ISSN 011+7-9725 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE .S uCbtin oj- ttzz o \nitfiotocjica[ cSoaUty, One. MARCH 1979 VOLUME 3 5 NUMBER 1 MARYLAND ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY, INC. Cylburn Mansion, 1*915 Greenspring Ave. , Baltimore, Maryland 21209 STATE OFFICERS FOR MAY 6, 1978 TO MAY 5, 1979 President: Mr. First V.P. : Mr. Second V.R: Dr. Treasurer: Mr. Secretary: Exec . Secertary : James W. Cheevers , 2855 So. Haven Rd, Annapolis 2lU01 22l*-206l Charles Vaughn, 1306 Frederick Ave. , Salisbury 21001 Jh2-J221 Benjamin Poscover, 302-A Garden Rd. , Baltimore 21201* 823-251*8 W. Gordon MacGregor, 5009 Greenleaf Rd. , Balto 21210 1*35-301*1* Mrs. Helen M. Ford, 1*08 Beach Drive, Annapolis 2ll*03 267-81*17 Mr. Paul Bystrak Mr. Norman Chamberlin Mr. John Cullom Mr . Evan Hannay Mrs. Emily Joyce Mrs . 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Kathleen Klimkiewicz Mrs. Lola Oberman Patuxent: *Mr. Paul Bystrak Dr . Lawrence Zeleny Caroline: *Mr. Oliver Smith Mr. A. J. Fletcher Dorchester: *Mrs. Morley Jull, Jr. Mr. Milton Webster Frederick: *Mr. Norman Chamberlin Mr. August Selckmann * Chapter President Talbot: *Mr. G. Curtis Engel Mrs. Marian Delphey Dr. Robert W. Trever Washington: *Mrs. Marlin Thurmond Mr. Edward Peters Wicomico *Mrs. Lee Meinersmann Mrs . Nancy Strahl Active Membership (adults) Student Membership (full-time students) Junior Membership (under 18 years) Family Membership (Mr. & Mrs. )' Sustaining Membership Life Membership Member-at-Large $ 5-00 plus local chapter dues 2.00 plus local chapter dues 1.00 plus local chapter dues 6.00 plus local chapter dues 10.00 plus local chapter dues 200.00 (payable in !* annual installments ) 5.00 Cover: Male Kentucky Warbler at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Prince George's County, May 30, 1967. Photo by C. S, Robbins MARYLAND BIRDLIFE II mill! Volume 35 March 1979 ; Number 1 HISTORY OF THE CAROLINA PARAKEET IN PENNSYLVANIA, NEW JERSEY, DELAWARE, MARYLAND AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA Daniel McKinley From time to time, dust needs to be shaken out of old reports. Some of them tend to gain substance with age. Others yield new kernels of insight upon stirring and, now and then, a previously uncirculated observation comes to the surface. To these ends, I offer this summary of reports upon the Carolina Parakeet ( Conuropsis oarolinensis) in the Middle Atlantic States. I trust that authors of modern distributional reviews will not be offended that I have not referred to their works in detail. My intention has been to return to the early authors and then to trace the reports down to the present. PENNSYLVANIA The earliest claim that parakeets were found in what is now Penn- sylvania was made by Thomas Campanius Holm in a book published in Stockholm in 1702 (183^: ^l). He merely noted "parrots" among birds found in "New Sweden" — that is, southeastern Pennsylvania. Holm apparently relied upon information furnished him by his preacher grand- father who, beginning in l6h2 , had spent six years in America. Young Gottlieb Mittelberger lived four years in Philadelphia, 1750-175^. There is little indication that he strayed from the city. However, he spoke, mostly in a descriptive way, of some of the strange birds of the country: "red birds with black wings," and the like. One species was the "grass-green ones, with red heads" (Mittelberger I960: 57, 86 - 87 ). William J. Rupp (19^6: 1*2, ^3-^*0, in ja careful study of birds and bird lore among Pennsylvania Germans, considered this a refer- ence to the Carolina Parakeet, since Mittelberger wrote of three other kinds of parrots seen on his voyage home. I rather question the validity of Rupp's decision, for I think Mittelberger would have just called the birds 'parakeets' or some equivalent, for he would have had no doubt about an acceptable common name for a parrot-like bird. According to a museum label left by Charles Willson Peale , "that small parrot with the Aurora-colored head, named 'the Carolina Parrot,'" was known to migrate "to the western counties of Pennsylvania" (Burns 1932: 28). Peale cited no evidence to back up the statement, although he certainly was conversant with ornithological lore of his day. 1+ MARYLAND BIRD LIFE Vol . 35, No. 1 Perhaps the nearest I can come to substantiating Peale's claim is the statement of Jared P. Kirtland that he was informed "on perhaps doubtful authority, that thirty years since flocks of them were sometimes seen on the Ohio at the mouth of Big Beaver, thirty miles below Pitts- burgh" (1838: 179)* (Kirtland was a careful worker, so his "doubtful authority" perhaps was simply someone who did not have a specimen.) Todd, in a list of birds of Beaver County (where the Kirtland report placed the species), said cryptically: "disappeared utterly" (190U: 1195)» without indication of who considered them present there in the first place. Todd added nothing in his later major account of Birds of Western Pennsylvania (19^0: 272). I can understand the penetration of western Pennsylvania by para- keets, at least at intervals, because of the highway offered by the Ohio River and its tributaries (McKinley 1977 ). The rest of Pennsylvania would seem less likely to have been much visited by the birds. Indeed, William Bartram, well acquainted with the Philadelphia region of the state at least, asserted that parakeets "never reach so far north as Pennsylvania," a thing he naively thought a parakeet, being "a bird of such singular rapid flight," could easily do (1791: 301; 1958: 190). Bartram may have been wrong. In fact, it is remarkable that he should not have been aware of alleged occurrences that allowed Turnbull (1869: 52), for example, to say uncritically: "Occurs at rare intervals in Southern Pennsylvania" in summer. The basis for Turnbull's statement was undoubtedly an account that must have been in the air during Bartram' time. It was first put into print by Benjamin Smith Barton (1799: Pt. VI pt. VII ). Barton included in his list and geography of birds of Pennsyl- vania "a species of Psittacus, or Parrot," that migrated into the state. It had been, he said, "occasionally observed in Shareman's Valley, on Shareman's Creek, a branch of the Susquehanna, within twenty miles of the town of Carlisle." A friend "has informed me, that the Parakeet seen in this valley is the same species which is frequently met with in the neighbourhood of the river Ohio" — which hardly resolved the species involved, for at the time it was thought, as Barton elsewhere mentioned, that the Illinois Parrot (called "Psittacus pertinax ") was different from the Carolina Parrot. Barton's account was undoubtedly the basis for Alexander Wilson's claim (l8ll : 89) that "straggling parties have been occasionally observed among the vallies of the Juniata. " Why the change in river valleys is not clear, although of course the Juniata empties into the Susquehanna very little above the mouth of Sherman's Creek (as the latter was correct ly named in William M. Baird and S. F. Baird's paper on the birds of the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland County, in 184M . The Wilson locale would make it a Perry County record. Ridgway, for unknown reasons, settled for "Juniata River, old record (1916: 1^5— 1^+6 ) ; he cited Thomas Nuttall, oddly enough, as authority, even though Nuttall certainly got his information from Wilson. Frey (19^3: 29) finally corrected the river valley concerned (supposing that Barton was right in the first place) but incorrectly placed it in March 1979 MARYLAND BIRD LIFE 5 Cumberland County — and dated the occurrence as "about the year 1760," a date entirely undocumented by any records that I have seen. There are two later, perhaps respectable, sight records that may help to authenticate the older beliefs. But, in spite of reputable ornithologists whose names have been cited in connection with them, they remain somewhat foggily delineated. The facts seem to be as follows. Judge J. J. Libhart (1869: 50 6), a well-known amateur ornithologist, reported in a faunal account of Lancaster County that the parakeet was: "Accidental; a flock seen near Manheim by Mr. G. W. Hensel" (he ought to have said G. 0. Hensel). It is of interest that Libhart had not included the species in his list of birds (1844) in I. D. Rupp's quite good history of Lancaster County. That presumably means that the sighting occurred between 1844 and 1869- Simplicities, however, gave way to complexities as time passed. Witmer Stone, certainly a competent student of ornithology, began the complications (1894: 92): "A flock was seen many years ago near Willow Street [a town, not a street], Lancaster county. Pa., and one specimen was secured and deposited in the museum at Lancaster. . . . What is pre- sumed to be the same specimen is still in the collection, but it is unfortunately without data (H. J. Roddy, 1894)." Now, Roddy was a well- known naturalist, apparently mostly a geologist. He was credited by Stone with having prepared a list of