, what induces you to subscribe tO' this work? Your drawings are certainly far better, and again, you must know as much of the habits of American birds as this gentleman.' Whether Mr. Wilson understood French or not, or if the suddeness with which I paused dis- appointed him, I cannot tell ; but I clearly perceived he was not pleased. Vanity and the encomiums of my friend pre- vented me from subscribing." Audubon's frankness has ever been his most winning weapon, yet after cheerfully shifting part of the blame tO' the vanity of youth and the remainder to his hard-headed friend Rosier, he destroys the whole effect in the following words : "'^■' * * but, dear reader, I did not sub- scribe to his work, for, even at that time, my collection was greater than his." Eleven years later he vainly endeavored to obtain sight of this work in New Orleans, and the cruel irony of fortune, still later while in Europe he wrote in his journal : "How often I thought during these visits, of Alexander Wilson, when traveling as I am now, to- procure subscribers, he, as well as myself, was received with rude coldness and ^ Wilson's Introduction, American Ornithology. - Bre\yer's Reminiscences of Audubon. " Cones' Key. 8 Thi-: Wilson 1)Ulli:tix — Xo. (i'^. sometimes with that arrogance which l)clongs to pari'cmis." To the poor Scotch naturahst, Audubon doubtless not only appeared the accomplished sportsman-artist, but a wealthy gentleman of leisure as well, yet so little interested in natural science or the portraits of birds not of his own painting, that he had not taken the trouble to look over more than a few of the plates ! That this was characteristic of the gentleman there is little doubt and that he was not at heart a scientist is probably true. "It is singular how two minds possessing the same taste can be so diversified as to differ in toto respecting the same subject. During the whole time of Mr. Audubon's residence in Paris, he only visited the ornithological gallery twice ( while I was studying for hours almost daily) for the purpose of calling on me ; and even then he bestowed that sort of passing glance at the magnificent cases of birds which a careless observer would do wdiile sauntering into the rooms. "^ Wilson, however, took a keen interest in the contents of Audubon's portfolio, being all enthusiasm, and recognized two species as new to him ; but the v/eek's canvass in Louis- ville produced not a single subscriber I No wonder poor ^\Mlson, out of the bitterness of his heart, wrote in his diary : "Science or literature has not one friend in this place," and felt much the same as Audubon did many years later when lack of appreciation seemed about to balk him in his great undertaking. Audubon's apparent, though perhaps uncon- scious antagonism to Wilson, is fully illustrated in the follow- ing extract from his Ornithological lUography under the head of Whooping Crane : "I had, in 1810, the gratification of taking Alexander Wilson to some ponds within a few^ miles of Louisville, and of showing him many birds of this species, of which he had not previously seen any other than stuft'ed specimens. I told him that the white birds were adults, and that the grey ones were the young. Wilson, in his article on the Whooping Crane, has alluded to this, but as on other occasions, has not informed his readers whence this informa- tion came." This is indeed a most trivial charge if it were not an unjust one. Audubon being of the most ])ositive ' Swaiiison's Taxidprmy. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. SJ nature, did not stop to consider that it was possible for Wilson to have found out this fact for himself ; and further- more it will be noted that this is about the only intimation extant of the latter being a closet naturalist. Quoting from Wilson's American Ornithology under the head of the above species: "A few sometimes make their appearance in the marshes of Cape May (New Jersey) in December, particular- ly on and near Egg Island, where they are known by the name of Storks. ■ The younger birds are easily distinguished from the rest by the brownness of their plumage. Some linger in these marshes the whole winter, setting out north about the time the ice breaks up. '•' '^ * On the tenth of Febru- ary (1809) I met with several near the Waccaman river, in South Carolina ; I also saw a flock at the ponds near Louis- ville, Kentucky, on the twentieth of March (1810). * * * The vast marshy flats of Siberia are inhabited by a crane very much resembling the present, with the exception of the bill and legs being red ; like those of the present, the year old birds are said to be tawny." Under the date of March "21st" (20th), the following extract from Wilson's diary is brief and to the point : "Went out shooting this afternoon with Mr. A(udubon), saw a number of Sandhill Cranes." According to Ord, Wilson never saw the real Sandhill Crane, so the above must apply to Grits aniericaiiiis, Whooping Crane, al- though there seems no doubt that his friend Bartram identi- fied two distinct species in Florida which he called Griis pratenses and Griis claiiiator. Audubon mixed the adult and young of the two species in almost inextricable confusion at the very time he published his cry of stolen knowledge. It appears from Audubon's Journal that he informed Wilson that he had no intentions of publishing ; at his request loaned him a few of his drawings during his stay, hunted in company and procured him specimens of birds he had never before seen ; and finally offered him his drawings merely on the con- dition that what he had drawn or might afterward draw and send to him, should be mentioned in his work as coming from Audubon; to this Wilson made no reply, and soon after left Louisville on his way to New Orleans, "little suspecting how 10 The Wilson Bulletin — Xo. (')2. much his talents were appreciated in that Uttle town." Wil- son's version of the Louisville visit is exceedingly brief : "March 17. * * '■' Took my baggage and groped my way to Louisville — put up at the Indian Queen tavern and gladly sat down to rest. March IS. Rose quite refreshed. Found a number of land speculators here. '•-' ''' March 19. Rambled about town with my gun. Examined Mr. (Audubon) 's draw- ings in crayon — very good. Saw two new birds he had, both Moiitacilla. ^Nlarch 20. Sat out this afternoon with gun — killed nothing new. * '•' '•' Many shopkeepers board in taverns — also boatmen, land speculators, merchants, etc. No natural- ist to keep me company. March 21. Went out shooting this afternoon with Mr. A(udubon). Saw a number of Sandhill Cranes. Pigeons numerous. March 23. * * * Having parted with great regret, with my paroquet to the gentlemen of the tavern, I bade adieu to Louisville, to which place I had four letters of recommendation, and was taught to ex- pect so much of everything there ; Init neither received one act of civility from those to whom I was recommended, one new subscriber nor one new bird; though I ransacked the woods repeatedly, and visited all the characters likely to subscribe. Science or literatni^e lias init one friend /ni tliis place." Audubon takes exception to the above, almost if not quite a score of years after ; time enough to have forgotten much in- cident to an ordinary interview, if, upon reading Ord's ex- tracts from Wilson's diary, published in 1814, pic|ue had not aided in the recalling of the most vivid points in his favor. On the other hand, Wilson, at perhaps the time of his great- est irritation and discouragement, had written while the memory of his disappointment was fresh in his mind. Ob- viously x-\udubon was not one of the gentlemen to whom the letters of introduction were addressed, therefore that part of Wilson's words cannot apply to him. Furthermore the original rendition of the opening words of his diary under date of March 2ord make it appear as if the Paroquet was presented or sold to the gentlemen of the tavern, whereas by his own account he carried it from Big Bone Lick, thirty miles above the Kentucky river, upward of a thousand miles. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 11 in his pocket, and it finally flew overboard and perished in the Gulf of Mexico ; a better interpretation would read : "Having parted with the gentlemen of the tavern with great regret, I with my paroquet bade adieu to Louisville." In this con- nection it will be well to remember that Audubon dwelt under the same roof and was of the company referred to. Wilson's statement that he received not one new bird, appears to have been equally true, Audubon's several statements notwith- standing. The Whooping Crane, Grits aiihcricaiiiis^ as already mentioned, had been met with previously in South Carolina and probably on the New Jersey coast ; the Solitary Sand- piper, Hclodranas solifarius, is a regular transient through Southeastern Pennsylvania and doubtless was first met with near home, though he appears to have also met with it in Kentucky ; Wilson's Snipe, Gallinago dclicata, he mentions especially as having found extremely numerous on the borders of the ponds near Louisville, March 20th, as well as abound- ing in the meadows bordering the Schuylkill and Delaware, rivers. Two new species, the Kentucky Warbler, GcotJiIypis formosa, and the Prairie Warbler, D. after procuring a few of his own birds, to liave listened to him as he would speak of a thousand interesting facts con- nected with his favorite science and my ever pleasing pur- suits. * * "*' But alas ! Wilson was with mie only a few times, and then iiotliiiig worthy of his attention was procured."^ But again quoting from Audubon, this time under the head of the Small-headed Flycatcher ; here is a most serious charge ; one which should never have been made unless the author of it was prepared to prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt : "When Alexander Wilson visited me at Louisville, he found in my already large collection of drawings, a figure of the present species, which being at that time unknown to him, he copied and afterward published in his great work, but without acknowledging the privilege that had thus been granted him. I have more than once regretted this, not by any means so much on my own account, as for the sake of one to whom, we are deeply indebted for his elucidations of our ornithology." While at Nashville, about the last of April, Wilson sent a letter and three sheets of drawings to his engraver's address, which Mr. Lawson never received ; and if a copy of Audubon's drawing of the Small-headed Flycatcher was included, it was of course lost with the rest. At a stated meeting of the American Philosophical Society, September 18th, 1840, George Ord replies to the charge of Wilson's plagiarism of the Small-headed Flycatcher as follows : "The attack upon the reputation of a member of this society, one who, during the long period he dwelt amongst us, was noted for his integrity, ought not to be suffered to pass without examination. Wilson's Small-headed Flycatcher differs in no respect from his ordinary style ; that it bears the signet of paternity on its very front. But, as it might be objected that this mode of reasoning is. in con- clusion, from the circumstances of several of i\Ir. Audubon's birds bearing a resemblance to those of Wilson, Mr. Ord obviated this objection, by stating that Ivlr. Audubon had not scrupled to appropriate the labors of Wilson to his own use ; ^ Ornithological Biographies. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 13 inasmuch as the figures of the female Marsh Blackbird (Birds of yliiicrica, plate G-T) and that of the male Mississippi Kite (same work, plate 117) have both been copied from the American Ornithology, without the least acknowledg- ment of the source whence they had been derived. Mr. Ord thought that the charge of plagiarism came with ill grace from one who had been guilty of it himself, as in the instance above named. Wilson states that he shot the bird figured and described in his (Jth volume, page G'3, in an orchard, on the 34th of April. ]\lr. Ord confirms this statement, by declaring to this society that he himself was with Wilson on the day in question; that he sa\y and examined the specimen; and that Wilson assured him it was entirely new to him. W'ilson was then residing at the Bartram Botanic Garden near Philadel- phia. Mr. Ord further read to the society a letter addressed to him by the artist, Mr. Lawson, who engraved the plate in which the Small-headed Flycatcher is figured. This gentle- man affirms, that all the plates, which he 'engraved for the American Ornithology, w-ere from Wilson's own drawings, and that in respect to the plate in which the Small-headed Flycatcher appeared, specimens of all the birds represented accompanied the drawings ; and he, after getting his outlines, worked from them. Mr. Ord laid before the society a proof of the etching of this plate, and remarked, that from the minuteness of the details, the point of the engraver had a greater share in producing the desired result, than even the pencil of the ornithologist.''^ It will be recalled that Ord frequently accompanied Wilson on his later local collecting- trips. It was on one of those jaunts he secured the first and only example of the Cape May Warbler, Dcndroica iigrina, Wilson ever saw. Audubon complained, several years previous to this, that Ord assailed him with bitter enmity. His son \^ictor G. and other friends loyally replied to Charles Waterton's shallow criticisms and broad display of ignorance,- and Ur. John ^ Proceedings American Pliilosophical Society, Vol. I, 1840. = London's Magazine of Natnral Ilistovv, Vol. VI, 183?.. pp. 215-218. 369-372; Vol. VII, 1834, pp. G6-74. Journal Boston Society of Natural History, Vol. I, 1834, pp. 15-31. ' National Intelligencer, 1834. 14 The Wilson Bulletin — No. ()'3. Bacliman replied in a kindly manner to George Ord, who had questioned some of the statements appearing in the first volume of the Ornithological Biography/ and this is alluded to by his devoted granddaughter,- who can discover no evi- dence of vanity or selfishness in her illustrious ancestor ; yet the subject matter under controversy became altogether trivial in comparison to this later charge, which received no notice whatever. Ord's companionship would have counted for little indeed if he had not defended his departed friend from imputation so vile. H'is defense of Wilson lacked neither dignity nor evidence. Audubon's accusation had been published in the body of a work which the author must have foreseen would have a world-wide circulation and be con- sulted for many generations. It has been copied in every one of the later editions of his works, and reiterated in al- most every one of his biographies, even to the present century. Doubtless a thousand have read and accepted his estimate of Wilson, to one who has as much as seen Ord's defense and counter-charge. Moreover, Ord's attack was not at all cow- ardly, his adversary was not beneath the sod, but quite capable of being heard had he not chosen to silently pose as unjustly persecuted. In reference to the Mississippi Kite, Stone has written the following: "It must be admitted that a tracing of Wilson's bird fits exactly over Audubon's figure, but the copyist left out one of the bird's toes. The charge resolves itself solely into a question of veracity between Audubon and Ord ; there is no resemblance whatever between the two figures of the Small-headed Flycatcher, while Audubon's statement about Wilson's acceptance of his offer to let him copy some of his drawings are contradictory." '• Audubon states that Wilson api)roache(l him while at his table, drawing. "Some time elapsed, during which I never heard of him, or of his work. At length, having occasion to ' BiK-ks County (Peimsylvanin ) Intt>llij:eneer. June 10, .July 1 nnd 15, 1835. - Audubon and Ilis Journals, 1807, p. 5G. = Ai;k, Vol. XXIII, 1896, p. 312. