1926

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Officers - - - - 2

Foreword - - - A rthur P. Stubbs 3

Birds of An Ocean Voyage Glover M. Allen 5

Ornithological Reminiscences of Ipswich Beach

Charles Johnson Maynard 1 3
Ipswich River Bird Trip - Ralph Lawson 17
The North American Races of Falco Columbarius

James L. Peters 20

The 1926 Essex Co. Shooting Season John C. Phillips 21
Notes on the Fay Estate Historical and Ornithological

Arthur P. Stubbs 30
Bird Banding Results for 1926 Willis H. Ropes 36

A Local Christmas Bird Census S. G. Emilio 40
The Doctor Bands a Virginia Rail

Edward G. Rowland, M. D. 44

PAGE

Annotated List of Birds Observed in Essex County

in 1926 - Arthur P. Stubbs 47

Protective Tubes for Birdskins Albert P. Morse 57
Gull and Shore Bird Records at the “Sow and Pigs”,
Summer and Fall of 1926 Arthur P. Stubbs 60
Heron Gulls Nesting in Salem Bay Ralph Lawson 62
Alder Flycatchers - - S. G. Emilio 63

Shrikes Around a Banding Station rthur Morley 63
Buff-Breasted Sandpiper at Ipswich S. G. Emilio 65
June Swans ... Ralph Lawson 66
A Very Large Flight of Guillemots Ralph Lawson 66
Feet to Talons - - Ralph Lawson 67

Calendar for 1 926 of the Essex County Ornithological

Club of Massachusetts - - - 68

List of Members of the Essex County Ornithological

Club of Massachusetts - - - 70

BULLETIN

OF THE

Essex County Ornithological Club

Massachusetts

1926

FIFTY CENTS

COPYRIGHT 1927

BY THE

ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
OF MASSACHUSETTS

Salem, Massachusetts

c

p rtl

OFFICERS OF THE

ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB

1926

President

Frank W. Benson

Vice-President

Albert P. Morse

Secretary

Ralph Lawson

\ s^

\

) 93.W

88 Washington Square
Salem, Massachusetts

\ i I-#**

S 4 I

Treasurer

S. Gilbert Emilio
156 Hobart Street
Danvers, Massachusetts

Recorder

Arthur P. Stubbs
14 Fiske Avenue
Lynn, Massachusetts

Council

Richards B. Mackintosh
Wilbur D. Moon
Arthur Morley

BULLETIN

OF THE

ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
OF MASSACHUSETTS
Salem, Massachusetts

ISSUED ANNUALLY

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

Ralph Lawson Arthur P. Stubbs S. G. Emilio

DECEMBER, 1926 SALEM, MASS. VOLUME VIII, No. 1

FOREWORD
Arthur P. Stubbs

Nineteen twenty-six can hardly be considered as having been
an eventful year in our Club life, but it has seen much quiet,
effective work by the membership, especially in the field. Field
work being the real life of an organization such as ours, the hope
of the Essex County Ornithological Club for a long existence
seems to be very good.

An active interest has been shown at every meeting, even
when no special entertainment has been provided. In fact im¬
promptu talks by individual members, giving their recent field
experiences, have, in several instances, created as much interest
as a talk by a trained speaker.

Moving pictures illustrating a speaker’s remarks were a new
feature this year. Three such talks were given. Especial credit
should be extended to two of our members for their skill in pic¬
turing and reproducing the very interesting phases of their trip
into the wilds of New Brunswick, the past summer. Their kind¬
ness in permitting the Club to share their sports in this manner
is surely appreciated.

The Club’s special activities, the Bulletin and Camp, at one
time somewhat of a problem as to their support, are now well in

3

4

Bulletin of the

1926

hand. A movement, early in the year, to increase the use of
the Camp by the members, resulted in several interesting gath¬
erings there during the spring, on Wednesday evenings. Sum¬
mer vacations cut these short. Late returns of several members
to town and the chilly fall evenings made these gatherings, at
that time, unattractive, but we hope with the return of spring
that these meetings will be resumed.

The practice of placing mounted birds and bird skins on the
table for study at each meeting has been continued with profit.
Several birds “in the flesh’ ’ intended for the Peabody Museum
collections were also shown. Lists of birds with dates of arrival
or departure were put on the blackboard from time to time, with
the object of keeping the members informed in regard to bird
movements and to call attention to species about to arrive.

The Twentieth Annual Ipswich River Bird Trip was success¬
ful in spite of discouraging weather. The initiation at the
“Pines” of a qualified member into the mysteries of the Order of
Ornithorynchus was a fine bit of work and the “Scribe” has rea¬
son to be proud of the ritual which he evolved.

The additional set field trips, laid out a few years ago, were
omitted with the exception of that on Washington’s Birthday.
This was well attended and produced a bird list with several
good items.

No members have been lost by death during the year, enough
new members have come in to make up losses of the past and the
Club looks forward to the coming year with confidence and pleas¬
ant anticipation.

The late fall of 1926 will long be remembered by Massachu¬
setts ornithologists, for the great flight of white owls, which
descended on New England, and extended as far south as the
Carolinas. At the time of writing it is not possible to obtain a
complete account of this migration, but something along this
line will be attempted for our next issue.

Essex County Ornithological Club

5

BIRDS OF AN OCEAN VOYAGE
Glover M. Allen

On June 12, 1926, I sailed from New York for Southampton,
England, there to join other members of the Harvard African
Expedition, with whom on June 24, I again sailed, from
Southampton, on our way to western Africa, stopped a day at the
Canary Islands, and arrived at Monrovia, Liberia, on July 7, in
latitude 8° north. In November the return journey was made;
from November 11 to 26, to Southampton; and November 30 to
December 7, from the latter port to New York. These two
traverses afforded an opportunity to watch for sea life at two
different seasons of the year, the first in early summer when most
northern birds are occupied with their nesting, the second in early
winter when they are seeking winter quarters.

One who has made a long ocean voyage cannot fail to be
impressed by the ever changing aspect of the sea, now calm under
glorious skies, now turbulent and menacing with stormy winds
and sweeping waves. He is further impressed by the fact that
a pelagic or open-sea existence for birds must require a high
degree of specialization. There must be the ability to cover
immense distances in the daily search for food, the power of
sustained and untiring flight, the ability to rest at night or by
day on the surface of the sea, and perhaps too a sense of localities
and directions enabling the bird to find its way to ancestral
breeding places over vast stretches of sea without visible land¬
marks to guide it. To maintain life under such conditions and
amid such spacious surroundings seems to call for a very high
degree of adaptation. The distribution of pelagic birds over
these wastes of sea becomes thus a matter of extreme interest,
concerning which it is difficult to secure exact information.

Our vessel left New York at midnight, June 12, and by the
early forenoon was already a hundred miles on her way eastward.
Wilson’s Petrels ( Oceanites oceanica ) were seen here and there
mostly at a distance from the ship, skimming about over oily-
looking patches of water. These birds reach our latitudes from
the south in early June or perhaps before. I presume they follow
the general course of the Gulf Stream into the North Atlantic,
but of their routes and abundance there we know relatively little.

6

Bulletin of the

1926

No more of them were seen during the entire voyage across to
England, though no prolonged watch was kept. It is true, how¬
ever, that this species is rare on the British coasts. It was not
until we were crossing the Bay of Biscay, June 25, on our way
south to the west coast of Africa, that we picked up the Wilson's
Petrels again. Here in about latitude 44° north, a few appeared
zigzagging back and forth across our wake, frequently stopping
to pick things from the surface of the sea, pattering their feet
on the water as they did so, but never actually alighting. Their
feet with yellow membranes were easily discerned projecting
beyond their tails in flight. Why had we seen none in the inter¬
vening stretch of ocean? Is there a vast area in the mid-Atlantic
from which they are absent?

On the two days following, June 26 and 27, with smooth sea
and a breeze from the northeast, the numbers of these birds in¬
creased as we steamed south, now in latitude 33°. On July 1, a
day out from the Canary Islands, the petrels were again abun¬
dant, after two days of scarcity. All day they* were following in
our wake with a brisk wind at their heels from the northeast.
Single birds that I watched, would beat back and forth, not far
astern, and on reaching the outer edge of the wake would wheel
to cross it again, almost always using their feet to paddle
momentarily in the water to assist in making the turn. Some¬
times they seemed to pick up some small object, disturbed from
the depths by the screw. On succeeding days these petrels were
with us all the way to the Liberian coast, July 7, but when the
wind was against them (for on the last three days it was steadily
from southeast), they did less zigzagging over the wake, follow¬
ing instead a nearly straight course and going a little better than
our 10 or 11 knots. There must have been great numbers scat¬
tered over the sea, for whenever two or three stopped to flutter
over some flotsam, others at once joined from every direction
until in a few moments thirty or forty were hovering like great
butterflies over the spot. As the days became somewhat oppres¬
sively hot, under the tropical sun, it seemed to me that the
numbers of petrels became distinctly less in the noon hours, when
possibly the birds were resting on the surface of the sea, for one
I watched flew off far to one side of the vessel and twice alighted
on the water, sitting high at the stern like a miniature gull.

Essex County Ornithological Club

7

On the return voyage north in early November, a few of these
petrels were seen as far north as Cape Verde — single birds usually
well off to one side of the ship. When seas are rough and
clouds dark, their white rump is all that is visible at a distance,
so well does the rest of the plumage blend with the dark color of
the sea. Apparently the birds were now (November 13) mostly
to the south of these latitudes for but few were seen and of these
the last was just south of Cape Verde, bringing up the rear of
the migrating host already well on its way to the southern
breeding grounds and the Antarctic summer.

Shearwaters of several species were seen at times during
the voyage. On June 13, about 700 miles east of New York a
little group of four Greater Shearwaters passed us, weaving back
and forth with outstretched wings on the short turns. We were
well out in the warm waters, and many pink-edged Portuguese
Men-o’-war were floating by. No more birds were seen until the
16th, when almost in mid-Atantic and about on the parallel of
southern England (45° 48' north, 31°east at noon), a number of
Greater Shearwaters appeared in early forenoon and late afternoon.
Here too there passed us two or three Fulmars, close in, looking
very white and ghostly as they scaled along on rigidly stretched
pinions.

On June 18 we were off the outer part of the English Chan¬
nel, passing Bishop’s Rock at 5.30 in the morning. One or two
gulls now appeared for the first time, their numbers increasing
as the day wore on, until by late afternoon at least fifty were
escorting us, mostly the Lesser Black-back ( Lams fuscus) and a
few Herring Gulls. Five days later, we were once more at sea,
crossing the channel from Southampton. On this occasion a good
manyMurres were seen, singly or in pairs, swimming on the sur¬
face or diving with opened wings as the boat passed. The follow¬
ing day crossing the Bay of Biscay, several small groups of what
seemed to be Manx Shearwaters were passed, small and sooty in
appearance with more pointed wing tips than in Greater Shear¬
water from which they also differed in their less stiff wings and
slightly flickering flight between the characteristic soaring inter¬
vals. Here too a large Skua Gull ( Stercorarius skua) was seen,
a large brown gull-like bird with a good deal of light marking
in the wings. A day out from Teneriffe, Canary Islands, a few

8

4

Bulletin of the

1926

large Shearwaters again appeared, perhaps the Mediterranean
Shearwater, as well as a single dark bird.

On June 29 we went ashore on Gran Canary of the Canary
Islands, making the usual tourist’s pilgrimage to the Mercedes
Forest high above the sea level, where wild Canaries trilled softly
in the trees and a pair of Ravens croaked and soared above a
wooded cliff. The day following we were again steering south
from Las Palmas, one of the islands of this group, and saw num¬
bers of Shearwaters of two species in late afternoon. The larger
brown-looking birds with light breasts, were probably the Medi¬
terranean type of Shearwater, the smaller dark birds were per¬
haps Puffinus bailloni with a characteristically different flight,
quicker wing strokes with greater amplitude of beat, and a
shorter skim on out-stretched wings. Three or four Herring
Gulls and one or two Lesser Black-backs were flying about the
harbor, probably non-breeding birds spending the summer here.
On November 18, when stopping again in this harbor, the num¬
bers of both species had much increased, the Herring Gulls
greatly out-numbering the smaller species. The former were
present at this season much farther south for on November 12
there were a dozen or so in the roadstead off Freetown, Sierra
Leone.

On July 2 we were off Cape Blanco and ran most of the day
with the African coast faintly visible on the eastern skyline.
The Wilson’s Petrels were following us in numbers and at noon
four Noddy Terns, the first Terns seen since leaving England,
followed abreast of us, now coming very near, now dropping far
off to one side. In straight away flight their tapering tails were
held closely shut making graceful lines of flow.