birds of Lancaster County but it was never published and I have not been successful in tracing the manu- script, although there are various holdings of Roddy's unpublished papers. Note, however, that Libhart ( 1869 ) did not mention either the speci- man just cited or_ a Willow Street sighting. More to the point, perhaps: the Lancaster Museum, presumably referred to by Roddy, was dissolved in 1849, after a checkered history; does the phrase "many years ago" mean that long before? Perhaps it does; but that museum's specimens were reputedly all destroyed by fire about 1850, after having been transferred to Cincinnati (Ellis and Evans 1883: 436). (There is_ a specimen of the parakeet in the present North Museum at Franklin and Marshall College, in Lancaster; but it is now, at least, quite differently labeled, with no indication that it even was the waif referred to by Roddy. ) Since Stone did not mention the 1869 Manheim reference of Libhart, were he and Libhart possibly talking about separate records, in presumed ignorance of each other's sources? Apparently thinking something of that sort, Herbert H. Beck (1924: 1115) hardly cleared the air when he cited both the Stone record (giving Libhart as authority! ) — and a "last record": "a flock seen near Manheim, by G. 0. Hensel. (Probably prior to 1850, H.H.B. )." There that matter must stand. . The U. S. National Museum has a skull of the Carolina Parakeet (USNM #4893), said to have been contributed by Pennsylvania naturalist Dr. Ezra Michener about 1863 (McKinley, unpublished list of parakeet specimens). No precise date is recorded; worse, no data on its origin are known. 6 MARYLAND BIRD LIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 I suspect that it was from someone’s caged pet. Dr. Earl L. Poole, eminent ornithologist who recently summarized the literature on the para- keet in Pennsylvania {196U: 40), informed me ty letter that Michener’s manuscript account of his and Vincent Barnard's bird collection lists no specimens of this species ; the list, however, is dated 1 January 1850. In addition, both Barnard (l86l) and Michener (l88l) prepared lists of the birds of Chester County, which both knew well, without hinting at the presence of parakeets in the county. Silas Wright's History of Perry County ( l8T3 ) has reasonably good lists of plants and animals, but no parakeet. The same is true of a multi-county history written in 18^6 by I.D. Rupp, a competently inter- ested naturalist of the day. Dr. John E. Guilday reported to me in 1962 that his very extensive work with vertebrate remains from archeological and paleontological sites in Pennsylvania has failed to turn up any parakeet bones. NEW JERSEY The existence of the Carolina Parakeet within the present state of New Jersey was never suggested by early travelers or pioneer naturalists. Warren F. Eaton (1936-a: 5^; 1936-b)-, much more recently, had rather indefinite information that Essex County was visited by "little flocks . . . seen during several hot summers." An intermediate informant, Harry P. Havell , had relayed the story to Eaton. "The late Albert Emmet Hedden (born in l8Ll; died 1915) told Mr. Albert H. Hedden, his son, and Mr. Alonzo B. Hedden, his nephew, of the occurrence of this species in East Orange, Essex Co. , New Jersey, when he was a boy. They placed the time between 1850 and i860, and both recall exactly the same story. The Paro- quets occurred probably twice at least in hot weather (I suspect Septem- ber) and were considered very destructive to the small household apple orchards, maintained by the family at that time. The birds occurred in flocks and tore the apple fruit apart, extracting the seeds." A compre- hensive recent treatment of birds in New Jersey adds nothing to Eaton's original reports (Fables 1955: 7*0* Aside from the possibility of its being a sight record of uncertain vintage, most of the matter seems rather bookishly adorned, in any case. DELAWARE, MARYLAND AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA There is no evidence whatsoever for the Carolina Parakeet in Dela- ware. The District of Columbia will be treated with Maryland. Reports for Maryland are few and generally unsatisfactory. Alexander Wilson (l8ll: 89), providing the Pennsylvania report already alluded to, inferentially included Maryland within the range of the species by saying that "it. is seldom seen farther north than the state of Maryland." Audubon (l831: 138) came no closer to a definite attribution of the parakeet to the state than to say that the species got northward "along the eastern .districts as far as the boundary line between Virginia and Maryland" — that is, presumably, the Potomac River. Audubon, like Wilson, offered no specifics. March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 1 Apparently the only early reports that really claimed the parakeet for Maryland originated' with Father Andrew White, who was associated with the Jesuit group that settled in Maryland under Lord Baltimore. Material in the parakeet segment of White's accounts, at least, was pretty obviously borrowed from such early writers as John Smith. His earliest reference to parakeets seems to be in A Declaration of the Lord Baltemore ' s plantation in Mary -land , attributed to White and internally dated 10 February 1633: "In winter, is great plenty of Swannes, Cranes, and Pigeons, Herons, Geese, Brants, Ducks, Wigeon, Dottrell, Oxeis, Parrats and much other fowle unknown in our parts" (White l6>33: 8). This is nearly word "for word a repetition of a list in Captain John Smith's A map of Virginia , published in l6l2 (Barbour 1969, 1: 349-350). In Force's Tracts , White and other writers are credited with a series of reports on Baltimore's colony that seem to chart its fortunes down to 1677 — which no doubt is the reason that Wright (1912: 346) used the date of "1677" for another alleged White allusion to parakeets in Maryland. That long-unprinted record was translated for Peter Force (l846, 4(12): 10). The date for the introductory part, which alone appears to be White's, is presumably 1634. The list of animals includes mammals, some of them not identifiable, as well as deer and "wild bulls and heifers" (presumably bison). Then: "Of the birds, the eagle is the most voracious. Of hawks there are various kinds, which live in great measure on fish. There are partridges, not larger than quails, but al- most infinite in numbers. Innumerable wild turkies .... There are also blackbirds, thrushes, and a great many little birds, of which there are various kinds, some red, some blue, &c , &c. During the winter it abounds in water-fowl: swans, geese, cranes, and herons — ostriches, owls, parrots, and many others unknown to our part of the world." The rest of the report — somewhat laundered grammatically by Force or his translator — glows with the same uncritical strains. These supposed White contributions (closely allied to promotional literature of the period that frequently used animals emblematically: in this case, parrots indicated nearness to a tropical paradise, if not the Garden of Eden itself) differ little from another piece, apparently dated 1633 (Hall 1910: 10): "There are also great quantities of wild turkeys, which are twice as large as our tame and domestic ones. There are blackbirds too;, and thrushes, and many and various kinds of small birds, some red, and some blue, etc., etc. In winter, there are plenty of swans, geese, cranes, herons, ducks, kirthei , glauci (birds of a green color), parrots, and a great many others, unknown in our country." However , in A briefe relation of the voyage unto Maryland , probably also by White, and written after he arrived in Maryland and had been there perhaps two months in the spring of 1634, there is no mention of parrots, unless they are included anonymously among the "Birds diversely feathered there are infinite. . . read, blew, partie coloured, and the like, by which will appeare, the place abounds not alone with profit, but also with pleasure" (Hall 1910: 45). There may thus be no Maryland substance whatever to the early White bird lists. 