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 15 go to Philadelphia, 1 immediately after my arrival there, in- quired for him and paid him a visit. He was then drawing a White-headed Eagle. He received me with civility, and took me to the exhibition rooms of Rembrant Peale, the artist, who had there portrayed Napoleon crossing the Alps. Mr. Wilson spoke not of birds nor drawings. Feeling, as I was forced to do, that my company was not agreeable, I parted from' him ; and after that never saw him again.'' ^ At this time the splendid genius of the Painter-Ornithologist was un- known tO' the world, but his views had broadened. He no longer wished to monopolize all admiration, but had become interested in the work of others. He found that the humble petitioner had surmounted all difficulties encountered and was now reaping the first fruits of his industry. His final success seemed assured. In Mr. Audubon he recognized the gentleman companion and guide of one or two little tramps about Louisville, a service any loiterer about the settlement might have performed acceptably. In acting as his guide to the Peale art gallery, Wilson thought tO' return his kindness, and no doubt anticipated the pleasure he was giving an accomplished artist and patriotic French- man. That Audubon would expect more was inconceivable ! He had taken little interest in his drawings previously, and Audubon would be under the necessity of reopening the sub- ject or leave it untouched. We may sometimes distrust the evidence of a too positive man. Audubon could hardly be absolutely certain that Wilson used his drawing unless he was conscious of the fictitiousness of the subject himself, and the conse- quent utter impossibility of duplicating it by any means whatever ; in this event he would himself be guilty of creating and perpetuating a gross fraud — a condition so utter- ly improbable as to pass as almost beyond a possibility, though, indeed, not absolutely so, if hearsay evidence may be credited. Anyone familiar with the journals of Audubon will recall his description of that "odd fish" the eccentric Rafinesque (Schmaltz). The following came from Dr. Kirk- ^ Ornithological Biography. IG The Wilsox Bui.i.ktix — No. G2. land, who in turn received it from Dr. Bachman : "AudulDon showed him gravely some ten grotesque drawings of im- possible fishes which he had observed 'down the river,' with notes on their habits, and a list of the names by which they were known by the French and luiglish settlers. These, Rafinesque duly copied into his notebooks and later he pub- lished descriptions of them as representatives of new genera, such as Pagostoina, Aphcentnis, Lifholcpis, Pilodiciis, Poma- campcs, and the like. I am informed by Dr. J. A. Allen that there are also some unidentified genera of Herons, similarly described by Rafinesque from drawings kindly shown him by Mr. Audubon. Apparently these also date from the same unlucky practical joke."^ Audubon's description of the Small-headed Warbler, ac- cording to his own confession, appears to have been taken thirty-two years after the drawing was made I "In those happy days, I thought not of the minute difiference Ijy which one species may be distinguished from another in words or the necessity of comparing tarsi, toes, claws and quills." It would seem, too, that he must have been somewhat at fault as to either the locality or the date of capture, unless it was made on a visit immediately preceding his permanent re- moval from Mill Grove, an event extremely improbable, since there is so much to urge against it in the absence of exact information as to the dates of his earlier trips. He has told us that he was married at Fatland Ford (near Philadelphia), April 8th, 1808, and left on the day following for Louisville, Kentucky. The overland trip to Pittsburgh, on which Mrs. Audubon met with a painful accident incident to the up- setting of the coach on the mountains, must have required a week at least. There was the usual delav incident to the load- ing of a flatboat with their many goods, and its passage down the Ohio almost wholly dependent on the current which Wilson gave at two and a half miles an hour, so that it was quite probably already late in April wdien the mouth of the Big Sandy was reached, beyond which lies the nearest Ken- tucky soil, with Louisville several hundred miles further ' Youman's Life of Rafiiies(]iie. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 17 down the great Ohio. Wilson was twenty-two days enroute from Pittsburgh and while he made frequent side trips, he more than doubled the speed of a house beat, in his small skiff. Audubon was on his wedding trip and the exact date of the capture of this bird did not greatly concern him. Coues says : "He was often careless and unreliable in his statements of fact, which often led him to being accused of falsehood."^ Audubon writes of "Alexander Wilson the naturalist — not the American naturalist." There is an undeniable tinge of jealousy in more than one passage in his journals. Upon what ground Burroughs judged that Wilson looked upon Audubon as his rival, while at the same time admitting that "in accuracy of observation, Wilson is fully his equal, if not his superior," is problematical. It seems absurd in view of the assurance Audubon had given Wilson that he did not in- tend to publish. And why should he accept one in preference to the other's statement, while questioning the former's veracity in one of his tales of adventure, which "sounds a good deal like an episode in a dime novel, and may be taken ■ with a grain of allowance.- If Audubon acted inconsiderately toward the humbler, less assertive Wilson, he ignored the unbending Ord, considered the devoted Lawson garrulous, intimated that the scholarly Bonaparte was exceedingly ignor- ant in regard to our birds, considered himself badly used by the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences, although he had been given access to its latest acquisitions, thereby mis- quoting and smothering the gentle, capable Townsend, who had made the shipments of the bird skins from the west ; and even proposed purchasing Swainson's talent as he would a portrait, transferring his work to his own." Truly, with the silent, subsidized partnership of the learned MacGillivray, it would seem that a monopoly of American ornithology was no idle dream in those days. ^ Fourth lastallment of Ornithological Biblograpliy, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., Vol. II, p. 39G. ^ Burroughs' John James Audubon. = Gill's William Swainson and His Times, V. Osprey, Vol. IV, p. 171. 18 TiiK Wilson IU'li.kiix — Xo. (i'-^. Almost a huiulred years have passed since that nicmorahle misunderstanding on the hanks of the Oliio. This mass of evidence and opinions has been collated with neither animosity nor partisan feeling. A century is entirely too long a period in which to foster a quarrel. In this age of Audubonian worship, an idol need not be shattered in the emphasizing of this man's petty vanity, petulancy and inconsistency ; and if in a single encounter, the son of the bourgeois measured up the better, truer man, judged truly according to the evidence; justice does not require perfection from him and indeed faultlessness will not be found; but a juster, more rational estimate of the men and their works should follow a close study of their lives. Time and success softens the harshest judgment and wlien Audubon revisited the scenes of his youth, he could well afford to be at peace with all men, for he was in full flush of hard-earned fame and prosperity. He entered in his journal under the date of October 15th, 1S3G : "Passed poor Alex- auder Wilson's schoolhouse, and heaved a sigh. Alas, poor Wilson ! would that I could once more speak to thee, and listen to thv voice. Wdien I was a youth, the woods stood un- molested here, looking wild and fresh as if just from the Creator's hands ; but now hundreds of streets cross them, and thousands of houses and millions of diverse improvements occupy their places, liartram's Garden is the only place wdiich is unchanged. I walked in the same silent wood I enjoyed on the same spot when first I visited the present owner of it, the descendant of ( ?) William IJartram, the generous friend of Wilson."^ But alas I The kindly words were not written until he whom Audubon could never call friend had long- since departed ; yet how our hearts warm toward the great bird delineator for that one sigh in tribute to the memory of the immortal Wilson. ^ Life of Aiulubon ):)y Ills widow. Jones — On Birds of the Washington Coast. 19 JUNE WITH THE BIRDS OF THE WASHINGTON COAST. THE WHITE-CRESTED CORMORANTS. BY LYNDS JONES. The proper study of the White-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax dilophus cincinaiiis) was made during our stay upon Carroll Islet, but lest the mere narrative of the trip become tiresome I make bold to interpolate the following notes into the narrative while my audience is storm-bound with me at La Push, in the midst of the down-coast journey. The reader has already seen enough pictures of the rocks and islands characteristic of this coast to become familiar with the precipitous sides, jagged outlines, verdure-clad top, and crumbling ledges. The accompanying half-tone pictures will give some idea as to what parts of Carroll Islet these Cormorants select as nesting sites, and illustrate certain details which the camera was able tO' record. These pictures represent two somiewhat different kinds of nesting places, and fairly represent the life of these birds during the breeding season. Figure 2 is a representation of nearly the entire colony which occupied a sharp ledge jutting out from the northeast corner of the island, a ledge with a sharp and jagged summit ridge, as the picture shows. This was the only colony of this species found in such a situation. Figure 1 represents a part of one of the other and apparently more usual nesting site of this species — a rather narrow ledge of broken shelving rock at the foot of a precipice or over-hang. Ap- parently any relatively flat space sufficiently large to accom- modate the nest may be utilized, either upon the sharp ledge or precipice's foot. A careful scrutiny of any of the nests shown will reveal the fact that one of the prime requisites in a nesting site for the individual nest is that on one side the ground or rock must fall abruptly away. It is on this side that the excrement forms a limy smear, often extending many feet below the nest. The uphill side of the nest is always relativelv clean. 30 The W'ii.sox IUi.lktix — Xo. ()2. N'CSts arc made of coarse sticks arranged much after the manner of a liawk's nest, cupped to the depth of five or six inches, and with a Hning of grassy material which covers scarcely more than the bottom of the depression. The sticks Fig. 1. Jones. 1907. White-crested Coniioraut (PlKiliicrororii.r iJiloitJnis (■iiiciniKitKs) . A ledge colony at the foot of a precipice. used were such as might have been found u])on the island, and the grass seemed to correspond to that within a short dis- Jones — On Birds of the Washington 'Coast. 21 tance of the colony. There was no evident attempt at con- cealment in any case, nor was there any clear indication that any nests were placed with a view to shelter either from the weather or from the scorching rays of the sun. The evident distress of both old and young birds when exposed to the direct sunlight would certainly afford excuse enough for seek- ing a shady nook among the rocks. The very young birds were nearly baked when left uncovered for any great length of time. One such died under our eyes, evidently from the heat. The many attitudes of the birds in the colony and upon their nests are well shown in the outline of the colony. Those standing erect are protesting the invasion of their ancient domain by the camera-man. The one beneath which the eggs show has merely raised up from the position which the com- pletely sitting bird in front maintains. The sitting bird is in the incubating posture. In contrast to this note the attitudes of the old birds upon the nests containing young which are old enough to hold their heads up for food, as in figure 4. The attitude here shown is the one just preceding or following feeding. The birds stand at attention and are ready to fly at a moment's notice without creating any disturbance in the nest. The old bird in figure 3 "stood" to the camera beauti- fully, permitting an approach within three feet, focussing cloth and all, and did not so much as start at the snap of the shutter. The youngster beside her was later fool enough to try his featherless wings and got bumped for his pains. Figure 5 is a nest-full — four young of somewhat different ages, but all belonging to the same brood. The black downy covering, the orange-yellow throat pouch, and the open mouth of the youngster at the left of the picture are all characteristic. These birds pant like a dog when they are hot, as these birds were, the throat pouch throbbing and expanding with every inhalation. It appeared that the panting was the result of an attempt to cool the blood. The utter helplessness of the very young is well shown in figure 6. The bird hanging over the edge of the nest is not more than a day old. The remaining egg hatched on the day following the photograph. The nest shown in figure 7 was partly sheltered by an overhanging 22 The Wilson Bulletin — No. G2. rock. The three eggs were fresh, one of them being a de- cided runt. T-he varying ages of the young — none of which were vet feathered — and the fresh eggs in a nest which showed no signs of having been a victim of the pilfering Crows, both point to IN si :,rr;^ S 'tLk^ '^^:". W •^''■^i ■./ ^, .. S5. the conclusion that there must be a great deal of individual variation in the time of nesting of these birds. It is true that nests containing fresh eggs may represent a second set after the loss of the first one, but the fact that none of the young Jones — On Birds of the Washington Coast. 23 birds were anywhere near ready to leave the nests seems con- clusive that only one brood is reared in a season. The nesting season was too far advanced to afford any opportunity for studying nest building or egg deposition. The eggs are of the usual cormorant type — a greenish shell color heavily overlaid with lime so that the shell color rarely • shows. Nests containing both eggs and young were often so filthy that nothing in them could long remain white. Young birds had the habit of throwing out the recently acquired meal of regurgitated fish, and they were as indifferent to the place where it fell as any other victim of iiial de in>er. The vicinity of such nests we avoided. The young birds did not simply throw out the pellet of fish, but after getting it up as far as the pouch they turned their heads violently from side to side until the offending pellet had been thrown out, no matter whom it might hit. The colony shown in figure 1 was shared by a few Cali- fornia Murres who occupied the spaces between nests which were level enough to keep an egg from rolling into the water, or off from the ledge. There was no apparent discord in such a mixed colony, even though the Murres were within reach of the weapons of the Cormorants. In one other place the same conditions prevailed. I could discover no reason for regarding this as a case of true commensalism. If there was any benefit derived from this association it must have been to the advantage of the Murres. Besides these two nesting sites there were a few small ledges on the ocean side of the island where we found nests of this species, usually not more than two or three nests together. Here there was some distant intimacy with Baird's Cormo- rants, but the different manner of nesting of these two species precludes the possibility of any competition between them. The perpetual noises made by the birds of the island seri- ously interfered with any careful study of the various notes of these Cormorants. When the old birds were disturbed or alarmed they gave vent to a spluttering squawk and often a low grunting. The young yelped something like a puppy, particularly wlien they were calling for food. They were 24 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 62. usually silent when crouching away from danger. The very young birds showed no fear, but the older ones clearly did. One can readily distinguish between this species and Baird's Cormorant by the presence of the two white patches Fig. 3. Jones, 1907, White-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax cUlophus cincinnatus). A two-nest colony. Carroll Islet, Wash. each side of the base of the tail in Baird's and no such mark- ings in the White-crested. Baird's is also noticeably smaller. Brandt's Cormorant was the only other member of this group Tones — On Birds of the Washington Coast. 