Later in the afternoon of July 2, I was surprised to see a
few unmistakable Jaegers, apparently Pomarine ( Stercorarius
pomarinus) . These presently were joined by others until sixteen
birds in a loose flock were following us, flying high and steadily,
now at a distance of a mile or so over our wake, now drawing up
close astern or off the quarter. They were evidently all imma¬
ture birds, with the central pair of tail-feathers hardly, if at all,
elongated in most cases. At least one was a wholly dark bird,
but the others were light below. Occasionally one would play¬
fully dart after another, both twisting and turning gracefully,

Essex County Ornithological Club

9

then recovering, would join the flock once more. One gave pur¬
suit to a passing Noddy Tern. On the following days, July 3 and
4, the air became more muggy and the sky gradually clouded as
we approached the outer limit of the rainy area of this coast.
No more Jaegers were seen on the southward journey, but in
November, when returning on the northward voyage, Jaegers
again appeared when we were a day’s run north of Freetown,
Sierra Leone, in about the same region as before. The first were
seen in the forenoon of the 13th, one or two birds, but as the
day wore on their numbers increased until by noon about a dozen
were accompanying us, and at sunset I counted 25. The next day
two or three were again with us. This evening we were in sight of
Cape Verde of the African coast. On succeeding days the Jaegers
still kept with us, but when still a day’s run (some 250 miles)
south of Las Palmas, Canary Islands, the last two dropped astern
and no more were seen. The presence of this species along the
African coast from Sierra Leone to near the Canaries at this sea¬
son, and more especially in July, is particularly interesting. At
the latter season, adults should be on their Arctic breeding
grounds, so that the presence of apparently immature birds in
tropical latitude is perhaps to be explained on the ground that
they were non-breeding young of the previous year. An ocean¬
ographic chart of these seas (shown me by Dr. H. B. Bigelow)
indicates that the surface temperatures are not in general espec¬
ially cool (20°-25° C.) but along the shores of the continent in a
narrow belt in about these latitudes there is an area of upwelling
water from the depths that may have some effect on the ocean
fauna making for a greater abundance of food for such birds.
In general behavior these Jaegers were much like gulls, alter¬
nately flapping and then soaring for short distances in our wake
or off to one side, usually on the lee ; at times they would out¬
strip the vessel, only to drop back again, or after a period of
flying, would settle gracefully upon the surface of the sea, where
they would rest until the vessel was a half mile or less ahead,
when they would come on again, overtaking us quickly. In pick¬
ing up food scraps they would settle first on the water beside the
morsel, instead of taking it on the wing. Often it seemed obvi¬
ous that they alighted by pairs, and sometimes after the first
ones had settled a number of others followed. At sunset they

10

Bulletin of the

1926

i

would keep with us till nearly dark, then presently settle in a
little group on the water, perhaps rising again once or twice,
but finally remaining on the surface, where no doubt they passed
the night. That nearly all were immature birds seemed evident
from the fact that the central tail-feathers were elongated in but
few, and then but an inch or so. Every phase of plumage was
present from entirely sooty to white bellied with a neck-ring of
darker. All showed white markings at the base of the primaries
and some seemed to be moulting feathers at the junction of the
primary and secondary wing-quills.

Of quite as much interest here as the Jaegers were those sea
wanderers the phalaropes, three of which rose from the water at
a distance on November 13, while we were steaming north off
the coast of Portuguese Guinea (noon position 10°9' north, 19°6'
west). Three days later at about 21° north, 17° west, we must
have passed hundreds of them during the forenoon, singly usual¬
ly or at times in little groups up to six. Often I could see them
sitting on the water, riding high, head erect in characteristic
pose, now and again dipping at the water with the bill. Once,
two or three were gathered about some floating eelgrass, others
were flying swiftly by, up or down wind, sometimes close at
hand. The large size, pale backs and wings, the latter with
prominent white cross-bar, seemed to indicate that they were
Red Phalaropes ( Phalaropus or Crymophilus fulicarius) , as one
might have expected. In a recent summary account of their mi¬
grations, Meinertzhagen (Ibis, 1925, p. 331) was unable to adduce
any African record of this bird for October or November, and
adds (p. 333) : “There is probably another as yet undiscovered
winter resort off the West African coast”, a supposition that
receives additional support from these observations. There is
also a record of a bird taken in eastern Liberia, March 23, 1905
(H. Johnston : Liberia, vol. 2, p. 790, 1905). Possibly there¬
fore, the winter resort predicted by Meinertzhagen, will be found
to lie along these coasts from Liberia to Cape Verde in the area
of cooler upwelling waters.

On November 16, with Cape Blanco of the African coast
faintly visible at noon, I saw the first Kittiwake of the voyage
north. Meanwhile we had aboard as guests two White Wagtails
( Motacilla alba) that stayed in the shelter of the after deck or

Essex County Ornithological Club

11

at times flew up and sought the bow, sheltering among the
winches and deck cargo. At least one of the Wagtails stayed by
the ship until we reached the Canaries. A swallow ( Hirundo
rustica) was about the ship for a short while, and early in the

•

morning and again toward late afternoon Shearwaters, possibly
of two kinds, were seen in the distance. So frequent was it that
Shearwaters were seen at the early and late times of day, that I
imagined it was more than coincidence. Possibly many of these
birds rest on the water during much of the daylight hours. By
November 22, off the Spanish coast, Kittiwakes became plentiful
and next day Gray Gulls ( Lams canus), many of the latter show¬
ing the dark auricular patch. The Kittiwakes have a wonderful
command of flight, tipping and trimming as on outstretched
wings they hang over the wake or off the quarter, or dash madly
down wind, check and turn, coming to a stationary position
astern, all with only an occasional light beat of the wings.

By December 1, Cherbourg was left behind for the trans¬
atlantic passage. When a day’s voyage out, the many Herring
Gulls of the harbor had already been left behind, and the occasion¬
al small gulls seen were apparently Gray Gulls and Kittiwakes.
It seems very doubtful if the large Herring Gull ever crosses in
these latitudes from the European to the American coasts, or vice
versa , so that Dr. Dwight’s recent restoration of the American
bird to subspecific status is no doubt warranted additonally by
its geographic isolation. The Kittiwake, however, is a pelagic
gull and there was but a single day, December 4, that I failed to
see a few on the passage across. These were usually solitary
birds. On December 3, when by noon we were a thousand miles
from land, I found that I could count about three birds to every
five minutes, which at our rate of speed meant that we passed
three in every two miles. Evidently they are at this season
scattered out over an immense stretch of sea.

December 5, we had reached the edge of the Grand Banks,
nearly due south of Newfoundland. Coming on deck at 9 A. M.

I began to see numbers of Little Auks ( Alle alle.) Flock after
flock got up or appeared to one side of our course, ranging in
number from 12 to 30 birds, flying in a close line or strung
out slightly, with occasional singles, pairs or groups of three.
Keeping close to the surface of the water they would almost

12

Bulletin of the

1926

invariably fly like bullets nearly parallel with our course, the
nearer flocks gradually drawing in and ahead so as to cross our
bow. Our ship was making about 24 knots so that the birds’
.speed must have been slightly greater, against the wind at that.
A few times I saw singles or small flocks alight by plunging into
the water from full flight and disappearing. A few murres
(species?) were also seen. No doubt these birds are present on
the Banks in numbers every winter.

Some day by piecing together many fragmentary observa¬
tions such as those here recorded, we may attain a more accurate
knowledge of the movements of such sea birds whose lives are so
largely spent at great distances from shore.

Essex County Ornithological Club

13

ORNITHOLOGICAL REMINISCENCES OF IPSWICH BEACH

Charles Johnson Maynard

It was a bright autumn day in 1866 when I first stood on
Ipswich Beach, and looking out over the water saw large numbers
of terns flying about. I had never before seen these birds living,
and with a young collector’s eagerness to obtain birds new to
him, I shot quite a number of specimens. All I secured were
young-of-the-year birds, and I was completely puzzled when,
after making them into skins and taking them home with other
birds collected on that wonderful trip, I tried to identify them.

The only ornithological publication that I owned then was a
copy of the ninth volume of the Pacific Railroad Survey, written
by Baird, Cassin and Lawrence, which was considered the Bible
of the American ornithologists at that time. There was quite a
little variation among my terns but the descriptions of the young
of the species which should occur along our coast in autumn
were rather vague, and I could not decide definitely what species
I had in hand. Accordingly I took the skins to Mr. E. A. Sam¬
uels who was Curator of the State Cabinet of Natural History
which was stored in the basement of the State House in Boston,
and who was then finishing his “Ornithology and Oology of New
England.” After looking over the skins and comparing them
with a few adult terns in the collection, Mr. Samuels frankly told
me he was unable to identify them in that plumage and advised
me to take them to Dr. Henry Bryant who was curator of orni¬
thology at the Boston Society of Natural History.

Dr. Bryant, whom I had previously met, having looked at
my skins with considerable interest, also told me that he was
unable to identify them as he had never made a special study of the
group to which they belonged. He did know the adult terns, but
not the young. I knew no one else who could assist me, so I was
thrown on my own resources and determined that I would go
behind the whole subject as far as I could and another season
identify the young by tracing them back to their parents. So in
the summer of 1867 I visited the dunes early enough to find the
adult terns feeding their young, which were then well fledged,
and by securing both together found that some of my young were

14

Bulletin of the

1926

Wilson’s, or as we now know them, Common Terns. I had, how¬
ever, to visit the dunes the next year before I matched up the
Arctic Terns with their young and was enabled to describe defi¬
nitely for the first time the young-of-the-year of this species in
autumn. The description I published in my “Naturalist’s
Guide” (pp. 152-155.) which, although written in 1869 was not
published until 1870.

Later, I showed the skins that I had collected to Dr. J. A.
Allen, whose extreme ornithological conservatism at that time
was well known. He had been inclined to believe that Wilson’s
and Arctic Terns were one species, but he changed his opinion
and thereafter considered them distinct.

Early in July 1868 I found a colony of about a dozen pairs
of Least Terns nesting at Ipswich. They placed their eggs on
the naked sand of a sloping area which was without vegetation
of any description. This particular spot was situated just west
of what I have known as the “Dune of the Headless Sailor.”
This large sandhill lay between it and the sea and although the
terns have long since ceased to breed anywhere in the Ipswich
dunes, the hill remains much the same as when I first knew it.
It not only marks the locality where the Least Terns once nested
but also marks the site of the grave of a sailor whose body minus
the head, was buried on top of the dune.

In September 1870 I was fortunate enough to secure the first
specimen of Foster’s Tern to be taken in Massachusetts. The
bird was in young-of-the-year dress, and Foster’s Tern in this
and winter plumage were called Havell’s Terns, and that was
what I called it and it was so recorded by Mr. William Brewster
in the American Naturalist, Vol. VI, 1872, pg. 306.

Now Havell’s Tern was described from either a young bird
or one in winter plumage by Audubon in 1838, and in spite of
the fact that the markings on the head had an unfinished appear¬
ance and the outer web of the outer tail feathers was dark instead
of white, as many in terns, ornithologists were over thirty years
in discovering that the so-called Sterna havelli was either the
young or winter plumage of Sterna fosteri.

As late as 1874 we find one of our most distinguished orni¬
thologists describing a retarded plumage of the young Arctic

Essex County Ornithological Club

15

Tern as Sterna portlandica! Truly, young terns are trouble-
some subjects, as most of us who try to identify them are aware.

In September, 1871 when I was with Messrs. William Brew¬
ster and H. W. Hensbaw, the latter shot a Gull-billed Tern,
Gelochelidon nilotica , on Ipswich Beach. No other specimen has
since been taken in Massachusetts, to my knowledge.

The Piping Plover nested in the hollows of the dunes just
behind the outer range of sand hills, in those days. There was
little or no vegetation in these depressions but considerable de¬
bris in the shape of bits of wood and bark, broken shells, etc.,
and among these in a hollow scratched in the sand were deposited
the eggs of these interesting birds; eggs that so nearly matched
the sand in color that it required an experienced eye to detect
them. As I entered one of the little valleys I would often be
greeted by the peculiar long-drawn, minor whistle of the male
which would circle about by running on the sand at some dis¬
tance, doing his utmost to entice me away from the locality.
When sitting, the female seldom flew at any time and simply ran
to the neighboring beach in order to feed, returning, without
rising, in the same way. As she also ran from her eggs when
she saw me, I could not tell the exact spot from which she went,
so I would look for her tracks on the top of the ridge which she
had to cross in returning from the beach. Having found them,
I would follow where they led quite to the nest. The increased
number of tracks crossing and recrossing would always indicate
when I was nearing the nest.

I want to mention here, as a matter of record, that when I
went to the Magdalen Islands in 1874, (the year that I was
marooned for ten days on Bird Rock,) I was much surprised to
find the Piping Plover breeding on the sand dunes and long spits
of Amherst Island, as commonly as I found it at Ipswich.

The first Long-billed Curlew that I ever saw flew past me as

t

I stood on the beach at Ipswich in 1867. It was a short distance
over the water and was moving leisurely, but when it noticed
me it uttered one of those startling screams for which this species
is noted, flew rapidly further out to sea, and continued its swift
way southward. On several other occasions I saw a few, usually
single birds, but never any very near. A few years later as I was
walking along a lonely stretch of shore which lay between the

16

Bulletin of the

1926

mouth of Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon, Florida, I saw a
fine Long-billed Curlew standing on a sand-bar not a dozen yards
away, with his head drawn in, apparently asleep. When I
approached the bird merely looked up, and it was not until I was
within twenty feet of it that it decided to fly, which it did quite
slowly, going only a short distance and alighting in the shallow
water, began to feed. I passed quite a number during that walk
all equally tame. At that time and for some years after these
birds were very common in winter along the Atlantic coast fnun
the Carolinas to Florida. Now, as far as I know, not a single
Long-billed Curlew visits the eastern coast of the United States.