8 MARYLAND BIRD LIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 As to the District of Columbia, the only record of the parakeet was, the late report published in a supplement to "Avifauna Columbiana" (Coues and Prentiss 1883 ) , where the species is not listed. Smith and Palmer ( 1888 ) related: "In September 1865, while gunning for sora on the Potomac River, Mr. Edward Derrick fired into a flock of strange birds flying overhead, killing several, which proved to be Carolina paro- quets. He had one mounted and kept the specimen in his house for a number of years. Other parties on the marsh at the same time shot num- bers of the birds." While Smith and Palmer checked out the report with care, they did it so many years after the event that Derrick no longer had the specimen. The affair cannot be further substantiated, although I see no reason to doubt its general veracity. It is somewhat remark- able, perhaps, that Coues and Prentiss had heard of neither the specimen nor the event. Although Kirkwood (1895: 309) indicated that the parakeet was "originally well known in tidewater Maryland," he cited only Smith and Palmer to prove it. There the matter has had to stand through several generations of ornithological lists of Washington birds (see especially Stewart and Robbins 1958: 37, 175-176). SUMMARY Even from earliest pioneer times, there is little evidence for Carolina Parakeets in the Middle Atlantic states. New Jersey has a somewhat dubious mid -19th century claim; Delaware has never claimed the species; there is nothing substantial about the attribution of parakeets to Maryland; the presence of the species in the District of Columbia seems to be a single, probably acceptable, report of 1865; widely scattered reports for the parakeet in Pennsylvania, from the late l8th century (southern Susquehanna valley) to early 19th century (western Ohio valley counties) probably have some basis in fact but there are no specimens to document the case more securely. BIBLIOGRAPHY Audubon, John James. 1831. Ornithological biography. Vol. 1. Dodson & Porter, Philadelphia. Baird, William M. , & S. F. Baird. 1844 . List of birds found in the vicinity of Carlisle, Cumberland County, Penn. American J. Sci. h6: 261-273. Barbour, Philip L. , ed. 1969* The Jamestown voyages under the first chapter 1606-1609. Cambridge University Press. 2 vols. (Hakluyt Society, 2d series, vols. 136-137*) Barnard, Vincent. ■ l86l. A catalogue of birds of Chester County, Pa., with their time of arrival in spring, from observations annually for ten successive years. Smithsonian Institution Annual Report, i860, pages L3^-^38. Barton, Benjamin Smith. 1799* Fragments of the natural history of Pennsylvania. Author, Philadelphia. Bartram, William. 1958. The travels of William Bart rami, naturalist’s edition. Ed. by Francis Harper. Yale University Press, New Haven, (First publ. 1791.) March, 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 5 Beck, Herbert H. 1924. Ornithology. Pages 1101-1125, in_ : Klein, ed. , Lancaster County Pennsylvania, a history, vol. 1. Lewis Historical Publ. Co. , New York. Burns, Frank L. 1932. Charles W. and Titian R. Peale and the ornitho- logical section of the old Philadelphia Museum. Wilson Bull. 44: 23-35- Coues, Elliott, and D. W. Prentiss. 1883. Avifauna Columbiana. U. S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 26. Eaton, Warren F. 1936-a. A list .of the birds of Essex Co. and of Hudson Co., N.J. Linn. Soc. N.Y. Proc. 47: 1-76. 1936b. Former occurrence of Carolina Paroquet in New Jersey. Auk 53: 82. Ellis, Franklin, and S. Evans. 1883. History of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Everts & Peck, Philadelphia. 2 vols. Fables, David, Jr. 1955- Annotated list of New Jersey birds. Urner Ornithological. Club. / Force, Peter, ed. 1836-1846. Tracts and other papers relating princip- ally to the origin, settlement, and progress of the colonies in North America. Author, Washington, D.C. 4 vols. Frey, Edward Shively. 1943. The centennial check-list of the birds of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, and her borders. 1840-1943. Author, Lemoyne, Pa. Hall, Clayton Colman, ed. 1910. Narratives of early Maryland. Scrib- ner's, New York. Holm, Thomas Campanius. 1834. A short description of the province of New Sweden. Hist. Soc. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Mem. 3: 1-168. Kirkwood, Frank Coates. 1895. A list of the birds of Maryland. Maryland Acad. Sci. Trans. 2: 241-382. Kirtland, Jared Potter. 1838. Report on the zoology of Ohio. Second Annual Report of the Geological Survey of the State of Ohio, by W. W. Mather, pages 157-200. Libhart , J. J. 1844. Birds of Lancaster County. Pages 508-511, in_: I. D. Rupp, History of Lancaster County (Gilbert Hills Co., Lancaster). I869. Ornithology. Pages 500-516, in: J. I. Mombert , An Authentic history of Lancaster County (J. E. Barr & Co., Lancaster). McKinley, Daniel. 1977- Records of the Carolina parakeet in Ohio. Ohio J. Sci. 77: 3-9. Michener, Ezra. l88l. The zoology of Chester County. Pages 441-445, in : J. Smith Futhey and G. Cope, History of Chester County, Pennsyl- vania (L. H. Everts Co., Philadelphia), 2 vols. Mittleberger , Gottlieb, i960. Gottlieb Mittelberger ' s Journey to Penn- sylvania in the year 1750. Tran si. by 0. Handlin and J. Clive. Belknap Press, Harvard University, Cambridge. Poole, Earl L. 1964. Pennsylvania birds: an annotated list. Living- ston Press, Narberth. Ridgway, Robert. 1916. Birds of North and Middle America, part 7. U.S. Natl. Mus. Bull. 50, pt. 7. Rupp, Israel Daniel. 1846. The history and topography of Dauphin, Cumberland, Franklin, Bedford, Adams, and Perry counties (Pennsyl- vania). Gilbert Hills, Lancaster City. Rupp, William J. 1946. Bird names and bird lore among the Pennsylvania Germans. Pennsylvania German Society, Proceedings & Addresses, vol. 52, pt. 2. 10 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 Smith, Hugh M. f and William Palmer. 1888. Additions to the avifauna of Washington and vicinity. Auk 5: 147-148. Smith, John. See: P. L. Barbour 1969 . Stewart, Robert E. , and C. S. Robbins. 1958. Birds of Maryland and the District of Columbia. North American Fauna no. 62 (U.S. Dept, of the Interior). Stone, Witmer. 1894. The birds of eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Delaware Valley Ornithological Club, Philadelphia. Todd, W. E. Clyde. 1904. The mammal and bird fauna of Beaver County, Pennsylvania. Pages 1195-1202, in_: J. H. Bausman, History of Beaver County Pennsylvania (Knickerbocker Press, New York), 2 vols. 1940. Birds of Western Pennsylvania. University of Pittsburgh Press. Turnbull, William Patterson. 1869 . The birds of East Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Author, Glasgow. White, Andrew. 1633. A declaration of the Lord Baltemore's plantation in Mary-land, nigh upon Virginia. London. 8 pp. (Reprinted, pages 1-10, in: C. C. Hall 1910). White, Andrew. See: P. Force 1836-1846. Wilson, Alexander. l8ll. American Ornithology. Vol. 3, Bradford & Inskeep, Philadelphia. Wright, Albert Hazen. 1912. Early records of the Carolina Paroquet. Auk 29: 343-363. Wright, Silas. 1873. History of Perry County, in Pennsylvania. Wylie & Griest , Lancaster. Dept, of Biological Sciences State Univ. of N.Y. , Albany, NY 12222 EVENING DISPLAY AND MATING ACT OF A PAIR OF WHIP-POOR-WILLS Dorothy J. Rauth The following observations were recorded on June 3, 197T, in our yard, which is located on rural, uncultivated acreage about two and one- half miles south of Highland in Howard County, Maryland. While there is still daylight illuminating the area, "he" is singing on one of his singing areas out of sight. "She" awaits him within my view on the gravel driveway at the edge of my yard. She is so motionless, at first, that I think she is a small piece of wood fallen from a nearby tree. She pecks the ground several times. I watch her through my 7 x 35 Bushnell Custom binocular from a location 38 feet away. He arrives and lands facing her. His wings are arched and spread on the ground. He hops toward her. Their beaks are, at first, level with each other, separated by a few inches. He raises and lowers his head many times, while facing her. She does the same, duplicating his head action in unison. He gets closer to her, then flies behind her. He gets onto her back. She hops forward and out from under, dislodging him. He March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 11 persists in his attempt and finally she allows him to tread her briefly. They make no noise, but the wings of the male Whip-poor-will are held in a vertical position with the tips of the primaries vibrating during the act. While he is treading her, I can see that his tail is arched in a semicircle and fanned out so that the white spots are visible as the outer tail feathers form a triangle pointing to the ground. She hops out from under, a body length forward. He displays again, behind her back. She makes a small circular flight, a few inches above the ground and lands in the same area slightly downhill from her first position. He makes a similar small circular flight and lands beside her, side by side, heads close together. They again display, timing the rais- ing and lowering of their heads in unison, at first; but as he becomes more excited his head -act ion gets higher and faster, resulting in their two heads alternating their high and low positions — that is, hers is up, when his is down. While the head action is taking place his wings are arched and fanned out horizontally, but I cannot discern whether his wing that is next to the female, is closed or is extended over her back. How- ever their heads are close together. His white throat patch is visible. She hops forward, flies in a small circle, and lands in the drive- way again. So does he. By this time, it is getting dark so that when they next fly onto the grassy lawn, I can no longer see what they do. The only vocalization I heard was a soft guttural cry that usually pre- ceeds the whistling of the "whip-poor-will" song. Bent , in Life Histories of North American Cuckoos , Goatsuckers , Hummingbirds and Their Allies~ Tu. S. National Museum Bulletin 17 6, ppS 16U-165, 19 ^ 0 ) cites three observations on courtship behavior of the Whip-poor-will. None of these accounts mentions the head pumping and none of the observers actually witnessed coition. 