25 about the island, and it could be distinguished by its blue gular pouch and the whitish pencilings about the neck. In three sets of three eggs each there is considerable varia- tion in the shapes of the eggs, but the average dimensions are nearly 60 by 40 millimeters. The largest egg noted was 63 Fis. 4. Jones, 1007. White-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax dilophus ciiicinnatus). Old and young. by 41, and the smallest, except the runt, was 52.2 by 39.5. The runt measured 41 by 28.5. The eggs are about equal ended, with plumper outlines and blunter and more rounded ends than the typical cormorant egg. Careful scrutiny reveals the 26 The Wilson Bulletin — No. ()'2. fact that there is a large and a small end. I conld not be cer- tain that there was any prevailing arrangement of the eggs in the nest. The evidence seemed to indicate that the actual as Fig. 5. Jones, 1907. A nest-full of young White-crested Cormorants. Carroll Islet, Washington. well as the relative position oi the eggs was changed each day, even if only slightly. Ferry — On Spring Migration. 27 THE SPRING MIGRIATION OF 1907 IN THE VICINITY OF CHICAGO. BY JOHN F. FERRY. The weather ''"prevailing during March, April, and May of 1907, was so abnormal in character that the study of bird- migration during these months was one of absorbing interest to the ornithologist. March, 1907, was a very unusual month, it being the warmest on record for this vicinity, with one ex- ception. Its mean temperature was 43°, which made it actually average 3 degrees warmer than the following April. The average daily temperature was 7.6 degrees warmer than the normal temperature for this month. The month was humid, cloudy and inclement, there being nine days when there was hail, sleet, fog, or thunderstorms and during the month there were but three days of continuous sunshine. Notwithstanding these unfavorable elements bird-life was abnormally abundant from the 16th day on, from which day almost continuous warm weather prevailed. This indicates that temperature is a very important factor in influencing migration. April was quite the opposite of March, it being the coldest April on record with one exception. The mean tem- perature of the month was 40° as compared to a normal temperature of 46°. The average daily temperature was 6^^ degrees cooler than the normal. There were but seven clear days during the month. May was peculiar, it being the cool- est May on record (one exception). Its average tempera- ture was 52°, while the normal temperature for May is 56°. The corresponding influence of these peculiar weather con- ditions upon bird-migration was quite noticeable. The first half of March was cool, the temperature averging 35° up to the 16th, when the first movement of the year really began. During the remainder of the month the temperature averaged 50°, and beginning with the large movement on the 16th bird * Professor Heury J. Cox, of the local U. S. Weather Bureau, has beeu extremely kind in furnishing me with full reports on the weather. The records of the Chicago station extend over 37 years. 28 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 62. life was abundant during this period. A daily average of 17 species was observed. Then followed the cold spell of April, continuing till the 20th, with an average temperature of 37°. During this period there was practically no migration, and what became of bird-life, previously so abundant, is an in- teresting subject for speculation. During this period an average of 11 species of birds per day was observed. On the 21st the temperature rose to 45°, continuing near that figure for the remainder of the month. Again bird life became abund- ant, an average of 18 species per day being observed. As previously stated May was a cold month and only seven new migrants arrived till the 8th, when ten firsts were observed. This period was one of typical April weather with a temper- ature of 47°, several frosts and a thunderstorm. The birds coming at this time made their way against light north and northeast breezes which blew most of the time. On May 12th occurred the great movement of the migra- tion. On this date 21 "firsts" were observed. The wind blew from the south and attained its highest velocity for the month — 40 miles per hour. Its average velocity was 27 miles. The weather was clear with a temperature of 58°. The move- ment continued with little abatement during the 13th, the temperature rising to 71° — the warmest day of the month' — and the wind continued at 27 miles, shifting to the southwest. On this date 14 "firsts" came. The warm spell inaugurated on the 12th continued till the 19th, excepting the 15th, which was cold, with an average temperature of 60°, and bird life was extremely abundant, especially warblers. On the 20th occurred a drop in temperature to 44°, and unseasonably cold weather continued the rest of the month. The effect of this change was very noticeable. The migrants showed very little disposition to progress, but seemed to have broken ranks and were feeding leisurely in the tree-tops. The ex- treme backwardness of the season was shown in the retarda- tion of the foliage which in turn limited the abundance of insect life. During several cold spells, notably on the 15th, the struggle for life seemed extremely severe. The warblers Ferry^ — On Spring Migration. 29 gave up their search in the well-nigh leafless trees and de- scended to the ground. Here on the edges of muddy roads or ditches or wherever the bare earth was exposed, they hopped, puffed out and numb with cold eking out their Figr. 6. Jones, 1907. White-crested Cormorant {PhaJacrocorax dilophiis ciiiciitiiatus). Carroll Islet. scanty fare from small worms and larvae. At this time only the earlier trees had begun to leaf out — willows, poplars, 30 The Wilson Bulletin — No. G2. and birches. A g-eneral view of the forest showed it ahnost entirely bare. During May 30 and 31, and June 1 and 3 steady cold north or northeast winds prevailed and during the two latter days with such force that only on the southern edges of woodland could warblers be found. At this time the trees were quite generally leaved out, furnishing an abundance of insect life. Thus confronted by favorable present conditions and those adverse for migrating the birds were disposed to linger. A feeling of contentment seemed to reign among them. They became extremely fat in marked contrast to their previous half-starved condition and the tree-tops resounded with their songs. The cold weather continued till the 9th of June and the migrants remained in considerable abundance during most of that time. However, a noticeable thinning out of their numbers occurred gradually till the 9th was reached, up- on which date they vanished completely. In sum'ming up it can be said that the warblers became common from the date of their main arrival, May 12th, and continued here in abundance till June 2nd and were even fairly common till their departure on the 9th of June. This period of long duration is a singular fact in itself, but it is even more re- markable when the abundance of the miigrants during their entire stay is considered. If the count is made from the time when the first stragglers arrived. May 8th, their continuance here embraced more than a month, — 33 days. The extreme lateness of the season is clearly shown by the following migration table and in lesser degree by the table showing a comparison between the condition of certain flowers, trees and shrubs for this year and for the spring of 1906: Ferry — On Spring Migration. 31 TABLE SHOWING CONDITION OF PLANT LIFE FOR THE SPRINGS OF 1906 AND 1907. 190G 1907 Forsythia Apr. 22— In flower Apr. 22— In flower Lilac (Syringa viih/aris) Apr. 30 — Leaves Apr. 30 — Leaves 11/2 in. % in. May 9 — Flowers in May 25— In full full bloom bloom Red Trillium May 6 — In flower May 3— Plants 1 ft. May 12— In flower May Apple May 7— Plants 2-3 in. high Butter-cups Apr. 25 — In flower. May 7 — In flower Anemoues Apr. 25— In bloom May 7 — In flower Ash Apr. 28 — Leaves 11/2 in. May 2 — Leaves % in. Cherry May 4 — In flower May 21— In full flower Willow Apr. 30 — Leaves Apr. 29 — Leaves % in. 1/0 in. Dog-tooth Violets May 3 — In flower May 7 — In flower Bumble Bee May 3— May 12— Dragon Fly May 3— May 12— Acer negunclo May 4 — Leaves May 12 — Leaves 1% ill. 11/2 in. Trillium gramliflor urn May 6— In flower Crab-apple {Pyrus May 12 — In flower coronaria L.) May 20— In full blossom June 6— In full Elm May 9 — Leaves flower 1/2 in. June 9 — Leaves Hawthorne May 26— In full bloom 1-3 out June 1 — In bloom The following- calendar gives in outline the progress of the migration for the spring of 1907 with occasional notes on vegetation, etc. The weather conditions were given for each date in the hope that the influence of weather upon migration could be thus shown. That this hope has not been realized is quite evident, for the records clearly show that birds migrate in all kinds of weather, paying little attention to velocity or direction of wind or of temperature. To this statement one marked exception is shown in that really great migration movements usually take place during a high south- west wind. For proof of this fact note the meteorological conditions when the large migration waves occurred this spring, March 16, March 28, May 12-17, May 22, May 35, May 28. 32 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 62. ^ a Id iJ (-1 MARCH. >, a « fl o S ?* « 13 a Q ^ --3 ^ gi 2 ^ H 5 O o partly 15 SW 16 50 cloudy IG SW 27 19 NW 20 NE 25 S clear partly 17 NE 16 42 cloudy 18 NE 15 40 cloudy 16 50 partly 14 40 cloudy partly 21 SW 16 58 cloudy 22 NE 15 60 cloudy partly 23 SW 20 64 cloudy partly 24 NE 12 42 cloudy cloudy 26 SW 16 58 cloudy 27 SW 15 60 cloudy 28 NE 15 48 cloudy 29 W 26 54 cloudy First active migration of year begins. First seen : Junco, Red-shouldered Hawk, Kingfisher, Red-headed Wood- pecker, Fox Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Meadowlark. Heavy migration. Frost all out of ground, First seen : Red-tailed Hawk, Sparrow Hawk, Marsh Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Phoebe, Rusty Blackbird, Cowbitd, Bfronzed Grackle, Migrant Shrike, Towhee. Bird-life abundant. Des Plaines River free from ice. Few Robins and Blue- birds. First seen : Am. Coot, Song Sparrow. Ponds mostly free from ice. Following common : Bald-pate Herring Gull, Canada Geese, Mallards, Lesser Scaup. Red-winged Blackbird, Fox Sparrow, Junco, Song Sparrow {Anas obscura T. C). First Ring- necked Duck. First Sapsuckers. Herring Gulls abundant. Lesser Scaup c. First Lapland Longspurs and Vesper Sparrows. First Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Hermit Thrushes, and Vesper Sparrows. Very warm and summer-like. Max. temp. 80. Bird-life abundant. First Winter Wren, Red-breasted Nut- hatches and Field Sparrows. Very warm and summer-like. At 6 p. m. a thunder and lightning storm. Hawks extremely numerous. Lesser Scaups c. First Blue-winged Teal. Lapland Longspurs flying north. Les- ser Scaups c. A wave of migrants to-day. First Florida Gallinule. Leaves turning green at Jackson Park. First hepaticas. Prairie Chickens booming at Glen El- lyn (B. T. Gault), Loons (G. imher) c. First Pied-billed Grebe. Last Am. Merganser seen. Many angle-worms crawling on ground at .Tackson Park. First Wilson's Snipe, Am. Bittern, Great Blue Heron. Pprry — On Spring Migration. 33 >,fll) flo ag «^ Q ^ -3 > > H 2 O o MARCH (Continued). 30 NW 15 46 clear partly 9 32 cloudy 26 34 cloudy E 22 36 clear 7 SE 21 39 cloudy 11 SW 13 38 cloudy 12 NW 24 36 cloudy 14 NW 28 28 clear 15 S 20 36 cloudy partly 16 NW 24 38 cloudy 17 E 11 36 cloudy 18 E 12 36 cloudy 19 NE 8 37 clear 20 NE 13 38 clear 21 SW 17 45 clear 22 SW 16 54 clear Temperature suddenly fell to 28, mak- ing beginning of cold spell, lasting till April 20. First Purple Fincb. APRIL. Thin ice on rivers and ponds. Frogs croaking. Marsh Hawks c, Grass- hopper (ScMstoces americana). Les- ser Scaups ab. First Least Efittern, Herring Gulls, c. Practically no mi- gration from April 1-20. Flicker nesting. Mallards c. Woodcock's nest. First Red-breasted \Tf*r*^ 3.11861* Rains *all day. First Bonaparte Gull. Ash-flowers out. Young leaves of cherry and goose-berry nipped by cold of past few days. Four Rob- ins' nests. Red-breasted Mergansers, common. Continue so till May 3. More Bonaparte Gulls. A warm rain. Snow-storm. 1% in. of snow. First Horned Grebes. Last Mallards. Cold — ice % in. Second Hermit Thrushes. Pied-billed Grebes common. Red-breasted Mergansers flying rest- lessly about in the high N. W. wind. First Virginia Rail, Sora Rail, and Shoveller. Bonaparte Gulls T. C. First Yellow- legs, and Purple Martins. First Savannah Sparrow and Am. Bit- tern. Prairie Chickens booming at Glen El- lyn (B. T. G.). First Pine Warbler. Many Red-breasted Mergansers disap- pear during warm weather of 20- 22. First Black-crowned Night- Heron. Dandelions out. A beautiful day. Hawthorne and goose- berry leafing out. Violet plants 1 in. high. Red trilliums 2 in. high. Spring beauties abundant. Hepati- cas out. Ruby-crowned Kinglets in full song. Trees and shrubbery still bare. Tree Swallows and Bank Swallows. Crow sitting. Forsythia in full bloom. First White- throated Sparrow. ;]4 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 62. ■: ^ ^ S oj C_0 SO^ rt"© ^>.« ^al r^B r^<)-i APRIL (Continued). partly 23 N 12 50 cloudy partly 24 SW 18 54 cloudy 26 NE 15 35 clear pai'tly 27 E 12 44 cloudy 28 NE 8 49 cloudy partly 30 NE 21 36 cloudy partly 2 NE 6 40 cloudy 3 N 20 42 cloudy partly 4 SE 11 38 cloudy 5 S 12 45 cloudy partly 6 NE 10 45 cloudy 7 NE 12 44 clear NE 11 46 clear N 12 58 clear First Spotted Sandpiper, Palm War- bler and Blue-gray Gnatcateher. Bronzed Grackles nesting. First com- mon Tern and House Wren. Small red butterfly and Dragon-fly. First Hooded Merganser. Horned Grebes common. First Long- billed ^Nlarsh Wren and Black and White Warbler. Catalpa leaves 1% in. long. First Grinnell's Water-Tlarusb. First Green Heron, Solitary Sandpiper, Hens- low's Sparrow, Lark Sparrow, Barn Swallow, Rough-winged Swallow, and Black-throated Green Warbler. Willow leaves about li/^ in. long. A great influx of Towhees and White- throated Sparrows. MAY. Last Bonaparte Gull. Blue-winged Teal common. Last Red-breasted Merganser seen. Common Terns c. 200 Lesser Scaups. First Parula Warbler, Cape May Warbler, and Black Tern. First Bobolink and Grasshopper Spar- row. First Wood Thrush and Willow Thrush. Hawthorne leaves % in. ; Ash flowers 1 in. ; cheri'y leaves 1 in. long ; May apples 2-3 in. high ; white trilliums in bud. Dog-tooth violets, anemones, butter cups. First Kingbird. Num- bers of migrants arrive. First Yel- low Warblers. Traill's Flycatcher, Least Flycatcher, White-crowned Sparrow, Black- throated Blue AViarbler, Prairie Warbler. Redstart, Oven-bird, Cat- bird. Blue-winged Teal and Lesser Scaups common at Fox Lake. Also an eagle (species?). Trees are still bare of leaves. Black Terns abund- ant at Fox Lake. More migrants arrive. First Chim- ney Swifts, Crested Flycatcher. Ol- ive-backed Thrush. Green-crested Flycatcher, Chipping-Sparrow, Rose- breasted Grosbeak, Cliff Swallow. Ferry — On Spring Migration. 