Another bird then common on the hills of Ipswich was the
“Esquimaux” Curlew, once exceedingly abundant in the autumn,
but even then in the days of which I am writing, not very com¬
mon, and now gone forever.

This brings to mind another extinct bird. About 1874 I
was rowing across Plum Island sound one day to reach the mouth
of the Ipswich river. The tide was running out with great
force and I had to make considerable effort to hold my course in
the whirling, rushing water. Suddenly a duck appeared very
near the mouth of the Ipswich which I was confident was a
Labrador. Although I had my gun with me, I knew if I at¬
tempted to take in my oars and pick it up, my boat would be
whirled about so quickly that I could not shoot. The bird re¬
mained but a brief moment in sight then dived and I saw no
more of it. A short time before I had had an opportunity of see¬
ing the three Labrador Ducks in the collection of Mr. George A.
Boardman, and I felt quite sure that my identification of the bird
I saw was correct. If this was a Labrador Duck it was one of
the last of the species and very probably the last to ever come
to Ipswich.

Essex County Ornithological Club

17

IPSWICH RIVER BIRD TRIP
Ralph Lawson

The twentieth annual trip was held on May 15 and 16, 1926.
More than thirty members and guests made the journey down
river.

April was rather cold with little rain and some snow. While
a few straggling birds arrived at nearly their usual dates, the
great mass of migrants was two to three weeks later than last
year, (1925) until April 23, when favorable weather brought
a veritable flood of birds of a rather few species. Again on
May 3 another warm wave brought a host of migrants, includ¬
ing, strangely enough, a sprinkling of certain warblers which
usually arrive later. For the next ten days the cool dry weather,
which had prevailed with few interruptions all the spring, con¬
tinued and then on May 13 on the eve of the River Trip a mod¬
erately warm wave arrived, and with it a great variety of birds.

The river was very low for this time of year and vegetation
considerably retarded by the cool weather. It is significant that
even two weeks later, when usually the most backward spring has
made up for its shortcomings, many wild flowers .which ordinar¬
ily pass their full bloom by May 30 were just beginning to
blossom.

Decidedly unfavorable weather prevailed during the two
days of the trip with east and northeast winds, much cloudiness
and some fog and rain. In spite of this ninety-nine species of
birds were observed in the valley of the Ipswich or near its
mouth. It is noteworthy that but few individuals of each species
were in evidence, even including the more common birds, and it
is possible that cold easterly winds and thick weather along the
coast had influenced the migration streams to flow north along
the Connecticut and Hudson River valleys.

Three species not previously observed on these trips, namely
the Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker, the Barred Owl and the
Green-winged Teal were seen. The Woodpecker was on the
Proctor Estate, a great semi-wild area where extensive planting
has been carried on for many years thus making it an arboretum
of great beauty.

The evening and night of May 14 were spent by a party of

18

Bulletin of the

1926

eight at the camp of Roger Bruley on the river near Danvers
Center, from which point the Saturday morning trip proceeded
on foot to the Middleton paper mills and thence by canoe back to
Howe Station. The main party left Howe as usual about 2 P. M.
on the 15th and from there on the regular route was followed,
including the trip by motor boat from Ipswich to Little Neck.

An interesting though somewhat unscientific feature of the
expedition was the initiation, at evening campfire, of two candi¬
dates for the Royal Order of the Ornithorhynchus, an aqueous
branch of the Club which is open only to members or guests who
have been so unfortunate as to become immersed in the river
involuntarily. The formal ceremony carried through by the three
charter members of the order, added greatly to the pleasure of
the evening and furnished further memories for our encampments
to come.

Thus have been completed twenty years of field work — days
of intense interest and pleasure and evenings of camp-fires around
which many friendships have grown, tales of adventure told, and
where song and story have held sway.

The 1926 list of species observed is as follows:

7. Loon

51. Herring Gull
70. Common Tern
130. Red-breasted Merganser
133. Black Duck
139. Green-winged Teal
144. Wood Duck
190. American Bittern
194. Great Blue Heron

201. Green Heron

202. Black-crowned Night
Heron

228. Woodcock

230. Wilson’s Snipe

231. Dowitcher
242. Least Sandpiper

246. Semipalmated Sandpiper
254. Greater Yellow-legs
256. Solitary Sandpiper
263. Spotted Sandpiper

270. Black-bellied Plover
274. Semipalmated Plover
289. Bob-white
300. Ruffed Grouse

Ring-necked Pheasant
316. Mourning Dove

331. Marsh Hawk

332. Sharp-shinned Hawk
339. Red-shouldered Hawk
360. Sparrow Hawk

364. Osprey
368. Barred Owl
388. Black-billed Cuckoo
390. Belted Kingfisher
393. Hairy Woodpecker
394c. Downy Woodpecker
400 Arctic Three-toed
Woodpecker
412a. Northern Flicker
417. Whip-poor-will

Essex County Ornithological Club

19

423. Chimney Swift
428. Ruby-throated Hum¬
ming-bird
444. Kingbird
456. Phoebe
467. Least Flycatcher
477. Blue Jay
488. Crow

493. Starling

494. Bobolink

495. Cowbird

498. Red-winged Blackbird
501. Meadowlark
507. Baltimore Oriole
511b. Bronzed Grackle
517. Purple Finch

English Sparrow
529. Goldfinch
540. Vesper Sparrow
542a. Savannah Sparrow
554. White-crowned Sparrow
558. White-throated Sparrow
560. Chipping Sparrow
563. Field Sparrow
581. Song Sparrow
584. Swamp Sparrow
587. Towhee

595. Rose-breasted Grosbeak
608. Scarlet Tanager

612. Cliff Swallow

613. Barn Swallow

614. Tree Swallow

616. Bank Swallow
624. Red-eyed Vireo
628. Yellow-throated Vireo
636. Black and White Warbler
642. Golden-winged Warbler
645. Nashville Warbler
648a. Northern Parula Warbler
652. Yellow Warbler

654. Black-throated Blue
Warbler

655. Myrtle Warbler
657. Magnolia Warbler
659. Chestnut-sided Warbler
662. Blackburnian Warbler
667. Black-throated Green

Warbler

672a. Yellow Palm Warbler

673. Prairie Warbler

674. Oven-bird

681. Maryland Yellow-throat

685. Wilson’s Warbler

686. Canada Warbler

687. Redstart

704. Catbird

705. Brown Thrasher

724. Short-billed Marsh Wren
735. Chickadee

755. Wood Thrush

756. Veery

759b. Hermit Thrush
761. Robin
766. Bluebird

20

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1926

THE NORTH AMERICAN RACES OF
FALCO COL UMBARI US
James L. Peters

American ornithologists for two generations have recognized
three races of Falco columbarius, viz. F. c. columbarius, F. c.
suckleyi, and F. c. richardsonii. In 1922 Swann described (Bull.
B. 0. C. 42, p. 66) a fourth, F. c. bendirei based on a migrant
taken at Fort Walla Walla, Washington, and in the same year
that author, in the second edition of his “Synopsis of the Accip-
tres, ” diagnosed the characters and outlined the range of the
four North American races of Falco columbarius. While the
characterizations are not very good and his ranges barely out¬
lined, nevertheless he has gauged the situation correctly, though
many ornithologists do not seem to be aware of this fact.

Of the four North American races of Pigeon Hawk, suckleyi
is the darkest and occupies the smallest range ; the depth of
coloration in the remaining races after suckleyi , is : columbarius ,
bendirei , richardsonii. Thus we find the darkest birds at oppo¬
site ends of the range of the species, the palest in the south
middle portion where richardsonii occupies a comparatively
limited area, while north of the latter and between the darkest
forms we find the widespread bendirei.

There are still some doubtful points that can only be cleared
up by field work and specimens from critical localities.

The following review is based on the 120 or more specimens
of Falco columbarius in the Museum of Comparative Zoology,
supplemented by 21 skins in Mr. A. C. Bent’s collection and 28
from Alaska from the joint collections of the U. S. National
Museum and the Biological Survey.

FALCO COLUMBARIUS COLUMBARIUS L.

Subspecific Characters. — Adult male: top of head, scapulars and
interscapulars slate color to blackish slate shading to slate gray on the
inner secondaries, lower back, rump and upper tail coverts, all the feath¬
ers with black shaft streaks heaviest on the crown; feathers of the nape
broadly white at their bases and along their sides sometimes tinged with
rusty. Tail black, narrowly tipped with white terminally and crossed by
three dr more slate gray bars. Primaries and outer secondaries black,

Essex County Ornithological Club

21

barred, or at least regularly blotched, with white on the inner webs. Be¬
low variable; white with blackish brown mesial streaks (becoming wider
posteriorly and laterally), and with tibiae strongly ochraceous in very
old birds; more rusty, with broader markings and less ochraceous tibiae
in those less fully adult; throat immaculate or very narrowly streaked.

Adult female: Similar to the adult male but much browner except
on the rump and upper tail coverts; tail bands whitish, markings on the
inner webs of the primaries and secondaries larger and more numerous
and tinged with pale pinkish buff on the inner surface, light ochraceous
salmon on the outer; below more heavily marked; tibiae without ochraceous.

Immature: Similar to the adult female, but browner above —
fuscous— lighter on the head, feathers of the scapular and dorsal region
edged with rusty; wing markings deeper, nearly ochraceous salmon,
sometimes a few spots on the outer webs; under parts washed with
cinnamon buff.

Range: Breeds from limit of trees in eastern Canada south to
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, northern Maine, Ontario,
northern Michigan (Porcupine Mts.), and southern Manitoba (Winnipeg,
Assiniboine Valley), west to the eastern border of the Great Plains.
Winters from the Gulf States south through eastern (?) Mexico to Ecua¬
dor and north Venezuela; the West Indies; (Trinidad? Tobago? Guianas?)

FALCO COL UMBARIUS RICHARDSONII Ridgw.

Subspecific Characters: Adult male: similar to F. c. columbarius
but much paler throughout; upper parts light neutral gray; dark areas on
the nuchal feathers more reduced; tail gull gray or even paler, tipped with
white terminally and with a broad subterminal band of black and crossed
by three interrupted black bars. White bars on the inner webs of the
primaries and secondaries wider than the black interspaces, outer webs
with pale blotches, white on the inner surface, gull gray on the outer.
Below white or buffy, central portions of the feathers snuff brown with
darker shaft stripes; throat immaculate; tibiae but lightly streaked,
sometimes with an ochraceous tinge.

Adult female: Similar to the male but upper parts with a distinct
brownish cast; tail hair brown tipped with white and crossed by four nar¬
row white bands, wing as in the female of F. c. columbarius but with the
light areas more extensive and with spots of light ochraceous salmon on
the outer webs of the quills.

Immature male: Similar to the adult female but with a strong
rusty wash above and below; light markings on quills more ochraceous.

Immature female: Not seen.

Range: Breeds in the Great Plains region of southern Alberta,
southern Saskatchewan, northern Montana, and northwestern North
Dakota? In winter, south through Colorado, New Mexico and western
Texas to northwestern Mexico?

22

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1926

FALCO COLUMBARIUS BENDIREI Swann

Subspecific Characters— Adult male; similar to F. c. columbarius
but paler above, neutral gray on the lower back, rump and upper tail
coverts, darker on the interscapulars and crown; rusty edging of the nape
deeper and more extensive; light interspaces on the wing quills about
equal in width with the dark ones; light tail bands paler, about light neu¬
tral gray, and more extensive. Under parts much as in F. c. colum¬
barius , but more or less suffused with buffy.

Adult female: Similar to F. c. columbarius but paler above and
browner, less slaty, darker however than richardsonii and with shaft
streaks less distinct. Below like richardsonii but streaks somewhat
darker.

Immature male: Extremely close to the immature male of F. c.
columbarius but slightly paler above; rusty feather edgings on the pileum
broader; cinnamon buff on the nape, sides of head and underparts more
strongly suffused, with streaking on the under surface averaging paler;
pale interspaces on the quills as wide or wider than the dark ones; light
markings on the tail wider and generally forming a series of complete bars.

Immature female: About intermediate between columbarius and
richardsonii in all particulars, though sometimes very similar to the
former, but always more strongly washed on the nuchal collar and below
with buffy.

Range: Breeds from northwestern Alaska, Yukon and north¬
western Mackenzie to British Columbia, northern and western Alberta,
northern Saskatchewan, south in the mountains to northern California.
In winter south through California and New Mexico south to the Cape
region of Lower California, and northeastern Mexico (Matamoros, Tam-
aulipas) occasionally Louisiana (in collection A. C. Bent), to Florida and
North Carolina.

All the winter birds from California that I have seen that
were identified as richardsonii , prove to be referable to bendirei
with one exception, that being an adult male taken by W. W.
Price at Riverside, 22 January, 1889. (M. C. Z. 241866).

The examples from the Cape region of Lower California
recorded as richardsonii by Brewster (1902 p. 90) are referable
to bendirei as are the two specimens recorded by Phillips (1911
p. 73) from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, though one was identified
as richardsonii and the other as columbarius. There are two
adult males in the Museum of Comparative Zoology from southern
Florida (229136, Tortugas, 8 Apr. 1890, W. E. D. Scott; 246680,
Key West, 27 Oct. 1896, J. W. Atkins) and one from North
Carolina (218990, Raleigh, 21 Apr. 1888, H. H. & C. S. Brimley)
that must be referred to bendirei.