12998 Schooley Mill Road, Highland, Md. 20777 BEWICK'S WREN IN CALVERT COUNTY John H. Fates At 2:00 p.m. on May 9, 1978, when I was hiking 100 feet inland along the Chesapeake Bay at Plum Point in Calvert County, Maryland, I saw a Bewick's Wren ( Tkpyomanes bewicki-i) . I observed it closely with a Nikon 8 x 30 binocular and saw the distinctive white-tipped tail. The bird was in a barrier of briers, other growth and prunings from a nearby orchard that ran parallel to and just behind the sand beach. The weath- er was clear, and the temperature was 83° F. This is the first known record of this species in the lower part of the Western Shore of Chesapeake Bay. 2809 Ridge Road, Hunting town, Md. 20639 12 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 THE SEASON FALL MIGRATION, AUGUST 1 - NOVEMBER 30, 1978 Robert F. Ringler August began with two weeks of wet weather which gave the month its quota of precipitation. This was followed by a two-week dry spell that ended when a cold front passed through at the end of the month, produc- ing several days of good birding as reported in Carroll County on August 31 (20 species of warblers seen), Kent County on Sept. 1, and Dorchester County on Sept. 2. Temperatures averaged 3 degrees above normal. Two more weeks of warm, dry weather ensued before another front passed through in mid-September. The precipitation for the month was 2 inches below normal, and for October 1 1/2 inches below normal as the dry conditions continued. The weather turned cooler, however, as Octo- " ber was 2 1/2 degrees below normal and western Maryland received its first snowfall on the 17th. In November, though precipitation was back to normal, it was clus- tered around the passage of frontal systems on the 15th to the 18th and 27th to 30th. The former system produced a mass movement of waterfowl throughout the state. Temperatures for the month averaged 1.7 above normal and many of the hardier migrants lingered into the winter. The first statewide snowfall of the season occurred on the 27th and it set the pattern for the winter as most of it was gone (except in the west- ern counties) within 2b hours. Banded birds in Tables 1 and 2 are underscored. Observers who contributed to the migration dates in Tables 1 and 2 or to items men- tioned in the text are: Western Maryland - Fran Pope, Sallie Thayer, Ken Hodgdon, Ann and Paul Smith, John Willetts, Robert Keedy. Carroll - Betsy Reeder, Rick Blom, Bob Ringler, Bill Ellis. Baltimore - JiuKStasz, Peter Knight, Jim Orgain, Rick Blom, Hank Kaestner , Peggy Bohanan, Bob Augustine, Mike Resch, Barbara Ross, Sherman Suter, Gladys Cole, Bob Jarboe, Sam Ake, Charles Swift, Martin Brazeau, Paul Noell, Joe Schreiber, Steve Simon, Bob Ringler. Harford - Chuck Graham, Joe Schreiber. Howard - Jo Solem, Steve Simon, Rosamund Munro, Martha Chest on, Marjorie Mountjoy, Brenda Bell, Mark Wallace. Montgomery - John Weske, Robert Warfield, Paul DuMont. Table 1. Fall Arrival Dates, 1978 Common Loon Horned Grebe Pled-bllled Grebe Double-crested Cormor Little Blue Heron Median 10- yr 1978 Ga/Al Carrl Balti Ha/Ce Howar Montg PrGeo AnnAr SouMd ke/QA Carol Talbo LES 10/ 6 11/ 1 9/21 ant 9/ 7 8/ 5 9/26 11/15 9/25 9/ 2 7/31 10/14 11/17 9/23 11/15 11/28 10/31 10/ 89/6 9/16 0 0 8/12 0 8/6 7/11 Ll/19 0 0 0 0 0 11/19 0 11/26 9/25 10/22 9/21 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8/10 9/ 9 11/21 10/15 8/27 7/25 0 0 0 9/10 0 11/ 7 0 8/23 0 9/ 6 10/ 2 7/19 0. 9/23 0 8/30 8/ 5 8/23 9/26 10/29 9/25 9/ 2 Cattle Egret - 7/26 0 0 7/16 0 6/24 0 0 0 0 7/26 0 8/24 - Great Egret 8/ 8 7/31 0 8/6 7/24 0 0 0 0 7/25 8/27 7/ 9 0 9/14 - Snowy Egret 7/27 7/26 0 0 6/30 0 0 0 - 7/24 0 7/26 0 9/24 - Whistling Swan 11/ 9 11/12 11/15 10/21 11/11 11/19 11/15 11/24 10/29 11/ 8 - 10/21 11/18 11/14 10/13 Canada Goose 9/26 9/13 10/ 8 9/13 9/12 10/24 8/23 9/23 8/ 6 9/13 8/27 9/10 9/ 5 9/18 9/14 Snow Goose 10/12 11/21 11/15 0 0 L2/ 1 11/21 0 0 10/ 2 12/ 5 10/10 12/16 12/ 7 9/23 Gadwall 9/28 10/ 7 10/14 10/ 1 11/11 - 0 11/24 10/ 7 9/ 9 0 9/16 0 0 - Common Pintail 10/ 1 10/ 7 11/15 10/13 11/13 0 0 10/ 7 9/23 10/30 0 8/30 0 9/ 9 9/25 Green-winged Teal 9/28 9/25 10/17 8/31 9/ 1 0 9/ 7 0 9/23 10/21 10/ 7 9/12 12/16 9/26 9/25 Blue-winged Teal 8/29 8/30 0 0 8/ 7 0 0 9/ 9 0 8/ 5 0 8/30 0 0 10/29 American Wigeon 9728“ 9/25 10/ 8 10/ 1 10/22 0 9/21 0 9/17 9/26 0 9/ 5 0 0 9/25 Northern Shoveler 10/ 5 10/28 0 0 10/29 - 0 0 11/ 5 10/28 0 9/16 0 0 9/25 Redhead 11/ 3 11/15 11/15 0 11/11 0 12/23 12/ 8 0 10/22 0 10/19 0 12/ 2 - Ring-necked Duck 11/ 9 10/21 10/15 10/13 11/ 8 0 10/21 12/ 8 10/ 8 12/ 2 0 10/19 10/31 0 0 Canvasback 1 U 7 11/ 2 11/15 11/18 11/12 0 10/21 0 11/ 5 10/28 - 10/21 10/31 - - Greater Scaup 11/19 12/16 0 0 0 0 0 0 11/ 3 12/ 5 10/19 0 0 - Lesser Scaup 10/21 10/26 10/14 11/18 10/22 0 10/28 11/24 0 10/26 - 10/16 12/ 2 10/22 - Common Goldeneye 11/ 5 11/ 8 11/15 11/ 4 11/ 8 0 11/18 0 11/11 10/29 - 11/ 7 12/ 2 10/29 - Bufflehead 11/ 4 11/ 3 11/15 11/ 1 10/15 0 11/ 3 11/24 10/29 11/ 4 - 11/ 7 10/18 - - Oldsquaw 11/ 1 11/ 8 11/15 11/19 11/ 8 0 11/11 0 11/11 10/17 - 11/ 7 0 10/29 10/29 White-winged Scoter 10/16 10/15 11/17 0 11/11 0 0 0 0 10/17 10/ 7 10/15 0 9/24 10/ 5 Surf Scoter - 10/26 0 0 12/24 0 0 0 10/29 - 12/ 5 10/23 0 10/22 10/ 8 Black Scoter - 10/12 0 0 11/17 0 0 0 0 10/17 10/ 7 10/21 0 10/ 3 8/28 Ruddy Duck 10/20 10/16 10/14 10/20 10/ 7 0 10/14 - 10/18 11/ 8 - 10/10 10/31 - - Hooded Merganser - 11/11 11/15 11/ 4 11/ 2 0 11/18 0 0 11/11 0 11/19 0 11/11 - Common Merganser - 11/24 12/16 12/13 11/ 6 12/12 0 0 10/26 0 10/21 0 0 0 Red-breasted Merganser 11/12 11/17 0 12/ 3 0 0 0 0 11/ 8 0 11/ 7 0 0 - Sharp-shinned Hawk 9/25 9/23 9/15 9/13 9/ 9 - 9/27 - 9/24 9/10 10/ 7 8/18 9/26 -9/23 9/26 Cooper's Hawk - 9/23 9/ 4 10/ 5 9/10 0 0 9/23 9/24 10/ 4 0 9/23 10/27 9/12 9/26 Rough-legged Hawk 11/26 11/11 11/ 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 10/18 0 11/19 0 0 11/19 Bald Eagle - 9/19 9/17 0 9/ 9 - 0 0 9/ 9 9/22 0 9/23 10/ 8' 9/ 2 9/26 Northern Harrier - 9/11 9/ 9 9/14 8/ 5 0 0 9/ 9 9/17 9/10 0 9/28 10/ 2 8/ 5 9/13 Peregrine Falcon - 9/22 0 0 9/19 0 0 0 0 9/23 0 9/22 0 0 9/29 Ld March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Table 1. Fall Arrival Dates, 1978 H Median 10-yr 1978 Ga/Al Carrl Balti Ha/Ce Ho war Montg PrGeo AnnAr SouMd Ke/QA Carol Talbo LES Merlin _ 9/ 9 0 0 9/ 9 0 8/25 0 0 9/13 0 9/ 1 0 0 9/26 American Kestrel - 8/30 9/ 2 - 8/20 - 9/13 - 9/ 9 7/26 - 8/30 - 7/29 - American Coot 10/19 10/19 10/14 10/18 10/ 7 10/24 11/ 3 11/19 10/20 10/12 - 10/11 10/31 - - Semipalmated Plover 8/ 4 7/31 8/ 4 8/ 6 7/28 0 0 9/ 9 0 7/23 0 7/27 0 9/26 7/19 Lesser Golden Plover - 9/23 10/ 1 0 9/ 3 0 0 9/30 0 8/26 0 9/17 0 0 10/ 8 Black-bellied Plover 9/10 “8/20 0 0 10/16 0 0 0 8/ 6 7/31 0 9/17 0 0 8/20 Greater Yellowlegs 8/10 7/16 7/16 - 7/15 0 0 9/30 - 7/10 0 7/ 5 0 9/ 9 7/17 Lesser Yellowlegs 8/ 6 7/17 8/ 4 8/16 7/15 0 0 9/ 9 0 6/28 0 7/17 0 0 7/ 8 Solitary Sandpiper 7/28 7/30 8/11 8/ 6 7/16 0 0 9/ 9 7/17 7/23 0 - 0 0 0 Spotted Sandpiper 7/26 8/ 6 8/ 6 8/ 6 - - - - 8/ 6 7/ 4 - 7/30 - 8/25 7/ 2 Common Snipe 9/17 9/17 - 10/10 9/ 3 - - 9/ 9 - 8/31 - 10/21 - - 9/25 Short-billed Dowitcher 7/31 7/16 10/14 0 7/16 0 10/24 9/30 0 7/ 3 ' 0 7/10 0 0 7/ 1 Sanderling 8/18 - 0 0 8/30 0 0 0 0 7/24 0 0 0 0 7/30 Semipalmated Sandpiper 8/ 1 7/23 0 8/ 6 7/21 0 0 9/ 9 0 7/23 0 7/17 0 0 7/ 6 Western Sandpiper - 8/ 8 0 0 8/11 0 0 0 0 7/24. 