35 ^j fl cd (D o >i Oi ^ >> '^ o 'O 'o s « MAY (Contimiecl). >1 a Qj i=l o 3 9 oa "^ Q ^ > SB 12 S 27 58 clear 13 SW 27 71 clear 14 SW 17 70 cloudy 15 SW 21 52 cloudy partly 16 SW IG 42 cloudy partly 17 SW 16 64 cloudy partly IS NW 10 62 cloudy Great host of migrants arrive to-day. Foliage of trees has made marked advance, earlier varieties being quite solidlj' green. Bumble-bees, dragon- flies, red butterflies. Two flocks Pine Siskins seen (6, 9). Red-breast- ed Nuthatches vei'y common. Ol- ive-backed Thrushes, Least Bitterns, Black-crowned Night Herons com- mon. First seen : King Rail, Whip- poor-will, Nighthawk, Wood Pewee, Orchard Oriole, Dickcissel, Scarlet Tanager, Blue-headed Yireo, Pro- thonotary, Wilson's Magnolia, Chest- nut-sided, Wilson's Canadian War- bler and Northern Yellow-throat, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Yellow-billed and Black-billed Cuckoos. Many mi- grants in song. Coope.r's Hawk's nest with 4 eggs. First seen : Ruby-throated Humming- bird, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Yellow- bellied Flycatcher, Lincoln's Spar- row, Golden-winged, Nashville, Con- necticut, Mourning, Bay-breasted Black-poll and Blackburnian War- blers, Yellow-breasted Chat Indigo Bunting, Red-eyed Yireo, Warbling Vireo, Yellow-throated Yireo. White- eyed Yireo. Brown Thrasher and Phoebe nesting. Bird-life abundant. First Tennessee and Cerulean War- blers. Bird-life abundant. A cold and raw day. Warblers abund- ant and sorely pressed for food, feed- ing on ground. Chestnut-sided Warblers profusely abundant, numbering about one- third of all warblers seen. Wild geraniums, white trilliums, butter- cups. Flock of Pine Siskins. White cab- bage moth. Bird-life abundant. Red and white trilliums in full blossom. Hazel leaves i/^ in. out. Maples 1-3 leaved out. The first great wave of migrants ap- pear to have moved on, the few here restless and keeping in tree-tops. Scarlet Tanagers mating. Poplars i/^ leaved out. 3() The Wilson Bulletin — No. C3. a cd Q) aj ^ ^ MAY (Continued). >> a 0) a o S 01 ci '3 a g| ^ ^ ^5 6 -s 19 W 16 57 partly cloudy 20 NE 12 44 clear 21 SE 8 48 clear 22 S 16 55 cloudy 23 NE 15 48 cloudy 24 25 26 E SW sw 20 15 17 50 62 56 cloudy cloudy cloudy 28 SW 11 55 clear 29 30 31 sw NE NE 8 14 19 60 56 52 cloudy partly cloudy cloudy 1 NE 25 50 cloudy partly 2 NE 16 53 cloudy 5 NW 20 60 clear 7 NE 20 53 cloudy 8 NE 22 54 clear partly 9 E 19 57 cloudy C — Common. Flock of Pine Siskins. Last Red- breasted Merganser and Lesser Scaups seen. Migrants abundant again to-day. The forests show only faintest tinge of green. Jack-in-the-pulpit out. Cherries in full blossom, willows near- ly fully leaved out. Cottonwoods leaved out. Great host of migrants arrived to-day. Rained hard at 6 a. m. Warblers profusely abundant. Occa- sional showers. A decrease in number of migrants. Another wave of migrants to-day. Several species of little flycatchers abundant to-day. Migrants abundant. Connecticut and Mourning Warblers extremely abund- ant. Last Common Tern. Warblers abundant. Many in song. Water very high at Fox Lake. Many nesting birds drowned out. Red- wing Blackbirds, King Rail, Blue- winged Teal nesting. Last Spoon- bill Duck seen. JUNE A wave of warblers in progress. They are very fat. A steady north wind. Warblers collected in droves on south side of woods. Warblers abundant, keeping to tree- tops and exploring buds. The forest generally is only about one-third leaved out. Warblers abundant. Hummingbirds abundant. Warblers abundant. The following ob- served : Magnolia, Chestnut-sided c. Black-poll, Blackburnian, and many unidentified. Warblers abundant, keeping well up in tree-tops. Trees leaved out as fol- lows: Maples 2-3, Oaks 14, Ash 14. Elms 1-3. A flock of Crossbills seen at Lake Forest (L. curvirostra mi- nor?). Olive-sided Flycatcher? Herring Gulls? Abundant at Wauke- gau. Warblers abundant and last seen on this date. T. C. — Tolerably common. Ferry — Ox Spring Migration. 37 A few observations of general interest might have to be pointed out : During one of the cold, raw days in May a large flock of migrating Scarlet Tanagers were partially overcome and were driven to the ground in a large open pasture in search of food. Here scattered about they gave this part of the landscape a decidedly gory appearance and with their scarlet plumage presented a striking spectacle. A number of species were abnormally abundant this spring, notably Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (May 5), Mourning and Connecticut Warblers, especially so on May 20, and Red- breasted Nuthatches (S. canadensis). An interesting fact about these Nuthatches was the extreme lightness of the un- derparts. Some days they were profusely abundant, but I cannot remember seeing one in the typical red-breasted plumage of the adult. The occurrence of Crossbills (probably Loxia ciirv. minor) on June 8th, and of Pine Siskins on June 12th, is worthy of emphasis because of the unusual lateness of these dates for these species. The frecjuency with which the warblers were heard singing during the migration was one of its most interesting features and offered an excellent opportunity for the study of their songs. Some of them are here given. Black and White Warbler — Tscc Tscc-Tscc Tscc Tscc — 5 lisping, very modulated notes. Northern Parula Warbler — Za-Zc-Za-Zcc-Zcc, a buzzing, wiry trill, quickly given. Black-poll Warbler — It-tit-tit-tit-it-it-it, seven short, sharp- ly accented syllables, quickly uttered, high pitched and wiry, almost insect like. Magnolia Warbler — Whcc Whcc-a-Whee-Whee-a. Connecticut Warbler — Ttoec-zvcc-ivec-Tzva-tvcct or Tzva-cc- ec-ee-cc-at; also IVIiif-it-ii'hcata-zi'hcata-titheat. Clear, loud, melodious warbler syllables closely run together and quickly uttered. )8 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 02. Canadian Warbler — Twif-fi'.'cc-cc-rc-chicc-clicc-chcc-chcc. Chestnut-sided Warbler — CJwc-chcc-chcc-chcc-chcc-chcc- chee, a clear, well accented warble, like the song of Redstart. The syllables proceed in rising cadence up to the fourth syllable, the last two being strongly accented. The notes used in this article have been very courteously put at my disposal by the department of zoology of the Field Museum of Natural History, and many of these have been furnished by the following persons to whom I take great pleasure in expressing my thanks : Mr. E. E. Armstrong, Chicago ; Mr. Henry K. Coale, Highland Park; Mr. F. S. Daggart. Oak Park; Air. Ruthven Deane, Chicago; Mr. J. L. De Vine, Chicago; Mrs. J. V. Far- well, Jr., Lake Forest ; Mr. B. T. Gault, Glen EUyn ; Miss Juliette Goodrich, Chicago ; Miss Mary E. Schanck, Liberty- ville ; Mr. Jesse L. Smith, Highland Park ; Dr. R. M. Strong, Chicago; Mr. H. S. Swarth, Chicago; Mr. S. S. Visher, Chicago ; Mr. F. M. Woodruff, Chicago. Most of the above persons are amateurs, but are careful observers, while six collectors are included in this list, so that the records upon which this article are based can be con- sidered reasonably accurate. The writer has also included his own records which were secured through daily observations and considerable collecting. Prof. Wells W. Cooke has kindly furnished the notes on "Average date of last one seeir" from the records of the U. S. Biological Survey. Mr. Gault furnished me with a most valuable list giving the average date when many species were first seen and has kindly consented to correct the proof of this article, owing to the writer's absence from this country. Ferry — On Spring Migration. 39 name. go PQ < OS Horned Grebe Pied-billed Grebe Common Tern Red-breasted Merganser Blue-winged Teal Canada Goose Great Blue Heron Green Heron Black-crowned Night Heron . King Rail Virginia Rail Sora Rail Wilson's Snipe Solitary Sandpiper Killdeer- Mourn i ng Dove Marsh Hawk Sharp-shinned Hawk Cooper's Hawk Red-tailed Hawk Red-shouldered Hawk Am. Sparrow Hawk Yellow-billed Cuckoo Black-billed Cuckoo Belted Kingfisher Yellow-bellied Sapsucker Red-headed Woodpecker Northern Flicker Whippoor-will Night-hawk Chimney Swift Ruby-throated Hummingbird . Kingbird Crested Flycatcher Phoebe Olive-sided Flycatcher Wood Pewee Yellow-bellied Flycatcher Green-crested Flycatcher Alder Flycatcher Least Flycatcher Bobolink CowI)ird Red-winged Blackbird Meadowlark Orchard Oriole Baltimore Oriole : Rusty Blackbird Bronzed Grackle Purple Finch Am. Goldfinch Pine Siskin Vesper Sparrow Savanna Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Lark Sparrow White-crowned Sparrow White-throated Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Field Sparrow Slate-colored Junco Song Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow Swamp Sparrow Fox Sparrow Towhee Rose-breasted Grosbeak Indigo Bunting April 4 Mar. 28 April 24 April 6 Mar. 24 Mar. 15 Mar. 29 April 28 ■' 20 " 12 " 16 " 16 Mar. 29 April 28 Mar. 11 " 24 " 16 " 16 •' 10 " 16 " 15 " 16 May 12 ■' 12 Mar. 15 ' 19 ' 15 ' 13 May 12 ' 12 9 ' 13 7 9 Mar. 16 May 13 ' 12 ' 13 9 8 Mar. May Apr. Mar. May Mar. Apr. May Apr. May Apr. Mar. Apr. Mar. Apr. Mar. Apr. Mar. Apr. Mar. May Apr. Mar. May Mar. May Mar. May 22 21 22 15 12 18 22 15 16 May 9 14 5 16 15 15 12 26 16 Mar. 16 ■' Apr. Mar. May Mar. Apr. May Apr. May Apr. Mar. May Apr. May Mar. Apr. May Apr. May Mar. Apr. May Mar. May 25 " 19 •■ 31 7 May 26 1 Apr. 10 Apr. 16 Apr. 16 May 19 •• 26 May 4 ■■ 14 May Apr. May Mar. May May 16 May Mar. May 26 May 12 Apr. Mar. May Mar. Apr. May Mar. Apr. June 8 June 12 May 24 May 26 Apr. 29 Apr. 24 May Apr. May Mar. May May 14 June 12 May 22 " 26 May 20 '• 17 May 15 Apr. 30 May 13 Apr. 28 Apr. 17 Apr. 16 " 30 " 26 " 22 May 2 Apr. 22 4 May 5 Mar. 26 Apr. 8 Mar. 26 Apr. 10 •' 11 Mar. 19 '■ 26 " 31 May 18 •■ 15 Apr, 7 8 •' 28 5 May 14 " 14 Apr. 28 May 14 3 " 20 Apr. 8 May 15 ■• 12 •' 25 " 20 " 20 " 16 1 Apr. 7 Mar. 17 '• 10 May 11 Apr. 30 1 1 '• 18 Apr. 8 " 15 " 15 May 4 May 7 Apr. 15 ■' 19 " 10 Mar. 13 Apr. 28 7 " 14 May 1 4(1 The Wilson Bulletin — No. G-i. NAME. is m Dickcissel Scarlet Tanager Purple Martin....^ Cliff Swallow Barn Swallow Tree Swallow Bank Swallow Bohemian Wax wing- Cedar Waxwing Migrant Shrike Red-eyed Vireo Warbling Vireo Yellow-throated Vireo Blue-headed Vireo Black and White Warbler Prothonotary Warbler Blue-winged Warbler Nashville Warbler Tennessee Warbler Cape May Warbler Yellow Warbler ■^■Black-throated Blue Warbler... Myrtle Warbler **Magnolia Warbler Cerulean Warbler Chestnut-sided Warbler Bay-breasted Warbler Black -poll Warbler — Blackburnian Warbler •. . , Black-throated Green Warbler. Pine Warbler Palm Warbler Prairie Warbler Oven-bird Grinnell's Water-Thrush Connecticut Warbler Mourning Warbler Northern Yellow-throat Yellow-breasted Chat Wilson's Warbler Canadian Warbler Arr. Rfdstart Catbird Brown Thrasher House Wren Winter Wren : Long-billed Marsh Wren Short-billed Marsh Wren Brown Creeper Red-breasted Nuthatch Ruby-crowned Kinglet Golden-crowned Kinglet Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Wood Thrush Willow Thrush Gray-chested Thrush Olive-backed Thrush Hermit Thrush Am. Robin Bluebird May Apr. May Apr. Feb. Mar. May Apr. May Mar. May May Apr. May Apr. Feb. Mar. May Apr. 28 " 19 23 8 May Apr. May Apr. Mar. Apr. Mar. Apr. May Mar. Feb. Mar. May Apr. May Apr. May May Apr. Mar. Apr. 13 May 13 ■ 20 12 1 27 28 2' 30 Apr. 21 Mar. 15 13 18 17 5 13 [ 17 18 15 5 9 9 26 Apr. 13 May 15' 13 May 14 16 14 29 12 28 22 12 12 20 17 13 14 14 13 9 9 28 28 24 June May 30 ■' 26 " 30 June 5 3 " 6 June 12 May 18 12!june 8 May 25 June 9 2 May 9 May 26 ..I ■• 26 4| '■ 28 May 17 May May May May 141 12iMay 28 20JJune 5 26 " 6 15 [May 26 May Mar. 28 1 May 19jJune 5 26 " 8 13 11 5 5 23 May 11 2 ■ Mar. Apr. May 22 Mar. 23 26 May 12 24 Mar. 29 23j " 28|May 12| " 12 13 May 12 9 7 " 16 12 22, Mar. 2fi 11 '• 22 14 •' 15 25 5 121 12ljune 6 12! '• 6 15 May 30 7 May 17 May May Apr. 19 Apr. 30 May 11 7 ■ 16 May 26 •• 25 " 28 5 May 10 2 Apr. 11 May 14 5 Apr. 24 May 13 May 12 May 10 " 14 " 10 " 18 Apr. 30 May Apr. May Apr. 25 May May 19 1 •' 16 ■' 14 '• 15 7 *English Lake, Ind. **Reported at Highland Park, Lake Co., on Apr. 11, by J. L. Smith. Smith on Purple Martin Migration. 41 A MIGRATION FLIGHT OF PURPLE MARTINS IN MICHIGAN IN THE SUMMER OF 1905. FRANK SMITH. In the Bulletin of the Michigan Ornithological Club, Vol. V. (pp. 77-78), the writer described an extensive flight of Sparrow Hawks which took place August 30th, 190-4, at Macatawa, Mich., a summer resort located on the east shore of Lake Michigan, southwest from Grand Rapids. More than a thousand hawks passed the point of observation within a period of about seven hours. Thev were flying southward along the lake shore, while a moderately strong wind was blowing from the northeast, and had been blowing frcin a similar direction during the preceding day and night. Un- fortunately no effort was made to determine whether similar numbers of hawks were passing over the territory farther inland, and so there was merely an assumption that a con- centrated stream of these birds was passing along the shore, and that this concentration was due to the flight of the hawks with the wind until they reached the shore, which they then followed in preference to continuing their original direction, which would have taken them over the lake. On August 15, 1905, at the same locality, the writer had an opportunity to watch an extensive flight of Purple Martins. Again -a moderately strong wind was blowing from the north- east, which direction it had held during the previous night. Actual counts of the numbers of individuals passing south, at various intervals between 9 a. m. and 12 :30 p. m., gave an average of thirty-two per minute. As the whole width of the bird stream was too great to be under observation at one time, there must have been more than ten thousand indi- viduals which passed the point of observation on that day. On this occasion it was determined tO' ascertain whether or not the great numbers were limited to a narrow area along the lake shore. Advantage was taken of an interurban car going to Holland, which is about six miles inland, and there obser- vations were made for comparison. Between 11 :03 and 11 :30 42 The Wilson Bulletin — Xo. (j2. a. m. only four Purple Martins were seen flying about town, where they had previously been common. Tlie contrast in numbers was greater than had been anticipated. At noon on the return to Macatawa the Martin flight was found to be still under full headway as shown by the count of 92 birds between 11 :o9 and 13 :02 and of 237 between 12 :12 and 12 :i:>:.. The area over which the Martins were abundant was found to extend scarcely one-fourth of a mile inland. The wind changed but little during the day and following night, and the next morning many new arrivals among the Warblers and Flycatchers were seen. They formed the first W^arbler "wave" of the fall migration. These observations are readily explicable on the assumption that the direction of the flight of the birds corresponded with that of the wind, while they seem to give no support to the "beam-wind" theory. It seems probable that a series of care- ful observations by persons living on the shores of Lake ^Michigan, and on those of other large inland bodies of water with north and south shore lines, might lead to a more satis- factory knowledge of the relations existing between the direction of the wind and that of tlie flight of migrating birds in general. The temperature records made at Grand Rapids and other points in Southern Michigan during the 14th, loth and Kith oi August, 1905, show almost no change of temperature, and so apparently eliminate that factor from the problem of deter- mining wdiat agencies w-ere most involved in initiating the particular migration flight just described. It is not often that the change to a favoring wind is unaccompanied by changes of temperature, but here was an opportunity to observe the results following a change in the wind without the complica- tion of accompanying temperature changes. The barometer was rising at the time of the flight, and con- tinued to do so during the day and following night. During the spring, extensive migration movements more commonly take place at the time of a falling barometer. In the autumn they usually occur with a rising barometer rather than with a falling one. Hence neither a rising nor a falling barometer Saunders — On Individual Birds. 