Essex County Ornithological Club

23

Remarks: Bendire’s Pigeon Hawk is a well defined race
occupying a larger area geographically than any other American
race of Falco columbarius. It most nearly resembles the typical
form, but is plainly intermediate between the very pale richard-
sonii and the very dark suckleyi.

The range of bendirei adjoins the ranges of the three other
forms, and it is only natural to find a considerable variety of in¬
termediates from along its periphery.

The type of bendirei was not well chosen being a migrant
and evidently from the western portion of its range ; it shows a
trace of the suckleyi influence. Pure bendirei is found from
northern Alberta northwards at least to Fort Anderson, Porcupine
River and the upper Yukon.

The immature of bendirei bears a very close resemblance to
the immature of columbarius , and Pigeon Hawks from Alaska,
Canada west of the Rockies and Western U. S. have been almost
invariably referred to c. columbarius.

Whenever adult males can be compared there is little diffi¬
culty in distinguishing the two forms, and in spite of a certain
amount of intergradation through individual variation and a cer¬
tain proportion of rather dark bendirei in the western part of its
range, I doubt whether there are any western examples of colum¬
barius that actually belong to that race genetically, and all such
birds may be identified as F. c. bendirei> suckleyi or F. c. bendeiri
> <suckleyi. In any event a fifth form intermediate between
bendirei and suckleyi would have no constant characters by which
it could be distinguished. Since autumn specimens of all races
of Falco columbarius predominate in collections, and of these a
large majority are immature, I have tried particularly to bring
out the characters by which young birds of the different races are
found to differ. There are several parallel cases in North Amer¬
ican ornithology where on the meeting-ground of two or more
races an intermediate is found hardly distinguishable from some
races to which it is genetically unrelated. Where the ranges of
Bonasa umbellus umbelloides and B. u. sabini adjoin in south¬
eastern British Columbia, eastern Washington and Oregon and
central Idaho there is a ruffed grouse indistinguishable from
B. u. togata. In western Nevada some of the intermediates

24

Bulletin of the

1926

between Eremophila alpestris leucolaema and E. a. merrilli are
much like E. a. praticola while in the mountains of northern
Idaho where Penthestes atricapillus occidentalis approaches the
range of P. a. septentrionalis intermediates occur precisely like
the familiar chickadee (P. a. atricapillus) of eastern North
America.

FALCO COL UMBAR1 US SUCKLEYI Ridgw.

Subspecific Characters. — Adult male: similar to F. c. columbarius
but very much darker above; light tail bands reduced to small dark gray
spots on either web; light markings on primaries and secondaries very
much smaller; below streakings darker and heavier, the throat also
streaked.

Adult female: differs from the corresponding sex of F. c. colum¬
barius in the same particulars as does the male.

Immature male: similar in color to the adult female.

Immature female: no specimens seen.

Range: Not exactly known, probably British Columbia, west of
the Cascades and including the coastal islands. Recent evidence (Swarth,
1926) would indicate that suckleyi may breed in southern Alaska. In
winter it appears to be resident throughout a large part of its range, but
occasionally occurs south at least to San Francisco Bay. I do not know
on what grounds Swann (1922, p. 194) bases his statement “in winter S.
cas. to Venezuela”.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barrows, Walter Bradford

1912. Michigan Bird Life. Special Bull. Mich. Agri. Coll. Lansing.
Bishop, L. B.

1900. Birds of the Yukon region with notes on other species. U. S.
Dept. Agr. Biol. Surv., No. Am. Fauna No. 19, p. 47-96.

Brewster, William

1902. Birds of the Cape region of Lower California. Bull. Mus.
Comp. Zool. 41, No. 1.

Brooks, Allan, and Harry S. Swarth

1925. A distributional list of the birds of British Columbia. Pacific
Coast Avifauna., No. 17. Berkeley.

Essex County Ornithological Club

25

Clark, Austin H. .

1905. Birds of the southern Lesser Antilles. Proc. Boston. Soc.
Nat. Hist. 32, No. 7, pp. 203-312.

Eaton, Elon Howard

1914. Birds of New York. Memoir No. 123 N. Y. State Mus. Vol. 2.
Albany.

Grinnell, Joseph

1915. A distributional list of the birds of California. Pacific Coast
Avifauna, No. 11. Hollywood.

Hatch, P. L.

1892. Notes on the birds of Minnesota. Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv.
Minn. Minnesota.

Howell, Arthur H.

1924. Birds of Alabama. Montgomery.

Knight, Ora Willis

1908. Birds of Maine. Bangor.

Macoun, John, and James M. Macoun

1909. Catalogue of Canadian birds. Canada Dept, of Mines, Geo¬
logical Survey Branch. Ottawa.

Osgood, W. H.

1904. A biological reconnoissance of the base of the Alaska Peninsu¬
la. U. S. Dept, of Agr. Biol. Surv., No. Am. Fauna, No. 24.

Penard, Frederick Paul and Arthur Philip Penard

1908-1910. De Vogels van Guyana (Suriname, Cayenne en Demerara)

Phillips, John C.

1911. A year's collecting in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Auk
28, pp. 67-89.

Ridgway, Robert

1870. A new classification of the North American Falconidae, with
descriptions of three new species. Proc. Ac. Nat. Sci. Phila.
for 1870. pp. 130-150. ( Falco richardsonii described on page 145)

1873. On some new forms of American birds. Bull. Essex Inst. 5,
No. 12, pp. 197-201. ( Falco suckleyi described on p. 201)

Roberts, T. S.

1880. A partial list of the birds of St. Louis and Lake counties, Minn.
8th Ann. Rep. Geol. and Nat. Hist. Surv. of Minn, for 1879, pp.
155-165. St. Paul.

1907. List of birds of Becker County, Minnesota. Chap. VIII of
“A Pioneer History of Becker County, Minnesota.” pp. 159-
190. St. Paul.

26

4

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1926

Seton, Ernest Thompson

1909. Fauna of Manitoba. Brit. Ass. Handb., sep. paged repr. 1-47.
Winnipeg.

Swann, H. Kirke

1921-1922. A synopsis of the Accipitres. 2 ed. 4 pts. London.

1922. [Account of visit to the United States.] Bull. B. O. C. 42,
pp. 65-68.

Swarth, H. S.

1922. Birds and Mammals of the Stikine River region of northern
British Columbia and southeastern Alaska. Univ. Cal. Publ.
Zool. 24, No. 3.

1924. Birds and Mammals of the Skeena River region of northeast¬
ern British Columbia. Univ. Cal. Publ. Zool. 24, No. 3.

1926. Report on a collection of Birds and Mammals from the Atlin
region, northern British Columbia. Univ. Cal. Publ. Zool. 30,
No. 4.

Taverner, P. A.

1919. Birds of the Red Deer River, Alberta. Auk. 36, pp. 1-21;
248-263.

1919. Birds of eastern Canada. Memoir No. 104 (No. 3 Biol. Ser.)
Dept, of Mines, Geographical Survey of Canada. Ottawa.

1926. Birds of western Canada. Bull. No. 41, Victoria Mem. Mus.
Ottawa.

Thompson, E. E.

1891. The birds of Manitoba. Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus. 13, No. 841,
pp. 457-643.

Wood, Norman A.

1923. A preliminary survey of the bird life of North Dakota. Misc.
Publ. No. 10, Mus. Zool. Univ. of Mich.

Essex County Ornithological Club

27

THE ESSEX COUNTY SHOOTING SEASON OF 1926

John C. Phillips

Exceptions and peculiarities are the normal features of a
shooting season. The season of 1926 will be remembered as a
year of great duck shortage for the pond shooters in Essex County
as well as all over eastern Massachusetts. This was especially
true of September, October and early November and was partly
made up by a very considerable flight of ducks and geese in late
December and even in January after the season closed.

At Wenham Lake fairly good records were kept up to Novem¬
ber 13 and I think never with one possible exception were so few
ducks and geese seen either on the lake or flying over it. Black
Ducks were scarce and so was every other species. There were
no western-bred ducks except a few Greater Scaup, two or three
Scoters, one Red-head and one Pintail. Stands on the salt
marshes did not fare so badly but it was evident even in the pro¬
tected ponds about Boston, and at Suntaug Lake in Lynnfield,
that there were scarcely half the normal number of Black Ducks
present. The same conditions were noted on the Kennebec River
in Maine and other areas of duck concentration.

There is, of course, no reason for believing that this condi¬
tion indicates a falling off in number of New England wild-fowl,
but it does mean that we have much to learn about the yearly
variations in flight and the reasons for the same. It would be
interesting to know whether the great summer rainfall in the
center of the country, even east as far as central New York, had
any bearing on the dearth of ducks in New England.

The water table in Essex County was low all the summer of
1926, and I have seldom seen the river marshes and wet pastures
get so absolutely bone dry. Snipe were so rare that I, personal¬
ly, did not see a single bird and heard of not more than 2 or 3
being shot. No doubt there were a few spots where an odd bird
or two managed to find a feeding ground, but the fact remains
that we have seldom had such a poor snipe season.

Because of the dry conditions many felt that we would have few
Woodcock. Some of the usual Woodcock coverts were absolutely
dusty in mid-September and of course many of the local birds
moved out before October. But there were a good many birds

28

Bulletin of the

1926

in our coverts and in Rockingham County, N. H. right through
the flight season. A considerable correspondence with Woodcock
shooters in Maine and Nova Scotia brought out the fact that 1926
was at least a good average year, possibly better than the last 10
year average. It did not of course compare with the year 1925
when we had the remarkable flight.

The Ruffed Grouse crop was certainly better than 1925, there
seemed to be a good many young birds but it could not be classed
as a good year nor did we expect a good year. Grouse were very
“spotty’ ’ in their distribution, absent from many favorite places
and failed to show up well towards the end of November as they
do in many seasons. One remarkable fact held good this year as
it did last and that was a much poorer crop of birds all across
southern and eastern New Hampshire, as far west at least as
Francistown. North of this belt there was better shooting even
as there was better shooting in Essex County. The great scarcity
of grouse in extreme northern New Hampshire, northern Maine
and most of Nova Scotia, as well as in New Brunswick and Que¬
bec still continues. During the whole month of July the writer
was unable to account for more than 5 birds in the region north¬
east of Moosehead Lake in Maine, which shows how much scarcer
the species becomes periodically under natural conditions in the
back-woods than it does with us in heavily shot over country.
Dr. A. 0. Gross was lucky in being able to collect a small series
during August in the region west of Mt. Katahdin.

It is not worth while to report the hawk and owl flights in
detail. Goshawks appeared in enormous numbers in early
November and at this writing, February 20, 1927, they are still
with us and killing a great many grouse, pheasants and rabbits.
To show how bold Goshawks become at times I might relate how
one of them struck at a decoy duck in mid-air as it was being
thrown from my stand in Newmarket, N. H. This hawk had
been sitting unnoticed in a tree almost over the duck stand
watching his chance. The hawk was shot and positively identi¬
fied. Snowy Owls came about the same time but probably killed
little except rats, some poultry, decoy ducks, crippled ducks,
etc. At this same shooting stand in Newmarket, N. H. on Great
Bay, we shot three, two of them just after they had killed decoy
ducks, and so many of our ducks were killed during the night

Essex County Ornithological Club

29

that we had to stop pegging them out. It is very doubtful
whether many of these Snowy Owls can support life in our region
judging from the small amount of food found in their stomachs.
Great Horned Owls appeared to be more numerous than usual at
Wenham in October, suggesting an influx from further north and
three were taken at the lake after repeated damage to live decoys.
On the other hand Barred Owls appeared scarce.

It is rather interesting to notice here that eels are now one
of the most destructive enemies of decoy ducks at Wenham and
work great havoc until the cooling water in early October sends
them away from the shallows near shore.

Wenham Lake was lower in 1926 than for a great many years
and there was the usual fine flock of Killdeer Plover present in
October, the bare shores being especially favorable to them.
There were Black-bellied Plover at the blind on October 2, a rare
sight for Wenham Lake.

30

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1926

NOTES ON THE FAY ESTATE
HISTORICAL AND ORNITHOLOGICAL

Arthur P. Stubbs

Every group of students of the great out-of-doors has some
especially favored nook or corner of their range which they prize
above all others as most productive. The locality holding this
position in the minds of most of the members of the Essex
County Ornithological Club is the old Fay estate, situated on the
shores of Spring Pond at the meeting point of the cities of Lynn,
Salem and Peabody.

This region is fast being built over, brushy corners are being
cleared, trees felled and roads cut through ; thus, step by step,
our feathered friends are being driven out of the old paradise.
Because of this rapid encroachment, by so-called improvement,
upon the old estate, it is thought desirable to preserve upon the
pages of our Bulletin a few fragments of its ancient and romantic
history and a few memories of the many pleasant hours of bird¬
seeking we have spent at “Fay’s.

The existence of the estate, as such, seems to date from
1690, when Doctor John Casper Richter van Crowninscheldt of
Salem bought of Mrs. Elizabeth Allen a tract of land and the
buildings thereon, “near a pond called Spring Pond.” The
Doctor proceeded to develop a gentleman’s country place and is
said to have entertained lavishly, having as guests most of the
notables of the day. One of the attractions of the place was a
mineral spring, at the Lynn end of Spring Pond, which was sup¬
posed to possess great medicinal virtue.