0 9/22 0 0 8/ 5 Least Sandpiper 7/25 7/16 0 10/10 7/16 0 0 0 0 7/10 0 7/17 0 0 0 Pectoral Sandpiper 8/10 8/ 5 0 9/14 7/21 0 0 9/ 9 8/ 5 7/25 - 7/17 0 0 8/ 5 Dunlin 10/ 1 10/14 10/14 10/20 10/24 0 0 9/30 0 9/13 0 9/22 0 0 10/15 Stilt Sandpiper - 7/27 0 0 7/28 0 0 0 0 7/25 0 7/27 0 0 8/ 5 Bonaparte's Gull - 11/15 11/15 11/18 11/11 - 0 0 0 9/20 0 11/15 12/16 0 - Black Tern - 8/ 5 8/ 6 0 8/ 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 8/ 8 0 0 8/ 5 Long-eared Owl - - 0 11/28 12/30 0 0 0 11/19 0 0 0 • 0 0 Short-eared Owl - - 0 0 12/ 5 0 0 0 0 11/ 5 0 12/12 0 0 - Saw-whet Owl - 11/ 5 11/ 5 0 0 0 0 11/ 5 10/26 10/26 0 12/17 0 0 12/29 Common Nlehthawk 8/23 8/21 - 8/27 8/10 - 8/19 8/24 8/12 8/29 8/25 8/10 - 9/ 2 8/19 Red-headed Woodpecker 9/20 9/25 - - 9/ 8 - - - - 9/21 - 10/12 0 9/25 10/ 8 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 9/29 9/30 - 9/22 9/23 - 10/ 6 10/ 1 9/30 9/23 10/19 9/26 10/ 7 9/24 10/ 8 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 9/ 1 9/ 2 9/14 9/10 8/21 0 8/25 9/ 9 9/ 2 9/ 1 9/ 3 0 0 0 0 Least Flycatcher 8/31 9/ 3 - 9/10 8711 0 0 ITT 97~9 8/27 0 0 0 9/ 2 0 Olive-sided Flycatcher 8/26 8/28 8/ 2 0 8/24 0 0 9/11 9/ 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 Tree Swallow 8/12 8/ 7 - - 7/ 8 - 9/ 7 8/ 9 9/10 7/ 4 - 8/21 0 8/ 6 8/ 5 Red-breasted Nuthatch 9/15 9/10 10/14 9/ 8 9/ 9 - - 10/ 1 9/ 6 9/ 9 10/ 7 9/10 9/23 9/ 9 9/29 Brown Creeper 10/ 2 9/28 9/ 9 10/ 4 9/23 - 9/27 9/30 9/21 9/26 10/15 10/ 2 10/ 6 9/27 10/ 3 Winter Wren 10/ 4 10/ 5 9/17 10/ 4 10/ 1 - - 10/1 10/25 9/26 - 10/ 7 12/2 10/14 10/29 Hermit Thrush 10/11 .10/ 6 - 10/ 5 9/ 9 10/21 9/ 9 9/30 10/14 10/ 1 10/15 9/28 12/2 10/14 10/ 8 Swainson's Thrush 9/10 9/ 4 ~~9fT 9/ 3 8/30 9/ 9 9/21 9/ 4 9/ 2 8/26 - 9/17 0 9/2 9/26 Gray-cheeked Thrush 9/24 9/23 tr~9 0 9716 0 0 9724 97IT 9/29 0 9/22 0 9/24 10/ 3 Veery 9/ 4 9/ 2 - 8/31 8/21 9/ 9 9/13 9711 9/ 1 8/27 - 9/ 2 0 9/ 2 - Golden-crowned Kinglet 10/ 5 10/15 10/11 10/21 1WI7 1TJ7ZTT 10/20 - 10/ifa 9/29 - - 10/19 10/ 1 9/29 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 9/24 9/26 9/27 10/ 1 9/ 9 - 10/ 3 9/24 9/25 9/23 10/ 7 9/27 9/14 9/24 9/29 BIRDLIFE Yol. 35, Ho. Median 10-yr 1978 Water Pipit 10/20 10/ 5 Solitary Vireo 10/ 1 9/24 Philadelphia Vireo 9/17 9/16 Black-&-white Warbler 8/25 9/ 3 Blue-winged Warbler 8/31 8/27 Tennessee Warbler 9/7 9/3 Orange -crowned Warbler 10/ 2 Nashville Warbler 9/8 9/8 Magnolia Warbler 9/6 9/4 Cape May Warbler 9/8 9/7 Black-thr . Blue Warbler 9/ 9 9/10 Yellow-rumped Warbler 9/29 10/ 1 Black-thr. Green Warbler 9/11 9/19 Blackburnian Warbler 9/4 9/4 Chestnut-sided Warbler 9/2 9/4 Bay-breasted Warbler 9/ 7 9/10 Blackpoll Warbler 9/14 9/12 Palm Warbler 9/28 9/23 Northern Waterthrush 9/ 1 8/31 Connecticut Warbler 9/17 9/ 7 Mourning Warbler 9/ 6 - Wilson’s Warbler 9/9 9/4 Canada Warbler 8/24 9/ 2 American Redstart 8/28 8/21 Bobolink 8/30 8/22 Rusty Blackbird 10/20 10/ 5 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 9/13 9/ 7 Evening Grosbeak 11/ 8 11/14 Purple Finch 10/ 6 10/ 6 Pine Siskin 10/25 11/25 Savannah Sparrow 9/25 10/ 7 Vesper Sparrow - 10/25 Northern Junco 10/ 5 10/ 6 American Tree Sparrow 11/21 11/26 White-crowned Sparrow 10/14 10/14 White-throated Sparrow 9/30 9/29 Fox Sparrow 10/29 11/ 4 Lincoln's Sparrow 9/26 10/ 1 Swamp Sparrow 10/ 4 10/ 1 Snow Bunting 11/19 Ga/Al Carrl Balti Ha/Ce Howar Montg PrGeo AnnAr SouMd Ke/QA Carol Talbo LES 10/ 1 11/26 0 9/30 11/30 9729 0 10/29 9/29 March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Table 2. Fall Departure Dates, 1978 H CT\ Double-crested Cormora Green Heron Little Blue Heron Cattle Egret Great Egret Median 10-yr 1978 Ga/Al Carrl Baltl Ha/Ce Howar Montg PrGeo AnnAr SouMd Ke/QA Carol Talbo LES nt 10/18 10/ 5 10/ 3 10/10 10/ 1 8/20 10/ 3 10/25 10/ 9 10/ 7 0 9/20 0 0 0 0 10/8 0 9/23 10/22 10/24 8/20 8/20 0 0 '8/9 0 10/ 7 9/16 0 ' 9/21 10/13 0 9/27 0 0 0 9/18 10/17 0 0 0 10/29 0 0 11/12 11/ 3 8/ 2 10/25 0 0 0 0 9/ 6 10/ 2 11/ 5 - 10/21 9/17 9/30 10/ 7 7/19 0 10/14 - 10/15 12/17 12/18 12/14 10/21 0 10/ 3 1/10 Snowy Egret 10/14 10/16 0 0 9/19 0 0 0 - 10/16 0 10/15 0 12/15 12/13 Louisiana Heron - 0 ■ 0 8/17 ■0 0 0 0 8/12 0 0 0 8/12 - American Bittern 10/ 9 0 10/ 5 12/ 7 0 0 0 0 12/ 2 0 10/15 0 0 - Glossy Ibis 9/28 - 0 0 8/26 0 0 0 0 8/ 6 0 0 0 0 10/29 Blue-winged Teal 10/11 10/11 0 0 10/11 0 0 10/ 9 11/ 3 9/13 0 10/11 0 0 10/29 Wood Duck - 11/ 3 10/24 11/18 11/11 10/28 12/15 10/22 - 11/ 8 Ll/26 10/22 - 10/29 - Broad-winged Hawk 9/30 10/ 3 9/30 9/16 9/23 - 10/ 6 - 9/24 11/ 9 - 9/30 - 10/14 10/ 8 Osprey 10/12 10/13 10/ 8 10/13 10/13 - 11/13 10/ 9 10/12 10/28 10/ 9 11/ 7 9/28 10/14 11/ 5 Semipalmated Plover 9/25 9/29 8/ 4 8/ 6 8/ 5 0 0 9/30 0 10/ 6 0 9/28 0 10/27 10/23 Lesser Golden Plover 10/24 10/ 3 10/ 1 0 9/ 3 0 0 9/30 0 10/ -4 0 10/11 0 0 10/15 Black-bellied Plover 10/16 - 0 0 10/16 0 0 0 0 9/ 3 0 10/11 0 0 W Greater Yellowlegs 10/27 10/24 10/21 11/ 1 11/16 10/24 0 9/30 11/11 10/30 0 10/16 0 10/22 - Lesser Yellowlegs 10/ 8 10/ 7 8/ 4 9/14 12/14 0 0 9/30 0 10/17 0 10/14 0 0 - Solitary Sandpiper 9/23 9/23 8/11 10/ 6 11/12 0 0 9/ 9 9/23 9/ 5 0 9/28 0 0 0 Spotted Sandpiper 9/23 10/ 6 8/29 11/18 10/21 - - - 9/17 10/ 6 - 9/28 - 11/ 8 - Short-billed Dowitchei 1 9715" 10/14 0 8/25 0 10/24 9/30“ 0 8/31 0 7/17 0 0 - Semipalmated Sandpipei 9/25 10/ 4 0 10/ 6 10/ 3 0 0 9/30 0 10/ 4 0 9/28 0 0 10/ 8 Western Sandpiper - 0 0 10/24 0 0 0 0 10/ 6 0 9/28 0 0 - Least Sandpiper 9/19 10/ 1 0 10/10 - 0 0 0 0 10/ 1 0 9/28 0 0 - Pectoral Sandpiper 10/11 10/26 0 11/ 4 11/12 0 0 9/30 11/10 10/23 10/ 7 9/28 0 0 10/29 Dunlin 11/10 11/ 1 10/21 10/20 11/12 0 0 9/30 0 11/30 0 12/17 0 0 W Stilt Sandpiper - 0 0 9/25 0 0 0 0 11/28 0 9/28 0 0 0 Laughing Gull 11/ 3 12/ 4 0 0 L0/24 0 0 12/16 12/21 12/ 5 12/17 12/ 2 10/29 - Forster's Tern 11/ 3 11/ 5 0 0 11/12 10/28 0 0 0 11/19 10/15 11/25 0 10/29 - Common Tern 10/15 10/16 0 0 - 0 0 0 0 10/17 10/15 10/21 0 10/ 3 - Little Tern 8/17 0 0 9/1 0 0 0 0 8/26 0 8/ 8 0 8/ 5 - Royal Tern - 10/22 0 0 9/1 0 0 0 0 11/15 0 8/14 0 10/22 10/29 Caspian Tern 10/ 7 10/27 0 0 10/22 10/28 0 0 0 10/25 0 9/27 0 10/ 3 10/29 Black Tern 8/ 6 8/ 6 0 8/ 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 8/ 8 0 0 8/ 5 Yellow-billed Cuckoo 9/27 10/ 3 - 10/ 5 10/10 - 9/26 9/24 - 10/ 1 - 10/18 10/ 9/27 - Black-billed Cuckoo 9/27 9/14 - 9/14 9/ 7 - - 9/24 - 9/29 - - - 9/ 2 - H BIRDLIFE Vol. 35. No. Median 10-yr 1978 Common Nighthawk 9/17 9/17 Chimney Swift 10/10 10/10 Ruby-throated Hummingbird 9/27 9/29 Eastern Kingbird 9/15 9/15 Great Crested Flycatcher 9/16 9/11 Eastern Phoebe 10/24 10/20 Yellow-bellied Flycatcher 9/22 9/18 Acadian Flycatcher 9/19 9/ 9 Traill's Flycatcher 9/18 8/31 Least Flycatcher 9/22 9/20 Eastern Pewee 10/ 3 9/29 Olive-sided Flycatcher - 9/7 Tree Swallow 10/18 10/17 Bank Swallow 9/10 9/17 Rough-winged Swallow 9/27 9/17 Barn Swallow 9/18 10/ 8 Cliff Swallow ■ -9/7 Purple Martin 9/ 7 9/10 House Wren 10/11 10/12 Gray Catbird 10/2 1 10/27 Brown Thraaher 10/21 10/11 Wood Thrush 10/11 9/27 Swalnson's Thrush 10/14 10/15 Gray-cheeked Thrush 10/10 10/ 4 Veery 9/28 9/17 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 9/15 9/20 White-eyed Vireo 9/26 10/ 1 Yellow-throated Vireo 9/12 9/12 Solitary Vireo 10/14 10/ 9. Red-eyed Vireo 10/ 3 10/ 6 Philadelphia Vireo 9727 9726 Black-&-white Warbler 10/ 6 10/ 7 Worm-eating Warbler 9/12 9/ 1 Golden-winged Warbler 8/31 Blue-winged Warbler 9/13 9/16 Tennessee Warbler 10/ 8 10/ 9 Orange-crowned Warbler Ga/Al Carrl Balti Ha/Ce Ho war Montg PrGeo AnnAr SouMd Ke/QA Carol Talbo 9/17 9/26 9/22 10/17 10/15 10/ 8 9/13 9/ 3 9/10 91 9 10/ 7 9/23 - 10/10 10/14 10/12 10/ 3 10/ 8 9/27 9/ 4 10/16 - 9/28 - 9/24 - 9/17 9/17 10/18 10/14 10/22 10/29 0 0 0 0 9/ 6 9/30 - 9/28 10/22 0 0 11/ 6 10/14 9/24 9/23 0 0 9/7 9/2 - 9/30 10/15 10/24 10/22 W 10/14 10/ 8 9/20 10/ 1 10/ 8 10/14 10/ 8 0 9/24 10/ 3 9/24 H March 19T9 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Table 2. Fall Departure Dates, 1978 H CD Median 10-yr 1978 Nashville Warbler 10/ 5 10/ 9 Northern Parula Warbler 10/ 4 10/ 4 Yellow Warbler 9/16 9/20 Magnolia Warbler 10/ 6 10/15 Cape May Warbler 10/ 5 10/18 Black-thr. Blue Warbler 10/ 8 9/27 Black-thr. Green Warbler 10/10 10/ 8 Blackburnian Warbler 9/28 9/23 Chestnut-sided Warbler 9/29 9/27 Bay-breasted Warbler 9/30 9/26 Blackpoll Warbler " 10/l0 107~8 Prairie Warbler 9/20 9/11 Palm Warbler 10/19 10/21 Ovenbird 10/ 6 10/ 8 Northern Waterthrush 10/ 2 9/15 Louisiana Waterthrush Kentucky Warbler 9/ 4 Connecticut Warbler 9/29 Mourning Warbler 9/25 Common Yellowthroat 10/14 9/ 5 9/28 10/28 Yellow-breasted Chat 9/29 10 / 2 Hooded Warbler 9/16 9/18 Wilson's Warbler 9/29 9/13 Canada Warbler 9/25 9/17 American Redstart 10/ 4 10/ 3 Bobolink Orchard Oriole Northern Oriole Scarlet Tanager Summer Tanager Rose-breasted Grosbeak Blue Grosbeak Indigo Bunting Savannah Sparrow Grasshopper Sparrow Vesper Sparrow Chipping Sparrow Lincoln's Sparrow 9/19 9/24 10/ 6 9728 8/18 10/ 4 10/ 8 10 / 6 10 / 5 9/22 9/18 10/ 5 10/ 9 - 10/26 10/25 10/26 10/11 10/25 Ga/Al Carrl Balti Ha/Ce| Howar Montg PrGeo AnnAr SouMd Ke/QA Carol Talbo 10/24 10/22 10/17 0 10/21 10/21 BIRDLIFE . Vol. 35. No. March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 19 Prince Georges - Sam Droege, Danny Rystrak, Chandler Rohhins. Anne Arundel - Had Vierenga. Southern Maryland - Paul Nistico, Wayne Klockner. Kent /Queen Annes - Floyd Parks, Jim Gruber, Jan Reese. Caroline - A. J. and Roberta Fletcher, Ethel Engle, Alicia Knotts, Marvin Hewitt, Inez Glime, Marianna Nuttle, J. Schmick. Talbot - Jan Reese, Donald Meritt, Robert Sharp, Alice Jones, Jeff Ef finger, Henry Armistead. Lower Eastern Shore - Henry Armistead, Robert Warfield, Steve Gniadek, Paul DuMont. Loons , Grebes . Warfield observed a non-breeding plumage Common Loon among the surfers at Ocean City on Aug. lL and 20. The loon migration got into full swing in November with high counts of 57 Commons at Sandy Point State Park on Nov. 1 6 (Wierenga), L3 at Piney Run Park calling in the fog on Nov. 17 (Ringler, Stasz), and 62b migrating past Monument Knob on Nov. 25 (Rowlett, Wierenga). Unusual inland were single Red- throated Loons at Broadford Reservoir, Nov. 1 6 (Pope) and Loch Raven, Nov. 2h (Resch). Quite rare in fall was a Red-necked Grebe at Eastern Neck Refuge on Nov. 17 (Parks). Pelagics . The Aug. 6 boat trip off Ocean City found 1 Cory's and 3 Audubon's Shearwaters with over 100 