43 would seem to furnish the stimulus directly concerned in initiating such movements. As to the question of food supply, it is hardly probable that a scarcity would have arisen so early in the season. A consideration of all these various factors of wind direction, temperature change, barometric pressure, and food supply, in connection with the migration movements de- scribed above, leads quite clearly to the conclusion that the favoring wind may be considered as the most potent in bring- ing about the movements. When the breeding season is over, and a general physiological condition of readiness for flight is attained, then the favoring wind may furnish the necessary stimulus for a migration fligrht. ON MAKING THE ACQUAINTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL BIRDS. BY W. E. SAUNDERS. Our study of birds is almost invariably based upon experi- ences with individuals which are grouped together and sum- marized into a total which we entitle "Our observations upon the species of so-and-so." This method is adopted because of the almost insuperable difficulties in the way of the adoption of any other course, and it has become so much the habit that we hardly ever stop to regret that we cannot differentiate between individuals and thereby determine individual prefer- ences, habits, and vagaries. How much we lose by this, both in the sum total of knowledge gained and in our enjoyment of the individual acquaintance which we might make were the circumstances otherwise, it would be hard to say, but that there is a loss can not be doubted, and any occurrences which prove the possibility and emphasize the value of individual acquaintance will, I hope, be useful. Years ago, a strong hint, and one of the first, was given to me, by a heronry in which some sets of eggs were unspotted, while others were more or less heavily spotted with deep 14 Thk \\'ii-S()\ 1')II.li;tix — Xo. ()2. l)lack. After a gtjod deal of cogitation, the thought occurred that herons had the habit of fishing on the pound nets in Lake Erie, ten miles distant, where they got pitch and tar on their feet and returning home without wiping ofi on the door-mat. Fi.ii. 7. Jom>s, 1007. Wliite-crcstod Connoriint { I'liahicrocora.c (UIojiJiks ciiiciniKitiis ) . the pitch was rapidly transferred to the egg-shells. On a test it was found that these spots which obstinately resisted wash- ing with water dissolved and vanished on the application of Saunders — On Individual Birds. 45 ether, proving at once the correction of the theory. The oc- currence of spotted sets and unspotted sets in the same tree showed that there was a great and constant difference in the habits of individual herons, but with such a shy and wary bird, nesting at a distance from home it was impossible to follow out the line of observation. Quite different was the case in the fall of 1905 when two Robins with white collars appeared on a Sunday in October in the birds' bath outside my dining-room window. From migrants one does not expect to learn much, so that plans were at once laid for the capture of these two birds on the morrow, as shooting on the Sabbath in Canada is illegal as well as contrary to our peaceful and Sabbath-loving Canadian habits. The birds remained around my garden all that day in the company of about twenty other migrants, but that night came a north wind with rain and the migrants all vanished but one — gone south, of course, the experienced ( ?) observer at once concluded, — and my vision of a white collared pair, doubtless brother nestlings, as an addition to my cabinet, van- ished, as T knew that the chances of meeting them on their return in spring, providing that they lived so long, were slim indeed. Through that week the number of migrants (from the north, of course) gradually increased, and by Friday had again reached large numbers, and my amazement was great when a telephone message from home about 8 :30 on Saturday morning said that "The White Collared Robin is in the bath." In ten minutes it was in the hand of a wondering ornithologist who was busily speculating on how much he did not know alx)ut migration habits. At noon, the companion bird ap- peared and was also secured, this proving almost beyond the possibility of a doubt that the visitors of today and last Sun- day were identical. Plainly, therefore, when migrants leave us in fall and "go south" they will sometimes return north within a few days, or else their disappearance does not necessarily predicate a southern journey. Sometimes one will get from nesting conditions a hint as to the domestic relations of the parents. For many years I took 4(5 The Wilsox Jiui.i.KTiN — No. 02. one set of eggs each year from the Red-shoulderecl Hawks nesting in a certain woods fifteen miles from London. Until 1900 all these eggs were large ; the last few sets averaging larger than those of the Red-tail, but wdien in 1900 this hen disappeared from the scene the bereaved husband took unto himself a spouse who laid the smallest eggs I ever saw for a Red-shoulder, smaller than the average Broad-wing. Now if it is the case, as it may reasonably be, and as has been proved at times, that large eggs are from a large hen, and vice versa, then, remembering that the female Red- shoulder Hawk is larger anyway than the male, what a scene of domestic infelicity is here hinted at and what decisive and extreme steps the poor henpecked widower took to insure that his next venture should be productive of less tyranny ! Evidently there is no divorce court among the Buteos, or he would have availed himself of it. Members of my family are confident, but not entirely positive, of the identity of the Song Sparrow wdio visits the bath daily and has lived much in our garden for three years, and who has an invariable habit of scratching his head on both sides, though chiefly on the right, while bathing. Nothing, however, of special interest has been learned from this in- dividual. A certain Baltimore Oriole, also a resident of three years' standing, has been identified in the best way of all, by his voice. He has a striking call note of two tones, dropping an octave from F to F with the latter note staccato. Anxiously looked for in the early spring, for he is surely Our Bird, he is ever welcome ; and there is no grudge even though he punc- tures and wastes a generous share of our ])luni crop, for he is Ours. While his undiscovered residence is almost certainly within one hundred yards of my garden I have heard his call in numerous nearby localities, showing his range to extend through a radius of about three or four blocks each north and east, but on the west other Orioles are nesting and he has not yet been heard there. To the south is a small park, about 200 x 400 yards in area, but, though one would imagine it to be a very tempting home, he has not yet been noticed in the Wilson — On Lake Geneva Birds. 47 southern part of it, and he certainly spends most of his time in the gardens in our own block, where are many fruit trees and probably a greater variety of food than in the park, whose arboreal fauna consists mainly of the soft maples, Acer dasycarpum. That anything of much scientific value has as yet been gained from such individual acquaintance is not claimed and that anything of great value will come is not certain, but what it means to the bird student and bird lover, to have his individual friends return to his ken year after year will be difficult to over-estimate, and the value he will set oii such individual acquaintance will probably be far beyond that of any actual gain he may make from the acquaintance, just as we value our human friends, not for what they are, or may be to humanity, but for what their friendship means to us. Is there a more enticing field opening before us than this one of individual bird acquaintances? SUMMER BIRDS AT LAKE GENEVA, WIS. BURTIS H. WILSON. During the summer of 1907 it was my great privilege to spend the two weeks from July 6th to 20th at the Y. M. C. A. encampment at Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. This beautiful lake lies near the southern boundary of Wisconsin and about 35 miles west of Lake Michigan. It is an irregular shaped body of water, about 7 miles long from east to west, with a shore- line of about 28 miles. At its widest point it is about iy2 miles wide. Bordered by high bluffs, the tops of which are rolling, cultivated farm lands, the lake lies much below the level of the surrounding country. There are three small towns along the lake shore, while a great part of the bluffs and shore of the lake are occupied by summer cottages, camps, and im- proved park lands belonging to country clubs. In some places the bluffs are overgrown with heavy underbrush, but along most of the shore the underbrush has been cleared awav, 48 Thk Wilson I'ullktix — No. (\2. leaving the open second growth timber surrounding tlie camps and cottages. A marsh of reeds and rushes borders the hd State University grounds, on the Olentangy river, De- cember IG, 1907. All records thus far have been winter records. It is a little strange that specimens have not been found along the lake boi-der as well as inland. LY^'I)S Jone.s. Another Bri'Nnich's Mirke I^ixord for Ohio. — On about the 22nd of December, 1907, a fine specimen of Brunnich's Murre ( Uria lomvia) was bi'ought to me. It was taken alive a few days before near Jefferson, Ashtabula county, Ohio. This is the first one which has come into my possession since December, 189C. The bird was in excellent winter plumage, but rather thin in flesh. Robert J. Sim, Jefferson, Ohio. (A wing of this si)ecies was found on the beach of the Cedar Point Sand Spit l)y the writer late in December, but no birds have been seen nor any others reported from this side of Lake Erie. Reports from the Canada side from Mr. P. A. Taveruer state that the birds appeared in that vicinity, but were starved before the nnddle of Jan- uary. These reports indicate another flight of less extent than the one of 189(i.— Ed.) The Bohemian Waxwing at (iLEX Eli.yx, Ii.i,. — The appearance here on January 22, 1908, of the Bohemian Waxwing (Aiiipclis (/ar- riiltis) adds another interesting bird to the Glen Ellyn list, and mak- ing, as far as I am aware of, the original records for the county as well. An irregular winter visitor to this corner of the state, it has been reported and taken on more than one occasion at several points along the shores of Lake Michigan, years, however, usually elapsing between such records. My bird was in a flock of Cedar AVaxwings found feeding on the decayed and yet jiersistent fruit of the" apple on our place, and which presented in their actions a most animated sight. Field Notes. 55 The great difference in size and tlie extended blaeli on tliroat made identification easy enougla ; but my time was limited, for no sooner was the discovery made than tlie entire flociv immediately took wing and was off. This was to be regretted as there may have been additional Bohemians in the lot. Benj. T. Gault, Glen Ellyn, DuPage Co.,' 111. T'owHEES Unusually Common in Ohio. — In direct contradiction to the general condition of the bird population the Towhee (Pipilo crijthrophtJiaJmiis) is reported as wintering in considerable numbers over at least the northern half of the state. While one may be found here and there in particularly favorable places during almost any winter it has never before been true that numbers of them together sufficient to be called flocks have been recorded. Mr. George L. For- dyce, reporting from Youngstown, finds both male and female plum- ages in the same flock. About Oberlin only the male plumages have been observed. IJ; would seem that weather and food conditions dis- tinctly favorable to the maintenance of the Towhee would be fully as favorable for the sparrows, Cardinal, and Junco. Lynds Jones, Oberlin, Ohio. A Golden Eagle Taken in Alabama. — The Golden Eagle (Aqitila clinjsaetos) is supposed to be of rare occurrence east of the Missis- sippi River, — hence this note. An immature specimen was taken near Florala, Alabama, January 17, 1908. This eagle, together with an- other, very probably of the same species, had killed some sheep and lambs for a sheep owner, who then put out some poisoned mutton. The eating of this poisoned meat caused the death of one of the eagles. Measurements showed that it was practically full-grown, although it had not the adult plumage. The back of the head and nape were ochraceous buff, streaked with gray and browi). The tarsi, which were feathered to the toes, and the under tail-coverts were ochraceous buff finely streaked with brown. The tail was crossed by grayish bars. The rest of the plumage was dark brown. The bill was blue black. The iris, which is hazel brown in the Adult, was very light yellow in this specimen. Sheep raising is an important industry in southern Alabama and western Florida, and the o^^^lers claim that the Bald Eagle, also, kills sheep. For this reason, many eagles have been destroyed dur- ing the past years, until now these magnificent birds are somewhat rare in this section. G. Clyde Fisher. Records from Cedar Point, Ohio, Winter of 1!M»7-0S. — The unus- ual character of this region, so often exploited in these pages, grows on one the more familiar he becomes with it. The records which 5(5 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 62. seem to be of peculiar interest for tlie period covered by the head- ing are : A Hock of 42 American White-fronted Geese, a single Dou- ble-crested Cormorant, and the first Snowtlakes (31), on November 4. The first Pine Siskin and Winter Wren, and the last Swamp Spar- row, Killdeer, American Coot, and Hooded Merganser, on Novem- ber 18. The last Horned Grebe on Deceuiber 27. The last Canada Geese and Bonaparte Gulls, and the presence of two Bob-whites, on January 6. The small amount of ice on the lake at any time has enabled American Mergansers. American Golden-eyes, and Buffle- heads to remain all winter, and more than the usual numbers of Herring Gulls have been present. On the other hand. Song Spar- rows have been very scarce. Lynds Jones, Oberlin, Ohio. A Belated Oriole. — Among my fall notes for 1904 are various ref- erences and occasional detailed statements in regard to an adult male Baltimore Oriole (Icterus galbula) that remained about our premises until very late in the season — from the 15th to the 29th of November, the date when it was last seen. For a bird he appeared strong and active. His late stay seemed, therefore, the more re- markable. The weather during this period was generally fair and agreeable for so late in the year ; the prevailing winds being southwesterly, and with a mean temperature of 48°. Some days 60° was reached (Nov. 27) during the warmest part of the day, and then again the mercury dropped to 20°. Wintry weather set in the first of Decem- ber and apparently may have caused the bird's hasty departure about that time. A snow fiurry of the 25th of November, however, with a registered temperature of 40 at 2 p. m., seemed to have little or no effect upon