The estate remained in the hands of the Crowninshield* fam¬
ily until 1810, when it passed into the possession of a hotel com¬
pany and the Mineral Spring Hotel was built. The property was
conducted as a place of public entertainment until 1847, except¬
ing a period of two or three years when one Beck undertook to
conduct a school there but landed in jail. The estate was pur¬
chased in 1847 by Richard Sullivan Fay of Cambridge, a former
partron of the Mineral Spring Hotel. Mr. Fay was related to
the Crowninshield and Saltonstall families of Salem and had
married into the Pickman family of that town.

#

Modern spelling.

Essex County Ornithological Club

31

Soon after purchasing the hotel property, he went to Eng¬
land where he occupied a country estate in Shropshire. He re¬
turned to America in 1853, bringing with him a great variety of
trees and shrubs to plant upon his Spring Pond estate. During
the remainder of his life he paid especial attention to arboricul¬
ture and to beautifying his estate, making it a worthy predeces¬
sor to the Arnold Arboretum, so rare and varied was his collection
of trees and shrubs. For years, even after the death of its
creator, the estate was visited by students of sylviculture.

Mr. Fay died while on a visit to England in 1865, but his
widow continued to make the place her residence until her death
in 1904. Evil days came upon the estate after the death of Mrs.
Fay. It passed into control of care-takers, one of whom ran a
stock farm and the place was over run by cattle ; the next was a
horse breeder and horses took the place of cows. A lumber com¬
pany came with a portable mill and robbed the estate of its many
great white pines ; then picnickers did their best to ruin the
leavings of the lumbermen. The property was then sold to a
railroad company which after a time disposed of its holdings to
a land company which cut the open, unwooded part into house
lots and sold them. About this time there was a coal famine and
wood thieves raided the woodland on and near Flag-staff Hill.
This section has since grown up to brush and the birds driven
away by the raid have in a measure returned.

The estate of today may be considered an irregular triangle,
bounded on one side by the highway from Lynn to Salem (West¬
ern and Highland Avenues) ; on the second side by a line running
from a point on Highland Avenue, Salem, opposite Clark Street,
to the shore of Spring Pond near the dam; the third side is made
by the shore of Spring Pond and the boundary of ‘‘Seldom Good
Pasture.”

The open part of the estate, formerly under cultivation, is
mainly around the sides of a cup-shaped valley, at the bottom of
which is ‘‘Farm Pond,” which at flood stage is a pond, at other
times a quaking bog.

A broad, flat-topped, gravelly ridge separates Farm from
Spring Pond. On this ridge stood the old Mansion and its at¬
tendant farm buildings with a wide, grassy lawn broken by a

32

Bulletin of the

1926

few, beautiful and well placed trees. From the lawn, through a
portal of tall spruces, wound Fay Avenue connecting the Mansion
with the outer world. This avenue, for the greater part of its
extent, was, in the old days, overhung by large trees and was a
road of great beauty.

Across Farm Pond, Flag-staff Hill shuts out the noise and
bustle of the city and a steep, wooded ridge shuts the valley in
from Seldom Good Pasture.

The vista from the site of the Mansion, across Spring Pond
between its high, wooded banks is yet beautiful. A wide stretch
of old partially overgrown pasture extends from Spring Pond to
the Lynn and Salem highway. This pasture is, for the most part
high, dry and ledgy, but there are several small swamps and wet
runs filled with red maples, while the uplands are occupied by a
half starved growth of pitch pine, gray birch and red cedar with
open glades infested by barberry and wild cherry. Flag-staff Hill
and the adjoining swamp beside Floating Bridge Pond are covered
by brush on the hill and by large red maples in the swamp.

Every nook and corner of the old estate has its special feath¬
ered tenantry, and every change of elevation or cover means a
corresponding change in the species to be found. Divers, ducks,
herons, shore-birds and rails take readily to the varying surface
of Farm Pond and the more open expanse of Spring Pond. The
wet portions of the pasture furnish nesting sites for ducks, while
the heavy growth beside Floating Bridge Pond harbors, according
to season, herons, owls, woodpeckers, blackbirds, catbirds and
thrushes. The brushy uplands of Flag-staff Hill and “Pine
Warbler Ridge,” beside Spring Pond, are literally infested* by
warblers and their ilk during migrations. At the same time
the larches and spruces about the “Lawn” are crowded by a
surprising number of warbler species. Several groups of Euro¬
pean Larches, about the estate, make famous feeding places for
goldfinches, siskins and others of their tribe and there we find
our first spring flocks of migrating Myrtle Warblers.

Among the rarer birds that have favored the estate with
visits are Arctic Three-toed Woodpeckers, Evening and Pine
Grosbeaks and Olive-sided Flycatchers, while Yellow-breasted
Chats and White-eyed Vireos have been known to breed there.

Essex County Ornithological Club

33

A number of special records of rare birds have been made
on the estate on its immediate vicinity, such as — a Little Blue
Heron in adult plumage, a Hawk Owl, a Cardinal Grosbeak and a
wintering Catbird seen by Moulton; two Carolina Wrens and a
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher reported by Moon and a nesting Golden-
crowned Kinglet found by Dwyer and Chase. During the great
flight of young Little Blue Herons in the summer of 1924, Emilio
and Baker saw several on the shore of Spring Pond.

It is the writer’s misfortune not to have known the Estate at
its best, but our fellow members Chase, Dwyer, Moulton and
Moon passed their boyhood in the immediate neighborhood and
they have many pleasing memories of tramps through its woods
and across its fields. That wonderful, nature-loving character,
Will Hunt, our departed brother, knew every inch of the old
place and loved it as his own.

As a slight measure of the ornithological possibilities of the
region the writer appends the following lists made by Moulton
and Moon.

**Census made in June, 1915 by Mr. Charles E. Moulton at the
Fay Estate in Lynn, of about forty acres, one third woodland the
rest brush and swamp.

Pairs Pairs

Black-billed Cuckoo 2 Rose-breasted Grosbeak 2

Belted Kingfisher 1 Indigo Bunting 1

Downy Woodpecker 1 Scarlet Tanager 1

Flicker 4 Red-eyed Vireo 13

Ruby-throated Hummingbird 4 Golden- winged Warbler 2

Crested Flycatcher 1 Yellow Warbler 2

Wood Pewee 2 Chestnut-sided Warbler 4

Least Flycatcher 3 Black-throated Green Warbler 1

Crow 1 Ovenbird 5

Red-winged Blackbird 1 Maryland Yellow-throat 4

Baltimore Oriole 4 Redstart 12

Bronzed Grackle 2 Catbird 10

Goldfinch 1 Brown Thrasher 1

Chipping Sparrow 2 Wood Thrush 3

Song Sparrow 5 Veery 2

Chewink 3 Robin 18

A total of 34 species, 134 pairs.

# *

From ‘‘Supplement to Birds of Essex County” by C. W. Townsend, M. D., page 19.

34

Bulletin of the

1926

List of Birds noted by Wilbur D. Moon
During the month of May,

Herring Gull
Black Duck
Bittern

Great Blue Heron
Green Heron

Black-crowned Night Heron
Wilson’s Snipe
Greater Yellow-legs
Spotted Sandpiper
Buffed Grouse
Ring-necked Pheasant
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Red-shouldered Hawk
Sparrow Hawk
Osprey
Screech Owl
Black-billed Cuckoo
Belted Kingfisher
Hairy Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Whip-poor-will
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Kingbird

Crested Flycatcher

Phoebe

Wood Pewee

Least Flycatcher

Blue Jay

Crow

Starling

Cowbird

Red-winged Blackbird
Meadowlark

1926 on the Fay Estate

Baltimore Oriole
Rusty Blackbird
Bronzed Grackle
Purple Finch
Goldfinch
Pine Siskin
Vesper Sparrow
Savannah Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Towhee

Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Scarlet Tanager
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Cedar Waxwing
Red-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo
Blue-headed Vireo
White-eyed Vireo
Black and White Warbler
Golden-winged Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Tennessee Warbler
Northern Parula Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Myrtle Warbler
Magnolia Warbler
Chestnut-sided Warbler
Black-poll Warbler

Essex County Ornithological Club

35

Blackburnian Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Pine Warbler

Yellow Palm Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Ovenbird

Water-Thrush

Maryland Yellow-throat

Wilson’s Warbler

Canada Warbler

Redstart

Catbird

Brown Thrasher
House Wren

White-breasted Nuthatch
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Chickadee

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Wood Thrush
Veery

Hermit Thrush

Robin

Bluebird

36

Bulletin of the

1926

BIRD-BANDING RESULTS FOR 1926
Willis H. Ropes

It is a matter of regret that no recruits were added during
the past year to the list of bird-banders of the Club, for the value
of bird-banding depends, as with the telephone, on the number
of participants.

Several of the regular banders were unable to give full at¬
tention and time to banding at their feeding stations, so that the
total results for different species are very irregular and, except¬
ing Tree Sparrows, generally smaller.

My total banding of Juncos for the winter of 1925-26 was
101, compared with 89 for the preceding winter. Of these, 44
were banded in March and April, compared with 6 the preceding
season in those months. It has been my experience every year
that for some unaccountable reason Juncos will not enter my traps
in February. Only two were caught during that month in 1923,
none in 1924, 3 in 1925 and 2 in 1926. They are to be seen in
small flocks as in other winter months, but will not “take the
bait.” It would seem as if after the two great storms of last
February they should have gone into the traps for needed food.

On the other hand February is usually a good month for Tree
Sparrows. I banded in that month of 1923, 13; 1924, 17 ; 1925,
4; (but only 6 for the whole winter,) and in 1926, 52. The
heavy snows of this month in 1926 brought in many Tree Spar¬
rows, and my total for the winter was 89 with 5 returns, con¬
trasted with 6 and 2 returns for the previous season.

As usual Mr. Morley caught most of the Fox Sparrows, the
other banders rarely seeing any near their traps.

Chipping Sparrows were not plenty through the spring and
summer, and it was the first year since I began banding that I did
not locate a nest with young near my house. I attribute it to
the increasing scarcity of horse hair which the birds always use
in lining their nests, as I found plenty of “Chippies” in June,
near stables about a mile from my station, and after the nesting
season juvenile Chipping Sparrows were abundant.

The Night Herons were in a class by themselves as they were
banded at the heronry by two of the members only. The season
was a bad one for these birds as the following report from Mr,

Essex County Ornithological Club

37

Morley shows. He wrote me: “It took me all day to find 100
birds good enough to band, and I was all over the colony which
the members have always covered and where we used about 400
bands on our first expeditions. This year I found twice as many
dead birds, the majority of them big enough to band and all badly
mutilated, nest after nest with three or four big young birds.
I have no explanation to offer, but it looked like the work of
some animal (raccoon?) that had killed them just for the sport
of it.”

Mr. Emilio also visited the heronry and noted the same con¬
ditions. He reports that while the mutilated young birds were
largely confined to the southern part, in all parts of the heronry
there was a very unusual number of dead young on the ground,
in the nests and hanging in crotches in the trees. The season
was cold and late and many nests had only two instead of the
usual three and four nestlings.

From the nestling Night Herons banded at the Ipswich
heronry, Mr. Morley has had six interesting recoveries reported
to the Biological Survey (as per instructions on the bands) and
by the Survey to Mr. Morley. One bird was taken in Maine,
another in New Hampshire, and one each in New Jersey, Vir¬
ginia and Florida, the sixth being captured on the S. S. Ontario,
at sea. Previous recoveries of Night Herons have shown that
they scatter in all directions from the heronry when fully grown.

Mr. Morley also had returns to his Swampscott station of ten
Tree Sparrows, helpful in proving the extent to which the small
seed-eating winter birds return to the same spot. One of these
birds was banded early in the winter of 1923, four in 1924, two
in 1925 and three in 1926.

As usual there were more Song Sparrows banded at the feed¬
ing stations than any other species, the total for 1926 being 233
compared with 231 for 1925. Song Sparrows are very clever at
hiding their nests and nestlings are rarely banded by our members.

I had a pair of “returned” Song Sparrows in my garden
near the house all summer. They built four nests, but succeeded
in rearing only one brood. The three young left the nest just
before a thunder storm and I feared they had perished, but two
of them were taken nearly three weeks later in fine condition.
The other three nests were deserted, in one instance on account

38

Bulletin of the

1926

of my tipping the nest in a low shrub while trimming it and
unaware of the nest being there. The other two were visited by
either a snake, squirrel or bird which took the young or eggs.

From records I have kept for 1925 and 1926 of nests found
at or near my station in Putnamville, Danvers, I have estimated
that about one third of the nests yield no nestlings for banding.
In 1925 I found 41 nests, 16 of which were destroyed or no young
reared for various causes. In 1926 I found 44 nests, 18 of which
were unsuccessful. The former year I banded 92 nestlings and
the latter 87. Neighbors' cats, red squirrels, snakes and cold or
rain and wind storms caused most of the mortality.

For the first time I have captured a bird banded at another
station in this town. On February 15, 1926 I took Tree Sparrow
A. 51633, which had been banded a month before by Mr. Preston
at his station about two miles to the westward. The ice thus
broken, Mr. Preston took Song Sparrow 41089 on March 30, 1926.
This is a bird I had banded originally on April 3, 1924 and never
seen again. Prior to these two recoveries over two thousand birds
had been banded in Danvers by the three banders resident there
without a single interchange between stations. This is the more
remarkable as the three stations are not over two miles apart
(forming an almost equilateral triangle) and indicates that birds
confine themselves to a relatively small area in feeding and with
rare exceptions after migration, they return to the same spot,
frequently year after year.