Wilson's Storm Petrels. The Oct. 28 trip tallied 6 record-late Cory's Shearwaters, 1^ Greater Shearwaters, and 1 Manx Shearwater, Maryland’s first October record. A Wilson's Storm Petrel also seen that day was more than a month later than any previous state record. The 39 Northern GannetS were more appropriate of the season. Cormorants , Tall Waders . Interesting observations of Double-Crested Cormorants were 18 at Kent Narrows, Sept. 6 (Reese), 1 on the Rrendel Farm Pond in Howard County, Sept. 21 (Wallace, Solem), 2 6 at Sandy Point, Sept. 23 (Wierenga), 2 at Tanyard, Caroline County, Oct. 2 (Engle), and 20 in Talbot County, Oct. 3 (Reese). A late concentration of Cattle Egrets was 55 at Golden Hill, Dorchester County, Oct. 8 (Armistead), Similarly, 65 Great Egrets and 130 Snowy Egrets were at Hooper Island, Sept. 29 (Armistead, Reese). Three Great Egrets at Piney Run Park on Oct. 5 (Ringler) were late for the Piedmont. Louisiana Herons that moved into the northern part of the bay were 1 at Back River, Aug. 5 (Blom), 1 at Sandy Point, Aug. 12 (Wierenga), 1 at Bellevue, Talbot County, Aug. 12 (Armistead), 3 at Eastern Neck, Aug. 1^ (Reese), and 1 at North Point Aug. 17 (Stasz). An immature Yel low-crowned Night Heron remained at the north end of Liberty Reservoir through Sept. 13. Late Least Bitterns were 1 at Eastern Neck, Sept. 5, and L at Kent Narrows, Sept. 6 (Reese). One Glossy Ibis was at Sandy Point, Aug. 6 (Wierenga), another was at North Point, Aug. 26 (Stasz), and two late birds were on Assateague, Oct, 29 (DuMont). Waterfowl . There were 150 Mute Swans at Eastern Neck, Sept. 12 and 27 (Reese)^ Two Mute Swans at Hooper Island, Sept. 26 and 29 (Armi- stead, Reese), were farther south than they have been seen in the bay. The major movement of Whistling Swans occurred on Nov. 18 with counts of 275 at Sandy Point (Wierenga), 173 at Piney Run Park (Ringler), and 20 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 3?, No. 1 over 1,000 that arrived at Blackwater and departed later the same day (Gniadek). By Nov. 19 over 5,000 were at Eastern Neck (Reese). By con- trast, most Canada Geese arrived in late September with 3,000+ at Sandy Point on Sept. 23 (Wierenga) and 1,700 at Hooper Island on Sept. 26 (Armistead). Quite unusual in Garrett County were single Brant at Broadford Reservoir on Nov. 15 and Mountain Lake Sewage Lagoons on Nov. 18 (Pope). An adult Greater White-fronted Goose was among the thousands of Canada Geese at the Remington Farms pond on Nov. 25 (Ringler). Tying the state arrival record for Snow Goose were 4 adult and 3 immature "blues" at Blackwater, Sept. 23 (Gniadek). Other notable Snow Geese were singles on Broadford Reservoir, Nov- 15 (Pope), and at Sandy Point, Oct. 2 and 21 (Wierenga). A summary of the waterfowl at three locations in Garrett County on the peak day as reported by Fran Pope is given in Table 3- Particularly impressive are the numbers of swans and divers. Table 3. Waterfowl in Garrett County, Nov. 17, 1978 Species Common Loon Horned Grebe Pied-billed Grebe Whistling Swan Canada Goose Snow Goose Mallard Gad wall American Wig eon Canvasback Lesser Scaup Common Goldeneye Buffi eh ead Old squaw White-winged Scoter Ruddy Duck Red-breasted Mergan American Coot Deep Broadford Creek Reservoir Lake 800 490 10 0 0 0 550 345 6 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 150 170 170 12 0 200 420 6 0 4 0 500 1,800 28 0 0 500 Herrington Manor Total 0 1,290 0 10 3 3 200 1,095 0 - 6 0 1 20 20 20 20 20 20 0 l6l 0 340 3 15 10 630 0 6 0 4 0 2,300 0 28 0 500 Exceptionally early were 18 Common Pintails at Eastern Neck, Aug. 30, and an American Wigeon there. Sept. 5 (Reese). High counts of other ducks include 52 Wood Ducks at Sandy Pointy Aug. 26 (Wierenga), 60CH- Lesser Scaup in Talbot County, Oct. 29, and 1,000+ White-winged Scoters there, Oct. l4 and 22 (Reese). A female or immature Common Eider was at Point Lookout, Oct. 7 and 15 (Nistico, et al. ). Two immature King Eiders that apparently summered at the north end of Assateague Island were seen there on Aug. 5 (DuMont, Rowlett). Nine Black Scoters were with them. A male Black Scoter was on Druid Lake in Baltimore City, Nov. 17 (Ake). Diurnal Raptors . For the first time in many years a comprehensive view of hawk migration across the state was obtained with data reported from five locations. Ann and Paul Smith compiled the Dan's Rock totals March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 21 Table 4. Summary of Hawk Watches in Maryland - Fall 1978 Species Total First Last Highest Counts Table 4 a. Dan's Rock, Allegany County Turkey Vulture 15 9/2 10/1-7 13 on 9/2 Black Vulture 9 10/21 - 9 Sharp -shinned Hawk 311 9/15 10/29 4l on 9/25, 39 on 9/23, 35 on 10/13 Cooper 1 s Hawk 31 9/4 11/5 6 on 9/23 and 9/25 Red -tailed Hawk 367 9/2 11/18 135 on 10/29, 42 on 10/30 Red-shouldered Hawk 18 9/15 n/9 4 on 10/29 Broad-winged Hawk 1,789 9/2 9/30 376 on 9/23, 320 on 9/10, 311 on 9/15 Rough-legged Hawk 1 11/4 - 1 Golden Eagle 6 10/28 11/5 4 on 11/5, also 1 on 11/4 Bald Eagle 2 9/17 9/23 1 Northern Harrier 45 9/9 11/11 6 on 9/23, 5 on 10/25 and 10/29 Osprey 16 9/10 10/8 5 on 9/10 Merlin 1 11/4 - 1 American Kestrel 31 ■ 9/2 10/23 4 on 9/15 and 10/8 Unidentified .191 - - Total 2,833 9/2 11/18 461 on 9/23 Table 4B. North Point, Baltimore County Turkey Vulture 25 9/9 10/15 12 on 10/15 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2,305 9/9 10/21 329 on 10/14 Cooper's Hawk 47 9/10 10/14 9 on 10/8 Red-tailed Hawk 12 9/17 10/21 4 on 10/8 Red-shouldered Hawk 7 9/9 10/8 2 on 9/9 and 9/19 Broad-winged Hawk 5 8/20 9/23 1 Bald Eagle 4 9/9 9/24 2 on 9/9, also 1 on 9/19 Northern Harrier 105 9/9 10/21 20 on 9/19 Osprey 4o 8/20 10/15 7 on 10/7 Peregrine Fade on 3 9/19 10/14 also 1 on 10/13 Merlin 5 9/9 10/8 2 on 9/18, also 1 on 9/20 American . Kestrel 310 8/20 10/14 99 on 9/19 Unidentified 33 - - Total (28 days) 2, 901 8/20 10/21 Table 4C . Sandy Point & Annapolis, Anne Arundel County Turkey Vulture 267 9/10 11/21 113 on 10/18, 38 on 10/21 Sharp-shinned Hawk 69 9/10 11/23 7 on 10/6 and 10/22 Cooper's Hawk 8 io/4 ■ H/13 2 on 10/4 Red-tailed Hawk 194 8/17 11/30 31 on 11/9, 29 on 10/l8, 26 on 10/28 Red-shouldered Hawk 6l 9/1 6 11/14 28 on 10/21, 6 on 10/18 Broad-winged Hawk 1,299 8/17 11/9 1,290 on 9/10 Rough-legged Hawk 1 10/18 - 1 Bald Eagle 5 9/22 10/6 2 on 10/6 Northern Harrier 10 9/10 10/26 2 on 9/23 and 9/24 Osprey 67 8/17 10/28 12 on 9/23, 10 on 9/10 Peregrine Falcon 3 9/23 9/25 2 on 9/23 Merlin 2 9/13 9/23 1 American Kestrel 34 7/26 10/17 3 on 9/24 and 9/26 Total 2,020 7/26 11/30 - * - - 22 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 Total First last Highest Counts Table 1+D. Eastern Shore, Talbot & Dorchester Counties Turkey Vulture 61* 9/23 10/29 HLack Vulture 6 9/23 _ Sharp-shinned Hawk 251 9/23 10/29 Cooper ' s Hawk 3 9/26 9/29 Red-tailed Hawk 5 9/26 10/29 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 10/15 _ Broad -winged Hawk 215 9/23 10/8 Bald Eagle 15 9/26 10/29 Northern Harrier 15 9/23 10/15 Osprey 12 9/23 10/15 Peregrine Falcon 1 9/29 - Merlin 3 9/26 10/8 American Kestrel 53 9/23 10/15 Total (7 days) 6M* 9/23 10/29 Table 1+E. Monument Knob Washington/Frederick Counties Species Individuals Goshawk 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk 760 Cooper 1 s Hawk 29 Red-tailed Hawk 1*38 Red-shouldered Hawk 75 Broad-winged Hawk 6,528 Rough-legged Hawk 5 Golden Eagle (adult) 1 Bald Eagle 2 Northern Harrier 26 Osprey 1*1+ Peregrine Falcon 1* Merl in 1 American Kestrel 12 Unidentified 291 Total (216 hours) 8.222 15 on 9/23 and 9/29 6 71 on 9/26, 57 on 9/29 2 on 9/26 1 1 125 on 9/26, 60 on 9/23 5 on 9/29 1* on 9/23 and 9/26 7 on 9/23 1 2 on 9/26 19 on 9/29 226 on 9/26, ll*i+ on 9/23, 130 on 9/29 Table 1*F. Assateague Island Worcester County Species Individuals Turkey Vulture 65 Black Vulture 2 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6L Cooper ' s Hawk 2 Red-tailed Hawk 3 Bald Eagle (all immatures) 3 Northern Harrier 390 Osprey 99 Peregrine Falcon (total sightings excluding known repeats; 6U banded) 179 Merlin 208 American Kestrel 150 Unidentified small falcons 30 Other unidentified 8 Total (1*36 hours) 1,,203 with help from Scott Mele, Jim Wilkinson, and Kim Titus. Rick Blom com- piled the North Point data from a host of contributors. Wierenga made his annual counts at Sandy Point and Annapolis. Henry Arm i stead did the Eastern Shore tally with one day at Bellevue (Sept. 23) and the ranainder at Hooper Island. Bill Wells coordinated the Monument Khoh counts [taken from HMANA Newsletter M2): 33-35] and Dr. Prescott Ward and Michael Yates conducted the Assateague study. The total of IT, 823 birds is most im- pressive and probably represents little, if any, duplication as each site monitors a different flight path. Dan's Rock and Monument Knob attract birds moving along the western ridges. North Point focuses on birds fly- ing south along the western shore of the hay. The hawks at Sandy Point are almost entirely birds crossing the bay from the Eastern Shore, while those seen at Bellevue and Hooper