him. During his late stay with us he was observed to feed largely on the frosted and hanging apples, always seeking out those which were the most decayed and therefore the tenderest. Once he was discov- ered feasting on ripe red asparagus berries and sliowed a spirit of resentfulness as I approached within a few feet of him. He also drank at the poultry pans, and at times ate freely of the food pre- pared for the hens, along with the English Sparrows. A general summary of these facts has seemed worth while record- ing since the usual departure of the Baltimore Oriole from here is early in the fall, the bulk leaving in August, while the first week in September ordinarily sees the last. Ben.t. T. Gault, Glen Ellyn, III. THE WILSON BULLETIN NO. 63. A QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF OE^NlTHOLOGY VOL. XX. JUNE, 1908. NO. 2. JUNE WITH THE BIRDS OF THE WASHINGTON COAST. BY LYNDS TONES. DoziHi the Coast to Destruction. While we found the way to Destruction as easy and as pleas- ant as it has been depicted in solemn injunction tO' the careless youth, wie are fain to declare that once arrived at the place its supposed terrors have wholly given place to delights inde- scribable ! It is only too true that this rock, covered with a dense growth of bushes where the light keepers have not cleared it away for beautiful lawns and fertile garden spots, has been the dread of the coasting sailor in times past. It stands out boldly into the Pacific, flanked on all sides by dead- ly reefs and shoals. No boat larger than a small lighter can find a landing place after threading the tortuous ways among the outlying rocks. Rain and wind, which had held us for five days at La Push, finally abated. The trip down was uneventful save for the many new islands and rocks with their bird population, and the slightly changing fauna. We noted the gradual disap- pearance of the Tufted Puffin and California Murre and the presence of Pigeom Guillemot and Western Gull among the sea birds. Glaucus-winged Gulls were still numerous and ap- parently the only nesting gulls on the island. Our memories of Destruction Island will be perpetually di- vided between the Rhinoceros Auklet, which breeds in abun- 58 The Wilson Bulleton — No. ()3. (lance there, the P>hick Oystercatcher, and the royal entertain- ment which we received at the hands of the light keepers. The three da}'s upon the island were devoted to the study of the nesting habits of Pigeon Guillemots, Black Oystercatchers, and Rhinoceros Atiklets, more particularly the Aukkts, which were far the ni'ost numerous nesting birds of the island. Dur- ing the day nothing is to be seen or heard of these birds, but at night their curious calls and whirring flight are everywhere heard. The birds burrow into the perpendicular banks which face the ocean in many places, or into the turf-covered banks, which are only a little less steep. The burrows mav lead al- most straight into the bank for a dozen to fifteen feet, or more nearly parallel the surface, apparently depending somewhat upon the character of the soil. The few attempts to burrow into coarse gravelly material were soon abandoned in favor of the sandy soil. A very few nest burrows w^ere made within a foot of the surface of the turf and could be uncovered from above. Every burrow examiined was forked, the shorter and unused branch invariably being the one nearer the face of the bank, while the used branch continued some distance into the bank, ending in a nest of grassy material mixed with feathers where the hole was enlarged for more room. Our visit was clearly at about the middle of the breeding tim'e of these birds, for there were half-grown young and eggs less than half incubated, and all grades between. The parent birds were usually found with the young, and often with the eggs. They had the very uncomlfortable habit of vigorously using the strong bill upon the intruding fingers, sometimes drawing blood. The young birds seldom offered any resist- ance, but crouched in the end of the burrow. They are covered with a soft, black down, with a light patch beneath. The eggs Were usually filthy from the mH.Kldv feet of the old birds, but with the filth washed away revealed a nearly white ground, color with much obscured shell markings of lavenders and purples, much like the eggs of the Tufted Pliffins. It is difficult to estimate the nuntbers of the Rhinoceros AViklets which nest upon this island, because their distribution is not uniform. An estim'ate based upon the apparent average Jones — On Washington Birds. 59 number of burrows to the square rod gives 5,000 burrows or 10,000 birds for the entire island. At the time of our visit this number should be increased by about 2,000 downy young. Only one egg is laid in a burrow, and apparently only a single brood is reared in a season. We did not discover any natural enemies of this Auklet on Destruction Island. Indeed, it is difficult to understand how there could be any enemy dangerous to the egg or young in Fls. 1. Destruction Island Light. the burrow. Snakes and predaceous aninlals which could en- ter the burrow would find nothing to eat at other times than the nesting season of the birds. It is therefore reasonable to suppose that this burrowing sea bird may live for ages on this isolated bit of land and multiply its generations. Next in interest were the Black Oystercatchers, which were more numerous upon this island than any other place which we visited — twelve pairs in all. They were the first inhabitants to protest our landing, and the last to hurl vile epithets after no Till'. W'li.sox lU'i.LE'iJN — No. (J."). us u])!)!! our ik'paiiurc. There were no nests upon the lop of the island, Init one was placed at the anji^'le where the hluff met the storm- washed rocks. Most of the nests discovered were Iniilt in sliglit to consideralile depressions in the rock, the ma- terial used iK'irt;' eitlier rock chips or dry grass, usually the former. ( )ne nest was found t)n the only bit of beach which the island l)nasted. While some nests were in the midst of v€g"etation, as shown in the picture, the ])revailing" position was on the bare rocks. The protective coloration of the eg^gs which lay upon th.e rock chips made careful scrutiny of the probable vicinity of the nest necessary ; and even then sonne nests were at first overlooked. The appearance and calls of these elves of the sea must be seen and heard to be appreciated. No words that I can find give more than the merest caricature. One instance will give an idea of the cunning of the Oyster- catchers. We had quietly approached the brow of the cliff, next th'j slender beach, wholly under cover and earl\ in the morning, in the hope of catching the old bird sitting. Cau- tiously peeping through the vegetatioii without exposing (Our- selves to view, two birds were seen oit the rubble below. ( )ne ( f them was nestling down in. a very suggestive manner, the otlvcr ap]iarently standing carelessly. As we pushed aside the bushes and prepared to descend the sitting bird cautiously sneaked away, apparentl}' feeding as she did so, while the otiier retaii".ed the careless attitude. As we approached the foot of the clifif both birds took wing, pretesting loudly, the one standing not having moved from iiis tracks before. ( )ne of us had carefully marked the spot which the sitting bird left so cautiously, confidently expecting to find the nest; the other went to the place of the standing bird — and the nest was here ! The picture shows the two eggs in their setting of pebbles and drift. Was it conscious deception by both birds, or only an ordinary reaction ? Two ntsts of the Pigeon (luillemot were found in their characteristic position in little wind-holes worn out of the sandstone. One of these was in a part of the reef sh.own in the illustration. Thvre were probably about fifteen pairs about the island. Tluse birds had the h.abit of restin"- almost flat- Jones — On Washington Birds. Gl bodied upon the rocks, or standing erect upon a sharp pinnacle at attention when any disturbance threatened. When forced to fly they merely launched out into the air and quivered or sailed down to the sea, plumpino- clumsily into the water with a great splash. Two nests of the Glaucus-winged Gull were found, one hav- ing evidently been destro}ed by crows or ravens which regu- larly came out from the mainland. Numerous Gulls found Fig. 2. Desti'uction Island reefs : the iiiainlaiul iu the distance. perches upon the outlying rocks, but apparently few of them were breeding birds. An occasional Western Gull was seen amlonig the rest. The other resident birds of Destruction Island, which we found, were as follows : Rufous Humjner (S'clasphorns ru- fiis), Rusty Soiig Sparrow (Mclospiaa cincrca morphna), Sooty Fox Sparrow (Passer ell a iliaca fiiliginosa) , Barn Swal- low (Hi'niudo crythrogastra), Lutescent Warbler {Helmin- 62 The Wilson Bulletin' — No. G3. fhophi/a ciiata Infcsccns), Yclk)\v Warbler (Dciidroica crs- fiva). Western Winter Wren (Olbiorcltihis hicjiialis pacifi- ciis), Russet-backed Thrush {Hylocichhi iisfulata), Western Robin (Mcriila luigratoria propiiiqiia). There were also a number of transient species, but they scarcely need mention in this connection. Tile two women went on by canoe to Granville, so that the return ncirthwartl was effected in a much lightened canoe, and Fisr. 3. Rhinoceros Auklet (Cerorliinca mo)ioeerafa). E,iu'g and nest at the end of a short, sliallow hiu'i-ow. Destruction Island. cousef|uently n-.ore conrforathle and niore quicklv. It was only poetic justice that the horrors of the sea gat hold upon us after three days of gourmandizing, but respite and relief were fouud in a short stop on Alexander Island, well toward our rendezvous at LaPush. Here we found Glaucus-winged Gulls, Tufted Putifins, Cassin Auklets, and Kaeding Petrels in undisputed possession. Studies of these birds will be given in a later ])apcr. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 63 ALEXANDER WILSON, n. The Mystery of the Small-headed Flycatcher. BY frank L. burns. ' Dr. Coues has written, " The existence of any such bird is doubtful. The history > Si 0 0 CO "3 "cc "S i ' . bj-j o f .3 II ■J. %o 3 0 X X S 3 Oi '5 S a; '^ 0 QJ o sa 73 Oi -4_> ■4-> 0) 0 j^ ^ o .3 ^ OJ OJ 0'^ o O m p P •'^ ^ r-i ^ I^ oi H ^ Q Q Q C< c i: rt ,1 j; 1 b ^ O 1) rH E o a X "x C 0 ^ a 0 < O O 1-1 0) "S O — ' 5 "/: f. I: C3 1— 1 1— I d a/ cc 4j X cc X <5 o S i j:! ^ S ►^ ^ 1-3 ji5 ■A o I-H p K £ 3 c; s ^ - - <5 t» ;Li C5 ■| eak a much greater familiarity with the bird than the incomplete description would seem to warrant. The improbability of the only men in all our broad land at that timje figuring birds capturing the only specimens of an anomaloius or vanishing race, at a distance of many hundred Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 71 miles, is of course, very great indeed. What was long con- sidered to have been an almost parallel instance, — the Blue Mountain Warbler, Sylvia nwntana^Dendroica montana of Wilson, was taken in the Blue mountains of Pennsylvania. The description of this species was so faithful that the writer of this paper, while in the pinfeather stage, with no other SMALL-HEADED FLYCATCHER, Wilsonia microccphala, Ridgway. Audubon, Birds of Am., Vol. IIIL, 183S, pi. 434, fig. 3,0m. Biog., Vol. v., 1839, p. 291 "general color light greenish-brown" "short, the second quill longest, dark olive, two bands of dull white" "moderate length, even ; outer feathers with a terminal white spot on imier web" "greenish-yellow, narrow white ring surrounding the eye" "pale yellow, gi'adually fading into white behind" "male" "margins of a pond" "Kentucky" "early part of the spring, 1808" "Migratory, fond of low thick coverts, whether in the interior of swamp, only the margins of sluggish pools, from which it re- moves to higher situations after a continuation of wet weather to rolling grounds amid wood comparatively free of undergrowth. Song pleasing in this, which may be heard at a distance of 40 or 50 yards in clear weather. While chasing insects on the wing, although it clicks it bill, the sound is comparatively weak, at other times it searches among the leaves." work obtainable, was led to label an immature Black-throated Green Warbler thus, and Audubon's example came from California, loaned to him by the Zoological Society of London. Ridgway has recently referred Wilson's bird to Dendroica virens and Audubon's to D. tonmsciidii. It has been written 72 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 63. that amiong' the disproportionately large number of new si^ecies described by Wilson there are but two only remaining unidentified. This is now reduced to the one under present consideration. The lost species of Audubon are the Car- bonated Warbler, Dcndroica carhonata, and Cuvier's Kinglet, Reguhts ciii'icrii, neither of which have since been found, but being hybrids presumahly, ma\' reoccur sooner or later ; though perhaps we should not take them too seriously. Townsend's Bunting, Spi;:a to-u'iisc:U(lii, taken by Dr. Ezra Michener in Chester cO'Unty, Pa., on the contrary is preserved to this time and remains unic]ue. While probably little effort has been made since the time of Audubon, to solve the m}stery by careful search for the lost species in the so-called feud belt and really little worked regions of Kentucky ; yet it must be admitted that were there the remlotest chance of success, some of our most enterprising private collectors as well as corps frcnx public museums, would have raked that section with fine-tooth combs, figur- atively speaking. Reverting once more to the dispute, it is evident that neither Audubon, nor Ord and Lawson were unprejudiced. Just how little or how^ much it figured in their testimony, it is impossible to determine. Had the charge appeared during the life of Bartram, to whom Wilson imparted his discoveries and with whom he resided sometime previous tO' the publica- tion of this drawing, a perfectly unbiased statement might have been possible. At this late date no eventuality, excepting only indisput- able documjentary evidence, can prove beyond all doubt the falsity or blameworthiness of one or the other ; and as the matter stands, Audubon's tardy unproven accusation of piracy, the publication of which adds no lustre to his name, but rather detracts therefrom, should l^e discredited, expur- gated, forgotten ; and the memory of the also intensely hu- man " Father of American Ornithology" be unsullied by an ungenerous suspicion, born of personal incompatibility, rather than the accidental difference in birth. A resume of the earnest efforts looking to a satisfactory Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 73 cataloging of this bird is but a paragraph in the history of tliat spasmodic, prolonged and, for the most part, sincere striving to bring order out of /cTjaos. Wilson labeled it Miisciapa min- iita, identifying it with an old and very elastic group which not only contained our true Flycatchers, but the Vireos, Blue-gray Gnatcatcher, American Redstart, Canadian and Wilson's Black-capped Warbler. This disposition was acceptable to Ord, Jardine, Nuttall (1833), AuduboiT, Peabody, Putnam, Minot, and used by Townsend as late as 1904. Bonaparte, however, as early as 1824, calls attention to Wilson's mistake in classifying this bird : "A new species of Wilson, omitted in the index. We liave not seen it, but judging from the too miuch reduced figure, we rather think it is a Sylvia.. The specific name is preoccupied in Mu^scicapa, and also in Sylvia, Wilson having applied it to one of his new Warblers ; but as I have discovered that bis 6". iiiiimta (Prairie Warbler) is the 6^. discolor of Vieillot, his specific namie for this species, if it be a Syhna, m(ay be retained." In 1831, Jamison' seems inclined to follow Bonaparte's sugg^estion of Sylvia mimita, and in 1837 