The severe weather of December, 1926 in addition to the
influx of shrikes in numbers as well as larger predatory species,
has resulted in a great scarcity of small birds in our section at
the close of the year.

The table of species and total number of each banded by the

members of the Club in Essex County follows

Adults

•

•

Nestlings

Returns

Black-crowned Night Heron

—

135

7

Downy Woodpecker

3

4

— •

Northern Flicker

2

17

2

Phoebe

—

5

*1

Least Flycatcher

1

—

—

Blue Jay

3

—

—

Essex County Ornithological Club

39

Starling-
Purple Finch
White-crowned Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow
Tree Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Slate-colored Junco
Song Sparrow
Fox Sparrow
Towhee
Barn Swallow
Tree Swallow
Northern Shrike
Yellow Warbler
Catbird

Brown Thrasher

Brown Creeper

White-breasted Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee

Wood Thrush

Robin

Bluebrd

* Phoebe, 65,076, Second return to

Adults

Nestlings

Returns

10

5

— •

4

3

2

3

—

— •

13

—

—

175

— ■

16

50

— •

4

1

—

—

141

— ■

4

233

3

10

22

■ — •

—

3

—

—

6

22

3

2

4

—

2

• —

—

5

2

— ■

12

20

4

3

— •

—

2

—

—

3

—

2

41

—

4

—

3

—

11

29

2

11

29

2

762

. W. Means, Boxford.

281

63

40

Bulletin of the

1926

A LOCAL CHRISTMAS BIRD CENSUS
S. G. Emilio

For many years Bird Lore has conducted a nation-wide
Christmas Bird Census. Observers from all parts of the country
have reported the species of birds and the numbers of each seen
by them in one day about Christmas time. These reports have
been published in the magazine and have brought to light many
interesting facts regarding the fluctuations in the numbers of
different kinds of birds and their distribution at that time of
year.

The contribution of any one individual to this mass of data
is but a drop in the bucket, nevertheless even a drop may contain
millions of very lively bacteria. So when I decided to add my
little bit to the census data the question came up of just what
would be my plan of procedure. I might, if I elected, go one
year to Ipswich Beach, perhaps the next stroll through the Mid¬
dleton and Boxford woods, the third year hunt in the open farm¬
ing country in Danvers, and the next year, for instance, search
the Lynn, Nahant and Marblehead shores. One could spend a life
time in Essex County and never repeat the route of a Christmas
Census. By this method one would in time get a fairly good
idea of the winter bird life of the county. The list each year
would supplement what had gone before, but these lists would
not be at all comparable.

In spite of the relative insignificance of my proposed con¬
tributions to the mass of data published by Bird Lore, I decided
I could make a series of counts that in themselves would be of
some value before I passed to the next world. The solution
seemed to lie in comparable data. To obtain comparable data
one can introduce but one variable and the variable in this case
would necessarily be time, as the counts would be spaced a year
apart. That meant that the same observer must cover the same
territory at the same season each year. A very minor variable
would appear in the weather, but extremes of this factor could
be avoided by postponing the trip for a day or two if necessary.

Then came the selection of a route. I knew that a shore
trip with some attention to small land birds would result in the
largest lists, but the vagaries of the New England climate might

Essex County Ornithological Club

41

well interfere with a thirty or forty mile jaunt of this nature,
whereas deep snow could not prevent a ten mile hike from my
home in Danvers as a base. So I chose the latter plan and have
travelled afoot, roughly circling the Asylum hill. This route has
led me over Whipple hill to Mr. C. F. Whitney's feeding station,
then down into Beaver*Brook swamp and adjacent territory, along
Nichols Street and the hardwood growth nearby to Hathorne
Station, then westward through open country to Howe, from
there southward through some evergreen woods and then south¬
eastward through more open country, home again. This does
not give a fair sample of Essex County which has on the average
a larger proportion of wooded area, but it is a convenient trip to
make and decidedly productive of birds.

The limiting dates for the Census are usually December 22
and 28. Theoretically one can select a reasonably good day in
that time, but practically there has been no selection thus far
and the count has been made on the Sunday nearest Christmas
each year. The weather has been somewhat varied. The first
year it was quite mild, about 40° and with a gentle southwest
wind. This was of course ideal. The next year averaged even
warmer but there was a steady drizzle with a northeast wind.
In 1924 winter weather prevailed with a temperature range of 5°
to 16°. The sky was clear and wind moderate from the west.
As in the two preceding years there was little or no snow on the
ground. The next year was decidedly bad. To be sure it was a
cloudless day, bat a northwest gale was blowing and the ther¬
mometer showed a range from zero to 9° above. Nevertheless we
found a goodly variety of birds. In 1926 we had another offer¬
ing of New England weather, an eight inch fall of snow through
the day drifting to two and three feet with the temperature fall¬
ing from 30° to about 20° and a brisk northerly wind. Again it
was surprising that so many birds were found under the adverse
conditions which prevailed nearly all day.

In the five years a considerable variety of weather has been
experienced but extreme conditions such as a real blizzard or
driving rain have not been met, and in the future will be avoided
if possible. There has been but little apparent influence by the
weather on the result of the searches.

42

Bulletin op the

1926

Three years I made the trip alone, but in 1925 and 1926
Charles P. Preston accompanied me. His youthful and keen eye
and ear are a constant challenge to my dulling senses. It is no
doubt true his presence introduces another variable, but if, as I
hope, he or another equally alert observer goes with me in the
future, the first three years only will be* affected and probably
not very much at that, for conversation and noise in walking tend
to balance the advantage of another pair of eyes and ears pro¬
vided the observers hunt together as they have done and will do.

The appended tabulation tells its own story if one will study
it. It is noteworthy however that only ten species have been
found every year — Downy Woodpecker, Flicker, Blue Jay, Crow,
Starling, English Sparrow, Tree Sparrow, Slate-colored Junco,
Black-capped Chickadee and Golden-crowned Kinglet. The large
numbers of Crows and Starlings which are of course only esti¬
mates— are due to the flocks of each seen at the piggery near
Howe Station. Apart from them the most consistently common
bird seems to be the Chickadee. The sparrow counts seem to
indicate short cycles of abundance and it will be interesting to
see what figures on that matter the future will give.

There are a few birds listed that one hardly expects to find
at Christmas time. The Cowbird is not normally a winter bird
and the four observed had so far lost their self respect as to asso¬
ciate with the Starlings at the piggery. The Bronzed Grackle in
the winter of 1924-25 was represented hereabouts by many indi¬
viduals. I know of no similar occurrence in the past and it has
not been repeated in the two subsequent years. One Grackle
only was seen on the day of the count. The Long-billed Marsh
Wren has wintered not infrequently in the Cambridge region, but
this bird of the 1924 Census is the first instance I know of in
Essex County in winter. The bird was found in Beaver Brook
Swamp and I saw it again about three weeks later. It is not
usual for Herring Gulls to appear in the area of the census and
the two seen in 1925 were of only casual occurrence. Salt water
is but a few miles away however and the appearance of the bird
here is not particularly noteworthy. The winter of 1926-27
witnessed a considerable invasion of Northern Shrikes as well
as Snowy Owls and Goshawks,— and the shrike appears for the
first time in the census.

43

Essex County Ornithological Club

The rest of the species listed one can expect to find any win¬
ter and succeeding counts will show about how each ranks numer¬
ically in the area searched. It is to be expected that the total
list will increase with time and that the number of species
recorded every year will decrease. Thus far the average number
of species found each year lies between 19 and 20. Which way
that average will trend is wholly problematical.

Tabulation of a Danvers, Mass. Christmas Bird Census

for Five Years

• •> J

A.O.U.

1922

12/24

1923

12/23

1924

12/28

1925

12/27

1926

12/26

51.

Herring Gull

—

- -

_

2

300.

Ruffed Grouse

—

- -

-

4

Pheasant

2

1

2

1

360.

Sparrow Hawk

—

—

— . .

1

373.

Screech Owl

1

. -

-

393.

Hairy Woodpecker

—

- -

1

2

1

394c

Downy Woodpecker

1

2

2

5

3

412a

Northern Flicker

2

1

5

5

6

474.

Horned Lark

—

30

—

30

25

477.

Blue Jay

10

8

o

z

4

17

488.

Crow

7

45

100

150

200

493.

Starling

6

50

300

200

200

495.

Cowbird

— •

—

4

-

_

501.

Meadowlark

1

- . .

_

511b

Bronzed Grackle

—

—

1

-

517.

Purple Finch

2

—

—

-

English Sparrow

?

•

75

75

60

30

529.

Goldfinch

—

1

—

28

2

534.

Snow Bunting

38

—

—

1

558.

White-thoated Sparrow

—

—

2

~

559.

Tree Sparrow

45

5

100

60

6

567.

Slate-colored Junco

1

10

25

25

6

581.

Song Sparrow

1

1

14

2

584.

Swamp Sparrow

—

2

1

1

__

619.

Cedar Waxwing

—

—

flk.

-

621.

Northern Shrike

—

—

—

—

1

44

Bulletin of

THE

1926

655.

4

Myrtle Warbler —

—

6

4

—

725.

Long-billed Marsh Wren —

—

1

—

—

726.

Brown Creeper 2

—

1

2

2

727.

White-breasted Nuthatch —

1

—

— •

1

728.

Red-breasted Nuthatch —

4

—

1

—

735.

Black-capped Chickadee 10

24

30

30

40

748.

Golden-crowned Kinglet 16

6

2

2

17

761.

Robin 3

—

2

5

50

18 sp.

17 sp.

22 sp

22 sp

19 sp.

THE DOCTOR BANDS A VIRGINIA RAIL
Edward G. Rowland, M. D.

During May one of the boys under my care was continually
bringing in reports of a strange bird he had been seeing in a
little cat-tail swamp near the office of the school, a state institu¬
tion for the education of mental defectives. His descriptions
were varied and inaccurate as was to be expected, yet I was con¬
vinced that the boy was describing some kind of a bird that he
himself at least had never seen before. He had assisted me in
banding hundreds of birds of more than forty species, and the
situation was interesting as he insisted that the unknown was
as long as a Robin, reddish-brown in color, had a long bill, was
quite tame and did not fly when chased, but ran.

One evening he and another boy were helping me bait my
traps for the morning catch of Song Sparrows and Catbirds when
the youngster suddenly said, “0 — h! There’s the bird I have
been telling you about.” Following the direction of his pointed
finger I found myself looking at a patch of reddish-brown color
outlined against black mud. The patch presently resolved itself
into the outline of a bird with a rich chestnut breast and a long
curved orange-colored bill. It cocked its head from side to side,
looked the three of us over quizzically, then leisurely paddled off
into the recesses of the swamp.

It was a full twenty-five years since I had seen the nest of a
Virginia Rail and 1 suddenly longed to renew my youth by seeing

Essex County Ornithological Club

45

another nest full of rail’s eggs, so next evening we undertook the
search. It must have looked like a crazy performance to the
onlookers — a gray-haired doctor and two small boys wading in
deep mud every step causing an eruption of sickening marsh gas
from the sticky mire. We examined every cat-tail stalk in that
acre of semi-aquatic unloveliness with its chaos of fallen trees,
alder bushes, “honey-pots” and tussocks of marsh grass. We
found plenty of nests but no sign of the home of the rail. At
last we paused a moment for breath and as I fought the mos¬
quitoes silently, all three of us rather disgusted, one of the boys
shouted, “There’s the bird !” And immediately from boy Num¬
ber 2, “There’s another one !” Sure enough, two Virginia Rails
stood there delicately picking bits of food from the surface of
the mud, each of them quite self-satisfied and unconcerned. We
walked toward them and they gradually filtered away into the
still narrower part of the swamp. I mumbled a rhetorical desire
to band them, but the words had no special significance, for my
intimate friends accuse me of talking to myself in a similar
manner whenever I see a flock of chicks in a dooryard.

The absurdity of attempting to capture and band a rail be¬
came evident at once to my superior intellect, and I explained in
detail to these two boys the physical and biological futility of any
further effort. My scientific exposition was a gem of ornitho¬
logical reasoning, a complete overwhelming, crushing demonstra¬
tion by an A. B. M. D., to two boys of defective mentality. But
as I paused to observe the effect of my words a voice from behind
a nearby bush said, “We are going to drive them into a trap.”
Think of it ! What more conclusive evidence of their mental
deficiency could be asked for? I would write the incident into
their case histories in the morning. It would also furnish an
illuminating illustration for an article I was writing for the
American Journal of Pschiatry on “Practical Situations vs. Binet-
Simon Tests.”

Too disgusted to object, I let the boys boss the job and stood
where I was told, ready to shoo the bird along if it came my
way. A trigger trap occupied a strategic position in the fore¬
ground and one of the Virginias gradually got into a muddy
alleyway between two rows of cat-tails that led inevitably to the
yawning mouth of the trap. She looked worried, bewildered and

46

Bulletin of the

1926

in the desperate situation did just what poor mortals do took
the path of least resistance. She spied the opening, dashed into
it, banged up against the inner wall of the trap, but by good luck
did not touch the trigger and shot out again into the cat-tails.
Certainly ! Had I not proved before we started that it could not

be done.