Island are flying along the eastern shore of the hay. The Assateague birds are following the sea coast. There were other notable hawk records in the state. The last Turkey Vulture seen in Garrett County was on. Sept. _2b near Oakland (Pope). Thirty Turkey Vultures were at Preston, Oct. 6(Reese). A large roost of March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 23 Doth vulture species gathered at Loch Raven; Resch estimated 1,800 Turkey- Vultures entering the roost on the evening of Nov. 2k and Blom estimated liOO Black Vultures leaving the same roost the next morning. In addition to the Broad-winged Hawks noted in Table 4 Cullom observed hundreds over his house in Catonsville on Sept. 9 and Kaestner estimated 2,500 over northern Baltimore City on Sept. 10. The last Broad-wing at Sandy Point on Nov. 9 "was only the second Novanber record for the State. An adult female Peregrine Falcon was chasing shorebirds around the Sparrows Point steel mills on the unusual date of Aug. i (Ringler, Blan). The bird may have been "Scarlett" foraging rather far afield from her downtown Balti- more roost. Cranes , Rails . DuMont reported 3 Sandhill Cranes flying south near Snow Hill on Sept. 2k. There are only two previous records for Maryland, both in the fall. Reese reported a Clapper Rail at Eastern Neck on Sept. 27. This is the farthest north on the Eastern Shore that this species has been found. It nests regularly only in the four lower counties: Dorchester, Somerset, Wicomico, and Worcester. Shorebirds . An American Oystercatcher at Sandy Point on Sept. 2k (Wierenga) was unusual, and late. Six Black-necked Stilts at the north end of Assateague, Aug. 5 (DuMont, Rowlett) are the most seen at one time in Maryland. Other impressive counts of shorebirds at the same location and date were 150 Semipalmated Plovers, 1+5 Piping Plovers, 120 Whimbrels, 3,500 Semipalmated Sandpipers, 300 Western Sandpipers ,. and 70 Stilt Sand- pipers. A Semipalmated Plover at McHenry on Aug. k (Pope) was unusual for Garrett County. Lesser Golden Plovers were widely reported in small num- bers with the only concentration being in Kent County where Parks reported over 100, Sept. 28-29. Other reports came from Baltimore with one at Back River on Sept. 3 (Blom) and one at Liberty Reservoir in October (Orgain), fran Montgomery County with one at Summit Hall Turf Farm on Sept. 30 (Warfield), from Dorchester County with 3 at Hooper Island on Oct. 15 (Armistead), and Allegany with one at Oldtown on Oct. 1 as reported in the Cumberland News the next day. Jim Paulus was the first of many ob- servers to see the Oldtown bird. Another was at Ocean City on Oct. 8 (Robbins, et al.). A Black-bellied Plover in Baltimore Harbor on Oct. l6 (Ringler) was in an unusual location. Marbled Godwit reports included 3 at Back River on Aug. 6 (Henry Bielstein), one at Sandy Point on Sept. 21 (Wierenga), and 3 at Ocean City on Sept. 2k (DuMont). Twelve Upland Sandpipers were in the Belfast Valley of northern Baltimore County, Aug. 26 (Kaestner). A record late Solitary Sandpiper was at Back River, Nov. 11 and 12 (Kaestner, Stasz). Four Wi 1 lets were- at Sandy Point, Aug. 2 (Wierenga). A Spotted Sandpiper near St. Michaels on Nov. 8 (Ef finger) was quite late, but the latest ever in the Piedmont was at Westminster Reservoir through Nov. 18 (Ringler, Blom). The only Wilson's Phalarope reported this season was at Sandy Point on Sept. 2 (Bystrak). Three Northern Phalaropes were seen off Ocean City, Oct. 28 (DuMont, Rowlett). Short-billed Dowitchers were found inland at Summit Hall Turf Farm on Sept. 30 (Warfield, DuMont) and at the Mountain Lake sewage lagoons on Oct. l4 (Pope). The only Long-billed Dowitchers reported were 2 at the north end of Assateague on Aug. 5 (DuMont , Rowlett) and single birds . at Sandy Point, Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 16-17 (Wierenga). A record-early Red Knot was seen flying down the bay near Hart I. , July 16 (Bob Augustine). 2k MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 Baird'S Sandpipers were scarce this year. Two were at Summit Hall Turf Farm on Sept. 9 (Ringler, et al. ) and 1 on Sept. 30 (DuMont). Two were at Sandy Point on Sept. 13 and 1 the next day (Wierenga). Wierenga also noted single Purple Sandpipers at Sandy Point from Nov. 13 to Dec. 3- Several Dunlins were found inland: 2 at Summit Hall, Sept. 30 (DuMont), 1 at Frost burg, Oct. 1^ (John Willetts), and 1 at Deep Creek Lake, Oct. 21 (Pope). A record-late Stilt Sandpiper was at Sandy Point, Nov. l8- 28 (Bystrak, Wierenga). Buff-breasted Sandpipers made an impressive showing, with the first at Summit Hall on Sept. 23 and 7 there on Sept. 30 (DuMont). DuMont found 2 others at Berlin, Sept. 2k. Jaegers , Gulls . Two Pomarine Jaegers off Ocean City on Oct. 28 (DuMont, Rowlett) were exceptionally late. A Black-headed Gull in win- ter adult plumage at Back River Nov. 19 (Blom) was early. Robbins ob- served immature Laughing Gulls inland at Laurel with 2 on Sept, k and 1 on Sept. 12. Franklin's Gulls made brief appearances again this fall. The first was a winter adult in Northeast Creek, Sept. 3, followed by a bird in partial breeding plumage. Sept. 25 (Blom). An adult with partial hood was seen at Sandy Point, Oct. 17 (Wierenga). Two Bonaparte's Gulls were in the mountains at Broadford Reservoir, Nov. 15 (Pope). A Little Gull in winter adult plumage was at Sandy Point, Oct. 26 (Wierenga). Six Black-legged Kittiwakes off Ocean City on Oct. 28 (DuMont, Rowlett) were moderately early. Terns , Skimmer . At Hooper Island Arm i stead made high counts of 215 Forster's Terns on Oct. 3 and 90 Royal Terns on Oct. 8. Reese found ^5 Royals at Todd's Point, Corner sville, Aug. 9, and over 50 at Tilgbman Island, Oct. 22. In the northern part of the bay Stasz reported 3 Royals on the bayside of Balt imor e .County , Aug. 26 to Sept. 1. Blom counted the largest flock of Caspian Terns: 120 at Back River, Aug. 29- The only Black Tern reported this season was an immature at the Mountain Lake sewage lagoons, Aug. 6 (Pope). A single adult Black Skimmer, possibly the same bird, was seen at two locations in the northern part of the bay on Aug. 27 at Pleasure I., Baltimore County (Blom), and Sandy Point (Wierenga) . Doves , Owls . Reese counted over 400 Mourning Doves north of Church Hill, Queen Annes County, Aug. Ik. Graham submitted an excellent de- scription of a Common Ground Dove in Harford County between Belair and Churchville, Sept. 18; the bird was seen perched on a wire, on the ground and in flight. Single Long-eared Owls returned to familiar roosts at Sandy Point on Nov. 19 (Wierenga) and Piney Run Park on Nov. 28 (Blom, Ringler). Two Short-eared Owls were at Sandy Point, Nov. 5 (Wierenga). A Saw-whet Owl was banded at Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Oct. 26 (Bystrak), and 2 were banded at Piney Mtn. , Allegany County, on Nov. 5 by John Willetts. Goatsuckers , Hummingbird , Flickers . A Chuck-wi 1 1 ' S-widow was still singing at St. Michaels, Aug. 22 (Reese). Late-departing Common Night- hawks were reported from Preston, Oct. 7 (Reese), and Sandy Point, Oct. 21 (Wierenga). The last Ruby-throated Hummingbird was in Easton, Oct. 16 (M. Delphey). Armistead found l80 migrant Common Flickers on Hooper March 1979 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 25 Island, Oct. 15- Flycatchers . Wierenga' s high count of Eastern Kingbirds at Sandy Point -was 55 on Aug. 12, and Reese saw 3 late birds in Talbot County, Sept. 24. Western Kingbirds were noted twice at Remington Farms: by Gruber on Sept. 23 and by Parks on Oct. 18. Another was seen on Assa- teague, Oct. 29 (DuMont). A Yellow-bellied Flycatcher banded along the Youghiogheny River below Oakland, Garrett County, by Pope on Oct. 15 was exceptionally late for a bird in the mountains. A record-early Olive- sided Flycatcher was seen at the same location on Aug. _2 by Thayer. Another Garrett County Olive-sided was reported by Grace Stark on Turkey Neck, Deep Creek Lake, Aug. l6-l8. Another was seen at Laurel, Sept. 2 (Robbins), and one more at Violet's Lock on the Potomac, Sept. 11 (DuMont). Swallows , Jays , Ravens . The big counts of Tree Swallows were 5,000 at Sandy Point, Sept. 23 (Wierenga), 1,000+ in Talbot County, Oct. 7 (Reese), and 1,755 at North Point, Oct. 8 (Knight). Reese also counted over 300 Bank Swallows at Eastern Neck on Aug. 14 and 30. At Sandy Point Wierenga observed a very late Rough -winged Swallow on Oct. 18 and 2 Cliff Swallows on Sept. 22. Migrant Blue Jays numbered 268 at Laurel on Sept. 23 (Robbins), 130 at Bellevue on Sept. 30, 575 at Hooper Island on Oct. 3 (both Armistead), and 600+ in Talbot County on Oct. 7 (Reese). Warfield found 2 Northern Ravens at an unusual location: Sandy Hook on the Poto- mac in extreme southern Washington County, Nov. 11. Mockingbird , Thrushes . The last Northern Mockingbird to be seen in Garrett County this year was in Mountain Lake Park, Nov. 22 (Pope). High counts of American Robins came from Reese with 1,000+ on Kent Island, Aug. 