Richardson lists it as Setophaga mimita, and is followed by Hoy and Gray. But Bonaparte proposes WiU so Ilia mimita in 1838, and Nuttall in his second edition, pub- lished in 1840, calls it the Small-headed Sylvian Flycatcher, Sylvania pumilia, not only quoting Wilson and Audubon on M. mimita, but Vieillot oni 6^. pumilia, very evidently confus- ing species not identical and neither one referable to any known species to this day. This stood until 1858, when Baird writes it fMyiodioctes minutiis, rejecting Bonaparte's Wil- sonia on the score of preoccupation in botany, and placing it in a genus proposed by Audubon for the Canadian, Hooded and Wilson's Warblers, with the following comments : " It seems to be a perfectly distinct species from any other I have described, and evitlently belongs to the Oscims rather than the Tyranmilas (Claniatorcs). '•' * * The white spots on the tail distinguished it readily from any of cur true tyrant fly- catchers. The introduction of the bird into the genus My- iodioctcs is purely conjectural, although its affinities seem nearest to the Hooded Warbler." Baird is consistent in the 74 TiiK Wilson Bulletin— No. G3. use of tliis name in 1859, 18(55 and 1874, and is followed by 'i'runihull, l)re\vcr in 1875, Ridgvvay in. 1881, IMaynard and Sharp. Cones hovers uncertainly between Muscicapa or Afyiodhcfcs 'uiimita in 18G8 and Myiodioctcs? minutns in 1878. ATlcn follows I5onaparte's IVilsonia mUiuta in 1864, 18()r) and 1870, but reverts to Myiodioctcs in 1878. Cpues retained Muscicapa niinuta in 1872, remarking that it is con- jectured to belong' to the g'cnus Myiodioctcs, but asserting that this can hardly be, two white wing bands being a character iiiut shown in that genus ; and rejects IVilsonia be- cause preoccupied in botany and also used in entomology. He accepts Myiodioctcs in 1878, however; but in April, 1880, declares. "If the use of a genus name im botany does not jM-eclude its acceptance in zoology, IVilsonia should replace Myiodioctcs And.," and he apparently decides that it does not, for he uses it three years later in New England Bird life, in fact he liad already used it in the first edition of that work in 187-") ; and Ridgway had clearly set his stamp of approval on the name in his catalogue issued the same year as the question was raised by Coues. Stejneger in 1884 concurs : "If the name IVilSrvMi (Bonaparte, 1838) cannot be rejected, because preoccupied in botany, it will havie to take precedence of Myiodioctcs A'ud. 183!)." Heretofore the controversy has been chiefly on the generic name, but in 1885 Ridgway sub- stituted the specific name Microccphahi for that of Baird's m-iiiiiftis. the latter ])roving to be preoccupied, and reviving Nuttall's genus Sylvania: and in the Hypothetical List of the first two editions of the A. C). U. Check-List, issued in 188G and 1895, a tentative indorsement of Ridgway's proposition is given in Sylvania ? microccphala. Chamberlain in 189] and Ridgway in 189fi repeating. Coues comments upc.n this in the LTntenability of the Genus Sylvania Nutt., in the Anh for'A'pril, 1897, and effectually disposes of the name : " ]\Iy tacit acc|uiescence in our use of Sylvania has hitherto been simplv because I had no- special occasion to notice the matter, and presumed that our com- mittee had fcund the name tenable by oiir rules. But a glance at Nuttall's INlan., T, 183?, p. 390, where the name is Burns — On' Alexander Wilson. 75 introduced, shows that it can have no standing, being merely a new designation cf ScfopJiaga Sw. 1827, and therefore a strict synonym. Nuttall formally and expressly gives it as such, makinp; it a sul>genus (of ]\Tnscicapa) in the following term's: 'Sub-gvnus S}lvania. (Genus Setophaga Swainson). This is enough to kill it — say rather, the nanre is still-born; and why we ever undertook to resuscitate it passes my understand- ing. * * * SylvOiuia must be dropped and our choice O'f a name foi" the genus lies between IViUonia Bp., 1838, and Myiod- ioctcs. And., 1839. Use of Wilsonia in botany ctoes not debar it in zoology, and if it is not otherwise preoccupied it must stand." Soon after its rejection by Baird in 1858 on the ground of botanical preoccupation, it was used by Dr. Allen in Proc. Essex Inst., IV, 18G1, p. 64, and in various other |)laces in succeeding years. * * * The Ninth Supplement to the A. O. U. Check List of North American Birds,, issued in January, 1899, abandons the Syhmnia of Nuttall for the IVilsonia of Bonaparte, first published in his Geographical anid Comparative List, 1838, and the technical name of the rechristened Simall-headed Warbler is now officially known as IVilsonia mic'rocephala Ridgw., after almost three-quarters of a century participation in the home-made tangle. REFERENCES. 1812. Wilson, Alexauclev. American Oruitliology. VI. Muscicapa minuta, p. 62. pi. L. fig. 5. (Original figure and description. No claange in Ord's reprint of 1824.) • 1815. Ord, G. Zoology of North America, Guthrie's Geography, 2nd Am. ed. Bll'iiscicapa] minuta, p. 317. Not seen in the original, quoted from reprint, 1894, by Samuel N. Rhoads.) 1824. Bonaparte, diaries. 0])SPrvations on the Nomenclature of Wil- son's Ornithology. Jaiir. Acad. Nat. 8ci. PJiila., IV. Mlusci- capa] minuta — ^ijlvia ■inbiiita? p. 62. ISol. Jamison, Robert. Wilson and Bonaparte's American Ornithol- ogy, I. Sylvia minuta, p. 162. ■ 1832. Jardine, Sir William. Wilson, Bonaparte and Jardine's Amer- ican Ornithology, I. Muscicapa minuta, p. 269. 1832. Nuttall, Thomas. Manual of Ornithology of the United States and Canada, I. Muscicapa iniiuita, pp. 296-297. ;ii Till-. Wilson llri.i.iriiN — Xo. (i.'!. ]S;>7. Kidiardsoii, John, M.I), lioport on Xortli Aniericiin Zoolo.uy. Report of the Birth ]\lcctiii(i of the BritisJi .l.v.voc. far Adr. of Science for ]S,3(). fietophaga miniita, p. 172. 1S:!S. Andulion. Jolin Jiinics. The IJirds of Anieric.-i. III. pi. 4.'U, tig. 3. (No text.) ISoS. RonapMrte, Charles Lucian. (ieoiiraiiliical and ('oni](aiat ive List of the Birds of Euro]io and North America. U'//.so//i« niiiiiita. p. 2:5. ("Southern and central parts.") 1S;5!». Audulfon, John James. Oi-nitholo;^ieal liiographies, V, Miisci- capa viiiiuta, p. 291. IS.'i'It. Audubon, John James. Syno|isis of the Birds of North .Vnier- ica. Miiscicapa ritiiuitu. p. 44. ("Kentuclv.v, Tennsylvania. and New Jersey. Exceedingly rare. Migratory.") ISoO. Peabody, William B. (). Ke])ijrts on the Fishes, Reptiles, and Bii'ds of Massachusetts, Zoolof/ical and Hotnnical Siirrci/ of the State. Mi(>ieicapa mhiiitd. p. 29i>. (Not seen, said to con- taiu reference to Dr. P^mmon's Berkshire Co., Mass.. record, cf. Alleiu 1S6!i.) ]S4(». Audubon, John James. Birds of America. I. ])1. (IT, M iixiicitpa iiniiiitd. p. 2oS. 1S40. Nuttall, Thomas. INIanual of Ornithology of the Cnited States and Canada, 2nd ed. I. Hylraiiia pmnitia, p. ',i:\4. 1840. Peabody, Rev. W. B. O. A Report on the Birds of :Massachu- setts made to the Legislature in Session of 1SP„S-r>. Boston Journal of Natural History. III. p. 119. (Reprint of previous report. Does not contain Dr. Emmons' record.) 18r)2. Brewer. T. M. AVilson's American Ornithology, with Addi- tions, including the Birds De.scribed by Audulton, Bonaitarte, Nuttall and Richardson, M uxciciiiia niiinila. ]>. 44:!. Synoi)sis, p. 690. 1H~)'\. Hoy, P. B., of Racine, Wis. Xotes on the Ornithology of Wis- consin. Proc. Acad. Nut. Sci. rhila.. VL 1M52. 1853. »S'e/o- phaga minuta, Wilson, p.' 309. Also same in Trans. Wisconsin State Agri. Soc. 1853, p. 34G. ("Rarely nret with. The only specimens I have, were shot 1st of June, 1850.") 1850. I'utnam, F. W. Catalogue of the Birds of Essex Co., Mass.. Proc. Essex Inst., I. Muscicapa minuta. p. 22(5. (Listed un- der the head of accidental visitants.) 1858. Baird, Spencer F. Cooperation of Cassin, John, and Lawrence. George N. Report of (Pacific Railroad) Explorations and Survey, 1853-6, IX. P.irds. fMijiodioctes in in ut us, p. 293. 1859. Baird. Si)encer F. Catalogue of North American Birds chielly in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institute. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Colleclions. /M!ii(nlioctes niinufus, No. 212. Burns — On Alexander Wilson. 77 1864. Allen, J. A. Catalogue of the Birds of Springflekl, Mass., Proc. Essex Inst. IV. Wilsonia minuta Bou. p. 83. ("This lit- tle known and rather doubtful species is said to occi;r in this State.") 1865. Baird, S. F. Review of American Birds, Smithsonian Miscel- laneous Collections. Part I. Myiodioctes minutus, p. 241. ("Hab. Eastern U. S. This species continues to be unknown to modern ornithologists, no specimens being recorded as ex- tant in collections.") 1868. Cones, Dr. Elliott, U. S. A. Catalogue of the Birds of North America contained in the Museum of the Essex Institute ; with which is incorporated a List of the Birds of New England, with brief Critical and Field Notes. Proc. Essex Inst. V. Muscicapa or Myiodioctes "miniita," p. 275. 1869. Allen, J. A. Notes on Some of the Rarer Birds of Massa- chusetts. TJie American Naturalist, III. Wilsonia minuta, Bon. p. 577. ("This rather apocryphal species is given by Peabody as having been met with at Ipswich by Dr. Brewer, and in Berkshire County by Dr. Emmons. Dr. Brewer writes me that in 1834 his cat caught a specimen of this species in Roxbury, which he sent to Audubon, though as Dr. Brewer ob- serves, he (Audubon) makes no mention of it." Cf. Brewer in History of N. A. Birds, compare dates. 1869. Gray, G. R. Hand List of Generia and Species of Birds, Part 1. [Setophaga] minuta, p. 244. ("E. of U. States." 1869. Turnbull, William P. Birds of Eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Myiodioctes minutus, p. 53. Philadelphia ed., p. 42. 1872. Coues, Elliott. Key to North American Birds, Muscicapa min- uta, pp. 109-110. 1873. Stearns, Winfried A., and Coues, Elliott. New England Bird Life, I. Wilsonia minuta, p. 173. Same in 2nd ed. 1883. ("The name has been dropped out of the recent lists, and should not be restored without good authority." Coues In foot-note.) 1874. Baird S. F., Brewer, T. M., and Ridgway, R. A History of North American Birds, I, Myiodioctes minutes, p. 316, pi. 16, f. 2. (Same in reprint, 1905.) 1875. Brewer, T. M. Catalogue of the Birds of New England, with brief notes indicating the manner and character of their pres- ence; with a list of species included in previous catalogues believed to have been wrongly classed as Birds of New P::ng- land, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. XVII, 1874-1875. *Myiodi- octes minutus. Baird, p. 440. "Wenham, Mass." (*Denotes " accidental, very local, or those known to have occurred only in a single instance.") 78 Ti-TF ^^'^I ^ri\- r.rri.FTrx — No. 03. 3877. Minot, H. I). The Laud -Uirds and Game-Birds of New Eu.i,'- laud, Aliisclcapa, miiinta, p. 129. ("An entirely apocrypha 1 species" — footnote. ) 1878. Alien, J. A. A List of the Birds of Massachusetts, witli An- notations, Bui. Essex Inst., X, Mylodioctes niinutu, p. ?>5 ("1 agree with Dr. Cones that the species is one hardly entitled to reco.gnition, and I prefer to discard it, for the present, as a bird of Mass." 187S. Coucs, Elliott. Birds of Colorado Valley. I'iut First. Miscel- laneous Publications, No, ll.Dcpl. of the Interior, V.-S. Geo. Survey of the Territories, ill niodiovtesf minutus, p. .■"'.2('>. 1880. Cones, Dr. Elliott, U. S. A. Notes and Qneries Conreriiing the Nomenclature of North American Birds, Bui. Nuttall Orii. CluJ), V. Apr. p. 95. ("If the nse of a ,i;eneric name in botany does not preclude its acceptance in znolosy, Wilstoiiid. shonld replace Myiodioctes, And.") ISSO. i:id.ii;way, Robert. Catalo<4-ne. J'roc. U. H. Nat. !][ux.. III. Wil- soiria miiiufa, p. 374, Appendix, p. 2:>4. 1881. Kidgway, Robert. Nomenclature of North American I'.irds, Proc. U. S. Nat. il///.*.. Ill, M yiodioclcs mUintus (Wils. ) Baird, No. 12G, p. 19. 1882. Maynard, C. J. Birds of Eastern North America. Myiodioe- tes minutus, p. 521. ("Extinct species.") 1884. Stejneger, Leonard. Analectic Ornithologica, .1»7.-, I. p. 2:51. (Cf. Cones, 1880.) 1885. Ridgway, Robert. Some Emended Names of North American Birds, Proc. U. 8. Nat. Mus. VIII, Sep. 2, Htilrania iiiirrocc- phttla, i>. 354, 1885, Sharp, Dr. R, Bowdler, Catalogue of tlie I'.irds of tlie I'.ritish Museum, X, Myiodioctes minutus,, p, 431, footnote. . 388(5. A, O, U, Check-List of North American Birds, Siilniina (/!) . microeephula, p. 357. (Second ed. 1888, p. 333 — IlyiKilhctical List.) 1888. Ridgway, Robert. Manual of North American Birds. s\nh vuiiia] mi(TocephaIa, Small-headed Warbler, ]i. 527. ( No change in 2nd ed, 189(i,) 1891. Chamberlain, Montague. Nnttall"s Popular Handbook of the Ornithology of Eastern NiuMh America, I. Sylraiiia microcc- 2)hala, p. 2G5. 1897. Cones, Elliott. Untenability of the Cenns Sylrauia Nntt., Auk, XIV, Apr., pp. 22:5-221. 1899. A, O, U. Ninth Supplement to Check-List. .!»/.■, XVI. .Jan., p. 12.3. (Genns Sylvaiiia Nuttall, becomes WUsoiria Bonaparte. The first being a strict synonym of Sctophana Swaiuson. Of. Coues, 1897.) BuRNSi — On Alexander Wilson. 79 1902. Coues, Elliott. Key to North American Birds, II. Wilsonia microcepliala, pp. 223-224. 1902. Ridgway, Robert. Birds of North and Middle America, II. Wilsonia, microcephala Ridgway. ("Pennsylvania and New Jersey; also, according to Audubon, Kentucky.") 1904. Townsend, Charles Wendall, M.D. The Birds of Essex Coun- ty, Mass. Memoirs of the NattaU Oni. Club, No. Ill, Musci- capa mimita, p. 318. ("Brewer at Wenham.") 1907. Chapman, Frank M. Warblers of North America, Hypothet- ical List, Wilsonia microcephala (Ridg.), pp. 299-300. 1908. Trotter, Spencer. Ty])e Birds of Eastern I'ennsylvania and New Jersey. Cassinia, XI. 3007, ]\Inscicapa miinda (Wils.), p. 25. ("This species, not since detected and the basis of Audubon's attack on Wilson and Ord's counter charge, is stated by the latter to have been secured by Wilson near Philadelphia.") THE BIRDS OF POINT PELEE. ■ BY P. A. TAVEENEB AND B. H. SWALES. (Continued from Vol. XIX. p. 153.) 142.t *Piranga erythromelas. — Scarlet Tanager. We have found the Scarlet Tanager common on all May visits. In the fall it has not been as numerous as the abundance of other species would lead us to anticipate. From September 4 to 1.1. 19(i."). we saw but five, all on the 5th. The next year one was seen September 1 and none on the succeeding visit in the middle of the same month. However, on October 14 three were secured or taken. In 1907 from August 26 to September 2 one or two were noted each day. In all probability it is a more or less common summer resident. 143. *Pro but so dim and evanescent as to be felt rather than seen. There was no sun- rise, but, as the landscape grew brighter, the species of the passers- by could be made out with some degree of certainty ; and the bird notes came up to us rather oftener as bird after bird awakened and added its quota to the Martin chorus. The passing birds, few at first, increased in numbers. Bank Swallows passed swiftly by and a few Rough-wings, but most of them were Barn Swallows that came along in widel.y scattered groups of five or six ; climljing up invisible atrial wave slopes, pausing a moment at the top, and then coasting Taverner and Swales — On Point Pelee Birds. 