Now you know that “easy discouragement and lack of per¬
sistence in accomplishing a difficult task are cardinal attributes
of defective mentality.” All the books say so. Accordingly, or
rather unaccordingly, those two boys dashed into the swamp
again shouting back as they stumbled and splashed, “We’re go¬
ing to drive her back.’’ Sure enough, back came the bird to the
area of quiet around the trap, which was now reset at a different
angle. Virginia was getting wary and did not shoo as readily
as before, but she finally struck the prepared alleyway, there was
a click of steel on steel and a simultaneous shout from two
youthful throats, “Got her!” Doubting, I splashed heavily
through the mud and beheld the rail, captive but unhurt running
wildly about her narrow prison.

Trap and captive were taken to my office and the bird duti¬
fully and submissively admired by the entire staff of school
officers, most of whom probably knew the difference between a
humming bird and an ostrich. And finally on Virginia s leg

was fastened an aluminum band.

The title of this article mentions the Doctor, the rail, and
the band, but, little of fundamental nature can be achieved in the
line of outdoor investigation into nature’s secrets without that
one unique piece of equipment, the exasperating, inaccurate,
enthusiastic, and absolutely indispensable small boy.

Essex County Ornithological Club

47

ANNOTATED LIST OF BIRDS OBSERVED DURING 1926

BY THE ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB

Arthur P. Stubbs, Recorder

Real winter came with the big snow storms of early Febru¬
ary and lasted well into March, delaying the arrival of the Black¬
birds, Phoebe and Woodcock for a few days. April was normal
but mid-May was rather cool and wet and late migrant warblers
dribbled over into June. Summer was normal with few exces¬
sively hot days. Autumn was dry and rather cool. December
was as a whole cold and snowy.

Late autumn brought an unusually large flight of Goshawks,
Snowy Owls and Northern Shrikes, supposedly driven this way by
want of food to the northward. A scarcity of small birds at this
time may be laid to this influx but no doubt the harsh weather
of December is somewhat responsible.

We have included in this list several records received from
Mr. Charles E. Clarke of Medford, who has been so frequently
in the field with us during the past year that we feel his work to
be an extension of our own. These records will be found credited
to him in the text.

Each member’s records are merged into a whole as club
work, but, if any individual record is desired it can be had on
application to the Recorder.

a. o. u.

2. Holboell’s Grebe. April 29 ; October 10. Not numerous.

3. Horned Grebe. April 29 ; October 12. Usual numbers.

6. Pied-billed Grebe. April 19; September 1 to November 21.

More observed than in 1925.

7. Loon. May 30 ; September 5. No summer birds reported.

11. Red-throated Loon. May 11 ; October 10. Average numbers.

27. Black Guillemot. February 22 ; November 7. Uncommon

early in the year but unusually numerous in the late fall.

31. Briinnich’s Murre. January 1 ; December 12. (November
21 C. E. Clarke.) Most numerous at the latter end of
the year.

34. Dovekie. March 21 ; November 24. By no means com¬
mon this year.

48

Bulletin of the

1926

40. Kittiwake. April 15 ; June 14. The latter date being a
record for the County we refer for further data to
page 61.

43. Iceland Gull. November 14 and 24. Decidedly uncommon.
47. Great Black-backed Gull. May 30 ; August 29. No sum¬
mering birds reported.

51. American Herring Gull. Present in large numbers the
whole year.

54. Ring-billed Gull. June 16 to September 15. For a further
account see page 60.

58. Laughing Gull. April 29 to August 25. Hardly so com¬
mon as it has been for the last year or two.

60. Bonaparte’s Gull. June 16 to November 28. Why this
species is with us in June and July, hundreds if not
thousands of miles from its nearest known breeding
station, is a puzzle.

70. Common Tern. May 16 to October 10. Very common.

71. Arctic Tern. August 15. Ipswich.

77. Black Tern. August 29. One record at Ipswich.

106. Leach’s Petrel. September 27. Live bird picked up in
Wyoma Square, Lynn. This is the second such record.
(See Bulletin, 1922, p 40.)

117. Gannet. April 25 to May 22 ; October 10 to November 26.
Usual numbers.

119. Cormorant. April 19; November 14. Usual numbers.

120. Double-crested Cormorant. May 30 to June 13 ; Septem¬

ber 5 to November 19.

3 29. American Merganser. November 21 to December 1. De¬
cidedly uncommon.

130. Red-breasted Merganser. June 4; September 15. Very

common.

131. Hooded Merganser. November 7 to 22. Rare.

132. Mallard. November 21. Very evidently a wild bird.

133. Red-legged Black Duck. April 19 ; October 27. Present

in good numbers.

133a. Black Duck. April 11 to October 27. Evidently bred in
the County in some numbers.

139. Green-winged Teal. May 15 ; October 27 to November 22.
Uncommon.

Essex County Ornithological Club

49

143. Pintail. March 14-18. Hall’s Brook, Lynn.

144. Wood Duck. May 15 to October 3. Usual numbers.

148. Scaup Duck. April 15 ; November 6. Few seen in the fall.

151. American Golden-eye. April 29 ; October 27. Usual

numbers.

152. Barrow’s Golden-eye. April 15 ; November 24. At the

same place and in the same numbers as last year.

153. Buffle-head. April 29 ; November 7. Present in increas¬

ing numbers.

154. Old-squaw. May 19 ; October 12. Usual numbers.

163. American Scoter. February 22 ; October 10. Uncommon.

165. White-winged Scoter. May 30 ; September 6. Average

numbers.

166. Surf Scoter. May 19 ; September 6. Not so common as

preceding species.

167. Ruddy Duck. October 27 to December 1. More reported

than during 1925.

Snow Goose. Sp? November 21. Single record.

172. Canada Goose. April 15 to 24 ; November 15 to December
1. Average numbers.

173a. Brant. April 15 and 16; October 10; (November 14,
C. E. Clarke. )

190. Bittern. April 23 to October 12. Usual numbers.

194. Great Blue Heron. April 9 to May 30 ; August 4 to
November 10. An immature was found on the snow,
dead, December 6 at Ipswich.

200. Little Blue Heron. April 25. Single bird in adult plumage.

201. Green Heron. April 25 to September 5. Average numbers.

202. Black-crowned Night Heron. April 19 to October 31.

Usual number of adults in the spring but a high mor¬
tality among thq young of some heronries.

212. Virginia Rail. April 25 to June 6. Very few reported.
214. Sora. May 18 and 23. Very few reported.

221. Coot. October 27 to December 1. Somewhat common
during the fall.

224. Wilson’s Phalarope. August 15. A single bird seen at
Clark’s Pond, Ipswich by five observers, three of whom
were members of the Club.

50

Bulletin of the

1926

228. Woodcock. March 27 to November 15. Average numbers.

230. Wilson’s Snipe. Wintered to May 17. Fair spring flight

but no fall reports.

231. Dowitcher. May 16 to 23; July 28 to August 29. More

satisfactory records of this species this year than we
have ever had before.

234. Knot. August 19 to October 12. (November 14 C. E.

Clarke) Not so plentiful as in 1925.

235. Purple Sandpiper. April 19 ; November 7. Present in

usual numbers about the outlying rocks and ledges of
Salem Harbor and Marblehead.

239. Pectoral Sandpiper. August 11 to September 12. Not

numerous.

240. White-rumped Sandpiper. August 11 to September 12.

Scanty numbers reported.

242. Least Sandpiper. May 9 to 30 ; August 11 to September
22. Usual numbers.

243a. Red-backed Sandpiper. September 5 to October 12. Few
reported.

246. Semipalmated Sandpiper. May 16 to June 16 ; July 14 to
October 10. Present in good numbers.

248. Sanderling. May 16 to June 3 ; July 28 to October 12.
Present in good numbers.

254. Greater Yellow-legs. April 23 to May 30; August 11 to

October 31. Spring flight normal ; fall flight thin and
scattering.

255. Yellow-legs. August 11 to 29. Thin flight.

25*6. Solitary Sandpiper. May 9 to 15 ; September 4 to
October 3. Hardly a normal flight.

261. Upland Plover. August 11 to 29. Very few reported.

262. Buff-breasted Sandpiper. September 5. A single bird

seen at Clark’s Pond, Ipswich. (See page 65)

263. Spotted Sandpiper. May 9 to October 24. Usual numbers.
265. Hudsonian Curlew. September 5 and 8. Seen at Great

Neck, Ipswich.

270. Black-bellied Plover. May 11 to June 13; August 11 to
October 31. Large fall flight.

272. Golden Plover. September 5 to 12. Much more rare than
in 1925.

Essex County Ornithological Club

51

273. Killdeer. March 24 to October 24. Locally common.

274. Semipalmated Plover. May 16 to June 25 ; July 28 to

October 12. Present in good numbers.

277. Piping Plover. March 22 to August 29. Evidently bred
successfully.

283a. Ruddy Turnstone. May 11 to 15 ; August 25 to Septem¬
ber 12. No large numbers reported.

289. Bob White. A few reported so it can be still considered
a resident species.

300. Ruffed Grouse. Resident species. A mother bird and her
brood seen near the Club Camp, in June.

Ring-neck Pheasant. Introduced resident species. Gun¬
ners report a good season.

316. Mourning Dove. April 4 to November 7. Apparently
bred successfully.

331. Marsh Hawk. April 25 to October 10. Usual numbers.

332. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Resident species. Not abundant.
334. Goshawk. January; October 20. Unusually large flight

during the fall.

337. Red-tailed Hawk. January 28. Seen at close range in
a closely built residential section of Lynn.

339. Red-shouldered Hawk. Resident species. Usual numbers.
343. Broad-winged Hawk. May 18 to June 13. Few reported.
352. Bald Eagle. May 11 to 21. Seen at Ipswich.

356a. Duck Hawk. October 12. Seen at “The Bluffs,” Plum
Island.

357. Pigeon Hawk. April J 7; September 22. Uncommon.
360. Sparrow Hawk. Resident species. Common.

364. Osprey. April 9 to May 21 ; September 22 to October 12.
Somewhat common.

366. Long-eared Owl. Resident species. Collected for the
Peabody Museum, November 3, in West Peabody.

368. Barred Owl. Resident species. Collected for the Peabody
Museum in Salem, (Forest River,) November 8.

373. Screech Owl. Resident species. Several reported.

375. Great Horned Owl. Resident species. Heard at various
dates and seen on December 1 near the Club Camp.
One was taken in a trap in the same neighborhood ear¬
lier in the year.

52

Bulletin of the

1926

376. Snowy Owl. February 22 ; November 15 to December 22.

Great numbers of these birds came from the north and
were seen by several of the members between the above
dates.

387. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. May 23 to July 2. Very few

reported.

388. Black-billed Cuckoo. May 15 to August 11. Not num¬

erous.

390. Belted Kingfisher. April 9 to November 14. Usual
numbers.

393. Hairy Woodpecker. Resident species. Usual numbers.
394c. Downy Woodpecker. Resident species. Usual numbers.
400. Arctic Three-toed Woodpecker. May 16. Only record for
the year.

402. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. April 13 to 17 ; September 23
to October 12. Much more common during migration,
both spring and fall, than for some years.

412a. Northern Flicker. Resident species. Usual numbers.

417. Whip-poor-will. May 4 to late August. Locally common.
420. Nighthawk. May 23 to September 8. Somewhat common
locally.

423. Chimney Swift. May 7 to September 5. Usual numbers.
428. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. May 12 to September 19.
Uncommon.

444. Kingbird. May 5 to September 5. Common.

452. Crested Flycatcher. May 3 to September 8. Uncommon.

456. Phoebe. March 30 to October 23. Common.

461. Wood Pewee. May 23 to September 15. Somewhat

common.

466a. Alder Flycatcher. June 6, 9 and 20. Reedy Meadows,
Lynnfield.

467. Least Flycatcher. May 2 to August 18. Common.

474. Horned Lark. March 14 ; October 12. Somewhat common.

474b. Prairie Horned Lark. August 11 to October 12. About
Clark’s Pond, Ipswich.

477. Blue Jay. Resident species. Very common in town and
out.

488. Crow. Resident species. Common.

Essex County Ornithological Club

53

493. Starling. Introduced resident species. Often seen in

enormous flocks.

494. Bobolink. May 7 to September 11. Locally common.

495. Cowbird. March 25 to November 7. Locally common.
498. Red-winged Blackbird. March 18 to August 11 ; Novem¬
ber 6, two females in Danvers. Locally common.

501. Meadowlark. Resident species. Said to be disappearing
locally.

506. Orchard Oriole. May 18. A single male seen at Howe

Station, Middleton.

507. Baltimore Oriole. May 7 to September 1. Usual numbers.
509. Rusty Blackbird. March 31 to May 9 ; September 25 to

November 15. Common.

511b. Bronzed Grackle. February 22, March 22 to November
10. Common.

514. Evening Grosbeak. February 8. Seen by two observers

on this date at points several miles apart.

515. Pine Grosbeak. February 3; November 4. Rare.

517. Purple Finch. Resident species. Locally common.

528. Redpoll. February 28 to April 14 ; November 28. Very

few reported.