8, and Armistead with 325 at Hooper Island, Oct. 15. A very late Veery was seen at North Point, Oct. 22 (Ringler , Blom, Stasz). Wax wings , Vireos . Pope found a Cedar Waxwing nest with young 4-6 days old on Sept. l6 . This is by far the latest nesting record for the State- The latest recorded egg date is Aug. 21. Reese found a flock of 26 waxwings in Talbot County, Aug. 21, to be rather early for so many. fCLockner found a White -eyed Vireo singing a partial song at Allen's Fresh in Charles County, Nov. 15 . On Dec. 2 a dead White-eye was found at this location, possibly the same bird, though date and cause of death are unknown. Warblers . Among the birds noted as being particularly early this fall was an Orange-crowned Warbler in Kent County, Sept. 26 (Parks). It was the only one of this species reported this year. Other early migrants were a Yel 1 OW-throated Warbler on Assateague, 1 Aug. 3 (T. F. Wieboldt ) , a Palm Warbler at Sandy Point, Sept. 10 (wierenga), and a Northern Water- thrush banded in Baltimore, Aug. 2 (Ross). Among the late birds were 2 Cape May Warblers near Baltimore, Nov. 19, a Yellow-throated Warbler near Marriottsville, Sept. 20, a Kentucky Warbler near Granite, Sept. l4 (all by Ringler), a Connecticut Warbler at Sycamore Landing, Oct. 22 (DuMont), and 2 Mourning Warblers netted at North Point, Oct. 15 (Stasz). Nuttle reported an impressive 5 Connecticut Warblers at Denton, Oct. 6. 26 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 Icterids . Reese estimated over 10,000 Bobolinks at Windyhill, Tal- bot County, Sept. 5, and over 500 at Kent Narrows, Sept. 6. Wierenga tallied another 500 at Sandy Point, Sept. 9- Bob Augustine noted a late Northern Oriole at Eastern Neck, Nov. 19- Also there that day, over 1*5,000 Common Grackles were observed flying south. Finches , Sparrows . An immature male Black-headed Grosbeak was photographed at Belair, Oct. 26 to Nov. 1 (Graham, et al.). The only Dickcissel reported was at Oxon Hill, Nov. U-5 (Ron Haveen, Paul Baicich, J. M. Abbott). Record-early Evening Grosbeaks appeared at two feeders in northern Baltimore County, Sept. 2h : those of Phyllis Steen in White Hall and Lee Blom near Loch Raven. The Talbot County Bird Club found over 100 migrant Rufous-sided Towhees on Tilghman Island, Oct. lh. Rather late in the northern part of the bay were a Sharp-tailed Sparrow at Sandy Point, Oct. 6, and a Seaside Sparrow there. Sept. lh-2k (Wier- enga). Another Seaside Sparrow was at Eastern Neck, Sept. 5 (Reese). DuMont found 35 White-crowned Sparrows on Assateague, Oct. 29. Another record arrival date was Alicia Knotts’ White-throated Sparrow in Denton, Sept . 9_. Weske found the peak of the migration of Lincoln's Sparrows to be Sept. 27 when he banded 7 at Sandy Spring, Montgomery County. The only Lapland Longspur to be found was at Sandy Point, Nov. 26 (Wier- enga). Snow Buntings were widely scattered. The first was at Dan’s Rock, Oct. 2h (Paul and Ann Smith). Twelve appeared at Sandy Point, Nov. 5 (Wierenga), but were gone after Nov. 23. Reese found one in a flock of Red-wings at Huntingfield , Kent County, Nov. 19, and Nancy' Bohaker found another near Tunis Mills, Talbot County, Nov. 30. 3501 Melody Lane, Baltimore, 21207 FROGS FOUND IN A SCREECH OWL BOX Tad Wheatley While checking Wood Duck boxes on March 2, 1979, on John Beiler's farm on Massey -Delaware Line Road in Kent County, Md. , Dale Loughry and I captured a gray phase Common Screech Owl (Otus aeio ) . In the box with the owl were two frogs; they were freshly killed, and neither one had been eaten or even nibbled. By good fortune. Bob Johnson from the Balti- more Zoo was there studying the rare Tiger Salamander, and he was able to identify the frogs for me. The smaller (between 2 and 3 inches long when stretched out) was a New Jersey Chorus Frog (Triseviata katmi)\ the larger (between h and 5 inches) was a Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica ) . There was much rotten ice on the pond, but there were plenty of places for frogs to appear. We had had some favorable frog weather in the past few days. There were many Cardinal and Blue Jay feathers in the box also, but this is always the case when we find owls in the next boxes. This is the first time, however, that I have seen frogs in a box used by an owl. Bent, in Life Histories of North American Birds of Prey (U. S. National Museum Bulletin 170, pp. 250-253, 1938) cites several instances of amphibians in the diet of the [Common] Screech Owl, but none are identified to species. Chestertown, Md. 21620 March 197Q MARYLAND BIRDLIFE 27 WORLD NATURE TOURS, INC. P.O. BOX 693, WOODMOOR STATION SILVER SPRING, MD. 20901, U.S.A. (301)593-2522 WORLD NATURE TOURS, INC. takes pride in offering its 1980 program. These tours are designed to see as many different birds as possible in the areas visited, while still observing all aspects of natural history. Write for specific tour brochures for tours scheduled as below. FEA TURE A REA S: OREGON, HIM A LAY AS, WES T A FRICA These are bird, wildflower, and general nature tours as originally conceived by the late Orville W. Crowder. All forms of wildlife are sought out and observed, but birds remain the dominant attraction. All trips stress the varying natural scene and ecology of the area as opposed to cities and the usual sophisticated tourist spots. The human population often becomes a considerable side interest especially in places like New Guinea, the Amazon basin and parts of Africa. We try to give you an experience in depth of the country and people as did our founder. The age and makeup of the group is taken into account when setting the daily pace and groups are usually small enough to sometimes accommodate individual desires for special interests. Tour Leaders are experienced naturalists. 8049 BELIZE January 3 to 12 8041 GUATEMALA January 13 to 18 80-21 TEXAS COAST March 31 to April 13 80-31 TEXAS BIG BEND April 15 to 23 80-18 ARIZONA April 25 to May 9 80-12 OREGON May 24 to June 7 80-12A WASHINGTON June9to17 8061 BRITAIN May 12 to 27 8061 A GUERNSEY BAILIWICK, CHANNEL ISLANDS May 28 to June 2 8065 HOLLAND, GERMANY, AUSTRIA, SWITZERLAND June 2 to July 4 80-15 ALASKA June 18 to July 4 8062 FOOTHILLS OF THE HIMALAYAS September 26 to (INDIA, NEPAL) October 21 8062A BHUTAN October 18 to 26 8051 COLOMBIA November 5 to 28 8072 WEST AFRICA: GAMBIA November 14 to 29 8072A SIERRA LEONE November 29 to December 6 28 MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Vol. 35, No. 1 BIRD POPULATION SYMPOSIUM A symposium on "Estimating Populations of Terrestrial Birds" will be held October 26-31, 1980, at Asilomar, near Monterey, California. Invited papers, given by authors from the United States, Canada, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia, will cover a wide range of subjects. The principal topics will be the problems, methods, and analyses of bird censusing. There will be a variety of field trips during and after the Symposium to explore methods of censusing and to visit typical habitats of coastal and interior California. The Asilomar conference grounds, located in a State Park on Monterey Bay, provide an attractive and stimulating setting. For further information contact Chan Robbins. CONTENTS, MARCH 1979 History of the Carolina Parakeet in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia Evening Display and Mating Act of a Pair of Whip-poor-wills Bewick’s Wren in Calvert County The Season - Fall Migration, August 1 - November 30, 1978 Frogs Found in a Screech Owl Box Advertisement Announcements Daniel McKinley 3 Dorothy J. Rauth 10 John H. Fales 11 Robert F. Ringler 12 Tad Wheatley 26 27 28 GALAPAGOS ISLANDS January 1981 Our 7th Annual Trip! Members of M.O.S. and others are Invited to Join us for our 7th annual tour to the Galapagos Islands with optional extensions to mainland Ecuador and Peru. The Islands, 600 miles west of South America at the Equator, possess a remarkable assemblage of tame creatures including: boobies (blue, red and masked), the waved albatross, penguins, flamingoes, Darwin's finches, red -billed tropic birds, swallow-tail gulls, frigate birds, giant tortoises, marine and land Iguanas, sea lions, fur seals, etc. The cost of this educationally oriented venture is lower than other tours to the Galapagos: our two-week Island tour with one week on mainland Ecuador is $1809, which Includes round-trip air-fare from Baltimore or New York and virtually all other expenses. Other options are available. Write or call for our brochure! Dr. Richard D. Lainhart, Biology Dept., Towson State Dnlverslty , Towaon, MD 21204. (301) 321-2443 (day) or 922-3116. MARYLAND BIRDLIFE Published Quarterly by the Maryland Ornithological Society, Inc. To Record and Encourage the Study of Birds of Maryland Editor: Asst. Editor: Art Editor: Production: Mailing: Chandler S. Robbins, 7900 Brooklyn Bridge Road, Laurel, Md. 20810 (725-1176) Robert F. Ringler, 3501 Melody L., Baltimore 21207 William N. Schneider Lettie Cullom, Barbara Dowell, Helen Ford Barbara Larrabee and committee