81 down the other side hi hms easy curves, with n swin,:^inK turn u(jw to this side aud uow to that as if deflected hy easily avoidable ob- stacles, invisible to us. Once in a while a Chiuriiey Swift came Inisily by on rapidly beating wings like a great sphinx moth. All were making southward and away over the lake. After it had been light for about half an hour, an occasional Mar- tin appeared on the landward horizon, grew in apparent size, imtil by the refraction of the morning mists it seemed as large as a small hawk, passed us, and was swallowed up in the fog over the water on the farther side. They came oftener and oftener, until there was a steady stream of them coming down the Point, not in regularly or- ganized tiocks, but singly, and in ones and twos and half dozens. Standing there in the early morning half light it was most impres- sive. The mist lay below us aud covered the ground with soft dia- phanous billows. Throiigh it the sharp conical red cedars pushed up half their length, sharp and clear cut in the foreground, but growing dimmer in the distance until they melted away into the vague hori- zon. The sky was leaden in color. Through the nust came the Martins. We were elevated to their plane of flight and were alone with them. On they came, bii'd after bird, on their strong bowed wings, out of the nebulous north, cutting strong and black against the neutral background. Without hurry or haste, calm, dignified and determined, they held a true course and swerved neither to one side or the other. With no apparent concerted action, but as if each one was filled with a like but independent impulse of migration and was urged on and on, south, ever south, by an inward monitor that ruled supreme. It was only a flight of n)igrating Martins, and tame enough in the telling, but the reality was impressive indeed. The empty gray- ness of the vacant landscape and the succession of impassionate birds, all hastening under a mysterious impulse from a region of unknown extent to the north and converging to this one little spit of sand projecting out into the waters, on their way to a softer climate, in anticipation of colder times as yet in the future. It gave the impression of a never-ending procession passing from one un- known to another. Summer was past, winter was coming, the sea- son was advancing and could be no more retarded than the order of the stars could be altered. Word had gone forth and had been re- ceived by each and every individual. No Fiery Cross was necessary — Nature had willed it, and that was sufficient, the clans obeyed and it had come to pass. Imagination reached forth and saw them gather- ing from the whole mysterious northland. Some were working down the rugged shores of Georgian Bay, passing from headland to head- land or island to island ; others passing over the scorched sand plains of northern Michigan, and all were headed in the same general di- rection and, with the same deliberate, steady and unhurried flight, the migrations were proceeding as inevitably as fate. 82 TiiR \\'[[.soN r.nrj.KTiN— No. G3. We watclied thein for .«onio timo, tlieii, after collecting a few al- most as fast as we could load and fire, returned to camp for break- fast. All day long when we looked up we could see the same steady stream making south over the land, while during the warmer parts of the day. the higher region of the air was tilled with them, one aliove tlie other as liigii as the eye couhl reach, circling ahout hither and tliitlier, iireparatory to proceeding. A hundi'ed birds could be so counted during most of the day ; but this could not have been the culmination of the migration, for we were informed that the day l)revious to that of our arrival, on the 23d, one of the residents killed seventeen at one shot. This nmst have lieen a great Hock, and we saw nothing like it during our stay. After this we saw but occasional ^lartins each day until Seittember 5, when another smaller flight occurred. At this time we counted them at the end of the Toint, and they passed over at about the rate of ten every fifteen minutes. From our station at camp we judged that they continued at ahout the same rate all day. During the pre- vious fliglit there were double this number passing, and perhaps treble would be closer to the mark. The former flight was com- posed mostly of adults of both sexes with a few .iuvenile males. The latter were all females, a few adult. No males at all were seen dur- ing our period of observation at the end of the Point when nearly all passed close enough to us to make this point practically certain. The first flight was undertaken in a light breeze blowing from the south, but the latter was in the teeth of a good brisk wind, bathing the whole beach with a line of white breakers extending for some distance from shore. In spite of this the martins and swallows sailed steadily out to sea without a moment's hesitation or appearing even to notice the stress. At the same time we noticed other specie's, notably Cedarbirds, essay the passage, but after thorough testing of conditions, concluded it too strenuous and returned for more fa- vorable times. From statements made by several of the residents living in the vicinity of the lower part of the Point the spring flight of the mar- tins about the middle of April, 1907, must have been even more ex- tensive than the fall flight. They relate how the birds, -overtaken by the cold, raw weather that prevailed, clustered in immense num- bers jit night in all available out-houses, where they covered every possible perching i)lacc, couiidetely lining the w;ills, floors, etc.. es- pecially in a deserted b;irn. We h;ive not lieen fortunate enough to be jtresenl on tlie I'oint duiing tlie period of the spring liiglit. 144. PeiroclicJiddii liniifroiiH. — Cliff Sw;illow. Tliougli never very conunon we have found a limited number of Clilf Swallows on most of our seasonable visits. Several seen May 13, 1905. Two September 11 of the same year in company with a Taverner and Swai.es — On Point Pelee Birds. 83 mixed flock of Barn and Bank Swallows. Several May 20, 1906, and abont five September 1, 1900, on the telegraph wires at the base of the I'oint. None noted the May-June trip of the following year, but from August 24tli to the 31st, from two to ten were seen each day, Init none in September. Not noted May 1-4, 1908, when Wallace and Swales made a trip. This is by no means an abundant sjioi'Ies in this sec- tion. Its reddish tan.nunp makes a conspicuous and certain field mark when the bird is in flight. 145. *Hiriii)(1o cryflironastra. — P>arn Sawllow. A common sunnner resident. Common on all May dates. In 1905 the last were noted Sejitendier T), when considerable nund)ers were seen. In 190S they were eonnnon the first three days of September, and about twenty-five were noted the l.lth, and about ten the 19th. In 1907 they were still common and migrating heavily up to the time of our leaving, September 0. 14('>. *Ifi(l()2)fOCiiG hicolor. — Tree Swallow. The Tree Swallow we have found practically common on all" May dates. In the fall it has never l)een abundant. In September, 1905, a few were noted daily from the 4th to 11th, on which latter date several flocks were observed passing over. September 18, 190G, three were seen, making our only record for the locality that season. In 1907 from one to eighteen were noted from August 24th to the 30th, and no more after that. There has been a considerable diminution in the abundance of the fall flocks of this species in this section of late years. 147. *l\rpari(i riparia. — Bank Swallow. Connnon on all May visits. In 1905 the last fall flock was noted September 11. In 1900, common the first three days of September, and not seen during our return visit in the middle of the month. In 1907, great numbers were seen the latter end of August from the 24tli, irregularly diminishing to the time of our departure, Septem- ber 0, when but several were noted. A few seen May 2, 1908. 148. *Stel(n(lopieryx scr)-ipcn}iis. — Rough-winged Swallow. One of the many interesting events of our fall trip of 1907 was the nund)er of Rough-wings seen migrating from August 24 to September 2. They were generally mixed in with large flocks of Bank Swal- lows, and nearly every time we closely scrutinized the latter we found numbers of the former among them. We counted and esti- mated the number of Rough-wings seen on these various days as 20, 100, 15, 4, 2 and 10. If the same proportion of this sjiecies existed in all the flocks of Bank Swallows the nundier of this usually rare species that passed over the Point must have been very great. 84 The Wilson Bulletin — No. (i^. We fouiul by roi)oatefl trials, vorifled by the capture of specimens, that careful attention could always separate the two species, when- ever the conditions of observation were at all favorable. A closely discriminating eye can tell them by the difference in flight, as Saun- ders several times demonstrated, '['o the less acute, the soft brown- ish suffusion over the throat and breast of the Rou,i?h-wing, instead of the sharply defined breast bar of the r.ank and the slightly more reddish cast (more appreciable in life than in nmsenm specimens) are quite suthcient to separate the two s])ecies. The slightly super- ior size of scrripeiuiin, though sometimes quite ai)pareut, is not al- ways sutHciently marked fo.r ready recognition. Though (luite a number were taken, all were juveniles and with- out the characteristic roughness on tlie i)rimaries that gives them their distinctive name. Seemingly, this i)eculiar feather specializa- ti(m is only ac<|uired with age, and we have sjiring birds that are entirely without it and others on whicli it is but sliglitly marked. Swales saw several May L*. I'.»(),s. In compnny witli iinmlicrs of l>aru Swallows. 14!). *A)iipcJis <■<■(! roiii III. — ("cdar Waxwing. Connnon on nearly all visits except those of October in 1905 and i!)0(). It seems also to be present during the winter in considerable numbers, and Gardner reported them at various times during the winter of 190(3-7 and 1907-8. We saw large flocks March 9-10, 1907. September 5, 1907, we saw a flock start out over the lake with the evident intention of crossing, but the stiff south wind proved too strong for them and they returned. Very connnon May 1-."?, in large flo<-ks, distrilinted all over the Point. HYPOTHETICAL. Liiiiiiis horcaiis. — Northern Shrike. Though this species undoubtedly occurs, we list it "hypothetical" for the sake of consistency as we have no absolutely authentic rec- ord of its occurrence. Gardner, on being shown a Migrant Slirike. Vei)orted having seen, in the winter, birds like it but larger. ino. '*Laiiiiis liKloriciaiiiis iiii(/r. *1 //TO solilariii.'^. — I'lue-headed "N'ireo. May 14, V,)V~>, this was a common bird on the I'oint and we were seldom out of sight or hearing of one or more during our whole tramp from the camp to the base of the Point. That fall one was taken September 13, which was likely the first of the migrants. The next .year (19CG) we noted none in May; the 20-21st being rather late for them in a normal year. That fall (1900) one and two were detected September 18 and 19. The spring of 1907 being phenomenally late, one bird was seen May 31 and another June 1. For the fall migrations of that year we have but one date and one individual, August 31, which is. according to oiu- experience, un- usually early. The white eye ring and lornl stripe, standing out from the clear gray of the head, make a ticld recognition mark not easy to mistake. 15(1 '^Alitiotilta rarid. — Black and White Warbler. May 14, 1901"), a practically normal sjtriug. but two were noted. The following year. May 20-21, was too late for them and none were observed, but the sjiriug of 1907, which was remarkable for its late- ness, we saw Hve, May 31. A few were noted May 3 and 4, 1908. It lias been present and more or less conunon during all our fall dates, except those of October. In 190.5, a few were seen from So|)- tember 4 to S, after which none were oltserved until the 13th. when a large flight arrived, and they were common for the day, but left that night and but three were noted the next morning. In 190<; nolliing worthy of. note was observed eitlH'i' in number or Ihictua- tions of nund)er during our two trips to the I'oint, though they were considerably more munerous on the tirst than on the later visits. They were alread.y present on our arrival August, 24, 1907. and re- mained in fairly constant numbers until we left, September 0. 157. *Jfpliila iiiiinn. — Pdue-wingcd Warblei'. September 2, 190(1. Taverner had the iileasure not only of adding this species to the I'elee list, but of making a primal record for the Dominion when he took a juvenile of indeterminate sex in u grape vine tangle near the east shore at the end of the Cross Road. The specimen is numbered No. 602 in his cdllection. The next day ho shot what he thought was another, but was unable to lind it in the dense shrubbery. Taverner and Swales — On Pt)iNT Pelee IJirds. 87 158. Hclmiitthopliila chrysoptcra. — Golden-winged Warbler. This is another species conuuon all summer in the Detroit vicinity, but rather rare on the Point. Fortunately, though no specimens have been taken, they have been seen vuider circumstances that make identification certain. May 21, 190G, one was noted. August 31, 1007, another was seen by Taverner near camp, and September 2 the same observer noted one along the east shore in the vicinity of the Cross Road. 159. *Hclmmt1iopliila ruhrica'pilla. — Nashville Warbler. Likely a more or less common and a regular migrant, though our records tor the species are few and more or less scattered. One May 13, 1905, and three Septendier 0 of the same year. The next fall five, one, eight, six and one were enumerated September 1, 18, 19, 20 and 21, but none on the spring trip of May 20-21. One was noted May 31, 1907, among the late warblers of that abnormal spring, but up to tlie time of our departure in the fall, September 6, they had not put in an appearance. The spring of 1008, Swales noted one each day. May 2 and 3. IGO. *Hel)iiiiitJi(ip]iiIa perci/riiia. — Tennessee Warbler. A regular and not unconunon migrant, spring and fall. Ten noted May 11, 1905, May 20-21, 190(;, which is normally late for them, none were seen, but May 31 and June 1, 1007, when so many late warb- ler records were u'ade, two rather questionable birds were noted. None were listed May 1-4, 1!)08. In the fall it is one of the earliest warlilers to arrive. On August 2(;, 1007, one was taken ; an arrival date that seems about normal, ns we can closely parallel it with Detroit dates. We saw but one; other this season, on the 20th. The preceding year they were still present in some nnuiliers the first tliree days of September, and in full song. One was noted Sei)teinl)er 4, 1005, and another the 14th. The species I'cuiains quite late and we have a record of an indi- vidual, October 14, lOOG. 161. fVompaotJilj/pis amcricana usiiecc. — Northern Parula Warbler. Conversely to the cases of the Golden-winged Warbler and the Yellow-throated Vireo, cited before, this sitecies seems to be a rather common migrant on the I'oint, at least in spring, while it is very rare at Detroit at all seasons. May 14, 1005, which is our only spring date strictly within its regular migrational season, we found it very common the whole length of the western wooded shore. None were observed May 20-21, 1000, but in the abnormally late spring of 1007 we saw one May 30, and three .June 1. The fall of the same year one was taken August 28, giving us our only fall date. 88 Till': \\'ii,S()N IUji.lktin — No. G;5. 1G2. *]>cii(1rolca ii>/rina. — Cape May Wafliler. This species, long classed as one of the rarest of thi; warblers, has l)rove(l itself (luring our work at tlie I'oiiit to warrant a hardly less strict term than scarce and. at times, has I)een almost common. We have never detected its presence in spring, hut that is likely because the dates of our spring work on tlie Point have never fallen within those of the height of the warbler migrations. In 1905, three were taken September 8, and ten seen or taken the 13th, in the red cedar thickets near the end of the Point and the presence of more strong- ly suspected. In 190G, two were taken or observed Sei)tember 17, and an eiiual number the ne.xt day. In l!M)7, from one to four were noted oi- cai)tured each day from August 29 to September 2. Among the specimens so gathered, we ol)taine