529. Goldfinch. Resident species. Usual numbers.

533. Pine Siskin. May 19. No fall dates.

534. Snow Bunting. February 28 ; October 31. Comparative¬

ly few seen.

536. Lapland Longspur. October 12 to November 28. Only a
few seen.

540. Vesper Sparrow. April 11 to November 7. Usual numbers.

541. Ipswich Sparrow. January 1 ; October 31. Very few seen.
542a. Savannah Sparrow. April 11 to November 6. Common

locally.

549. Sharp-tailed Sparrow. June 16 to October 12. Locally
common.

554. White-crowned Sparrow. May 15 to 18 ; October 16 to 27.
Only a few reparted.

558. White-throated Sparrow. Wintered, June 24, September
26 to December 4. If this species had not disappeared
from a Swampscott banding station in early December

54

J

Bulletin of the

1926

we could have claimed complete residence in the county
for 1926 as the June 24 bird was evidently breeding.
Common during spring and fall migrations.

559. Tree Sparrow. May 2 ; October 28. Usual numbers.

560. Chipping Sparrow. April 14 to October 30. Unusual

numbers.

563. Field Sparrow. April 12 to October 27. Usual numbers.
567. Slate-colored Junco. April 25 ; October 1. Usual numbers.
581. Song Sparrow. Resident species. Abundant in summer ;

uncommon in winter. Fewer migratory birds this year.

584. Swamp Sparrow. April 11 to November 6. Locally com¬

mon.

585. Fox Sparrow. March 25 to May 1 ; November 6 to 21.

Average numbers.

587. Towhee. May 2 to October 13. Usual numbers.

595. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. May 14 to September 19. Some¬
what common.

598 Indigo Bunting May 17 to July 9. Possibly a few more
were reported this year than last but the species has not
regained its old status.

608. Scarlet Tanager. May 14 to October 6. Somewhat com¬
mon and well distributed through the County.

612. Cliff Swallow. April 25 to August 15. The colony near

the East Street Bridge in Middleton is the only 1926
station known to the Recorder. Birds were at their
nests at that place on August 15.

613. Barn Swallow. April 25 to September 17. Present in

good numbers.

614. Tree Swallow. April 11 to September 8. Usual numbers.
616. Bank Swallow. May 16 to 30. Few reported.

619. Cedar Waxwing. Variable resident. Average numbers.
621. Northern Shrike. February 16; October 31. Unusually
large number of the species present during the fall and
winter.

622e. Migrant Shrike. September 1 and 5. West Peabody and
Boxford.

624. Red-eyed Vereo. May 16 to October 10. Average numbers.

627. Warbling Vireo. May 23 to September 12. Common only
in favored localities.

Essex County Ornithological Club

55

628. Yellow-throated Vireo. May 16 to June 24. Very few

reported, seems to becoming locally extirpated.

629. Blue-headed Vireo. May 2 to October 10. The fact seems

to be established that this species breeds rather com¬
monly in the County in favorable locations.

631. White-eyed Vireo. May 21. Only one bird reported, has
become very rare in Essex County.

636. Black and White Warbler. May 2 to October 4. Usual
numbers.

642. Golden-winged Warbler. May to 4 August 18. Common
locally.

645. Nashville Warbler. May 5 to October 10. Somewhat
common summer resident locally.

647. Tennessee Warbler. May 5 to June 5. By no means as
common as it was in migration a few years ago.

648a. Northern Parula Warbler. May 2 to June 13 ; September
8 to October 10. Fall migration scanty.

650. Cape May Warbler. May 7, 17 and 19. Fay Estate, Lynn.
652. Yellow Warbler. May 2 to September 19. Usual numbers.

654. Black-throated Blue Warbler. May 12 to 18 ; October 16.

Decidedly uncommon spring and fall.

655. Myrtle Warbler. Wintered, May 30, June 24, September

4, November 14. The above series of dates seem to
show the species to have been resident in the County in
1926. The June 24 record was of a male and female
seen together in a mixed growth of woods near the
Topsfield-Ipswieh line and beside the Ipswich River,
in what seemed to the two observers to be a favorable
nesting site.

657. Magnolia Warbler. May 14 to 30 ; August 30 to Septem¬
ber 8. Average numbers.

659. Chestnut-sided Warbler. May 3 to September 12. Com¬

mon locally.

660. Bay-breasted Warbler. May 16 and May 30. Very rare.

661. Black-poll Warbler. May 18 to June 6; September 8 to

October 12. Also one bird on October 28 and another
November 7. The latter was seen at Nahant and inde¬
pendently identified by two observers. Usual numbers.

56

Bulletin of the

1926

662. Blackburnian Warbler. May 5 to June 24. Breeds in the
County to a limited extent.

667. Black-throated Green Warbler. April 25 to October 24.
Usual numbers.

671. Pine Warbler. April 13 to October 6. Average numbers.

672. Palm Warbler. September 15. A single record.

672a. Yellow Palm Warbler. April 11 to May 15; October 1.
Rare during the fall migration.

673. Prairie Warbler. May 4 to September 15. Not numerous.

674. Ovenbird. May 3 to September 8. Usual numbers.

675. Water-Thrush. May 17 to June 2 Not numerous.

678. Connecticut Warbler. September 27 and October 5. Very
rare.

681. Maryland Yellow-throat. May 7 to October 10. Usual
numbers.

685. Wilson’s Warbler. May 14 to June 2. Uncommon.

686. Canada Warbler. May 5 to June 2, June 24, August 11.

Probably bred in small numbers in the County.

687. Redstart. May 3 to September 26. Present in usual

numbers.

697. Pipit. May 9 to 23 ; September 14 to October 28. Pres¬
ent in some numbers.

704. Catbird. May 3 to October 4. Usual numbers.

705. Brown Thrasher. May 2 to September 9. Apparently

started south unusually early.

721. House Wren. May 5 to June 16. Rare.

722. Winter Wren. April 21; October 12 and 17. Uncommon.

724. Short-billed Marsh Wren. May 16 to June 24. Locally

common.

725. Long-billed Marsh Wren. May 23 to October 3. Locally

common.

726. Brown Creeper. April 25 ; September 15. Fairly common.

727. White-breasted Nuthatch. Wintered, May 24 ; June 22,

23, 26, 27; July 24, 31; August 1, 9, 10, 11, 20, 21;

September 3, - . Above dates indicate permanent

residence.

728. Red-breasted Nuthatch. May 24 ; September 26 ; Fairly

common.

Essex County Ornithological Club

57

735. Chickadee. Resident species. Very common.

748. Golden-crowned Kinglet. February 21 ;October 4. Variable.

749. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. April 24 to May 7; October 1 to

17. Fairly common.

755. Wood Thrush. May 4 to September 10. Somewhat com¬

mon locally.

756. Veery. May 15 to September 10. Mr. R. A. Nichols re¬

ported seeing one bird of this species in Boxford, April
23. Common locally.

758a. Olive-backed Thrush. May 14 to 30; September 26. Rare.
759b. Hermit Thrush. April 13 to November 6. Bred in fav¬
orable localities all over the County.

761. Robin. Variable resident species. Usual numbers.

766. Bluebird. March 24 to October 30. Present in good
numbers.

PROTECTIVE TUBES FOR BIRDSKINS
Albert P. Morse

Curator of Natural History, Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass.

Many years ago, in 1905 to be exact, I conceived the idea of
using a tube of transparent celluloid, closed at the ends with corks,
as a means of protecting birdskins from breakage of necks and
tails due to unskilled or inadvertently rough handling. This
system has now been used at Wellesley College and other institu¬
tions for a long time with much satisfaction and as it greatly,
in fact almost indefinitely, prolongs the life of the birdskin, it
seems worth while to make it more widely known.

The tubes are cylindrical in shape and made of transparent
celluloid from 5 to 20 thousandths of an inch in thickness,
according to the size of the tube required, with a cemented lock
seam on one side. Flat corks, the same diameter as the tube and
about a half an inch thick, are inserted, one in each end, and
held in place with short ribbon pins. I have made tubes in this
way even for large hawks, owls and ducks, using sheet cork,
sheet compressed cork or cork soling for closing the ends.

58

Bulletin op the

1926

If the tube is made to fit the specimen, (as I have usually
made it,) the skin is rarely damaged by “sitting on its tail.”
If the tube should be a little large one can attach to the legs of
the bird a card label of the right length to press against the rear
or lower cork, and thus hold the skin in place. I have found also
that a brass wire twisted around the crossed tarsi and clinched
in the rear cork is an even better plan, because there is less in¬
terference with the view of the specimen.

It is possible to place celluloid in the ends, instead of cork,
and cement it in. This is a troublesome job, (I speak from ex¬
perience,) and consequently expensive, but when it is done, with
the skins thoroughly fumigated before being enclosed, neither
pests, dust nor dampness will cause further trouble.

The tubes give a clear view of all parts of the skins, take up
but little extra room, are very light and portable and so tough as
to be practically indestructible ; yet if necessary the specimens
may be quickly removed, except from the hermetically sealed
tubes, for critical examination. I know of no other means
whereby it is possible to secure such good opportunity for close
observation with entire freedom from injury to the specimen.

Precautions must of course be taken against letting celluloid
come in contact with fire, either spark or flame — just as with
paraffined or tissue paper or any other combustible material.
Cellulose acetate, which when coated with gelatine and sensitized
becomes the so-called non-inflammable film, burns freely though
less rapidly than celluloid. Gelatin, unfortunately, soon becomes
brittle and is also instantly damaged by moisture. A substance
having the good qualities of celluloid without its combustibility
is greatly to be desired.

These tubes have been used by me personally since 1905.
About 170 are in use at Wellesley College ; others by the Boston
Normal School, Brush Hill Bird Club, etc. The Peabody Muse¬
um of Salem has placed a series of the smaller common birds in
them to be loaned to the school teachers of Essex County, Mass¬
achusetts and the Massachusetts Audubon Society is to have a
similar series.

Light, portable and waterproof, the tubes are equally valu¬
able for out-of-door and laboratory work. It has long been my
custom when conducting an autumn trip of bird-lovers to the

Essex County Ornithological Club

59

Ipswich sand dunes, to take along in these tubes examples of the
Ipswich Sparrow, Snow Bunting, Horned Lark, Lapland Longspur
and other species for the students to get acquainted with before
trying to recognize the birds in the field.

GULL AND SHORE-BIRD RECORDS
AT THE “SOW AND PIGS” DURING THE
SUMMER AND FALL OF 1926

A. P. Stubbs

The success of field work on the “made land” at the mouth
of the Saugus River, “Sow and Pigs”, during the summer and
fall of two or three years past* led me to visit the locality fre¬
quently during the present season.

The remnant of the wooden bulk-head, a long line of posts
connected at their tops by a heavy string piece, makes a famous
gull-roost. Mr. Arthur Morley and I were pleasantly surprised
on June 16 to find three Ring-billed Gulls resting there with
others of the gull tribe. The small size of the Ring-billed, when
„ perched beside a Herring Gull, is very evident and its flesh colored
feet and legs and light colored bill with its dark ring complete
the identification. The plumage of these Ring-bills, apparently
approaching that of the adult, was similar to the winter dress
of the Herring Gull. There were also present in the mixed
company on the rail, one adult Laughing Gull and a hundred or
more Bonaparte's Gulls. Along the sand inside the bulk-head
we found a pair of Piping Plovers and four belated Semipal-
mated Sandpipers.

I visited the place again on July 14. This visit furnished a

* Bulletin 1922. Page 56.

(60)

Essex County Ornithological Club

61

pretty problem in gull identification. On the rail with the Her¬
ring, Ring-billed and Bonaparte’s Gulls was a bird about the size
of a Ring-billed but of quite different markings. Its head was
white with a blackish spot back of the eye, its feet and legs were
dull black while the sharp-pointed, somewhat down curved bill
was greenish yellow with a slight black tip. On the folded wing
was a peculiar bar, near the bend, which seemed a roughness or
shirring of the feathers rather than a color variation. I decided
to call the bird a Kittiwake and on looking at Fuertes’ plate in
Forbush’s Birds of Massachusetts, I found the markings which I
had so carefully noted down duplicated in the picture of a young
Kittiwake. As the occurrence of Kittiwakes in Essex County in
mid-summer is unusual I have given a careful summary of my
notes on the spot. The close range at which I was able to observe
the bird and the fact that I purposely ranged back and forward
along the line carefully to compare it with birds of its own size
as well as with birds larger and smaller, leaves me no ground to
doubt the correctness of my identification. The Bonaparte’s
Gulls present at this visit showed a wide variation in plumage.
Two birds had jet black heads and white tails, others ranged from
heads that were dull black through smutty and patchy conditions
to the small black spot back of the eye, characteristic of their
winter dress.

July 28, I found five Ring-billed Gulls, one Laughing Gull,
the usual hundred or so of Bonaparte’s Gulls, a Dowit.cher in
summer plumage, five Sanderlings, about fifty Semipalmated
Plovers and about a thousand Semipalmated Sandpipers. One
Bonaparte’s Gull with a jet black head and one with a dull black
head were seen, while the smutty heads had nearly faded to
winter conditions. Many Terns were present, as they were on
nearly every visit to the locality, but I could find only birds with
black-tipped red bills, indicating that only Common Terns visited
the place this season.

August 25, there were present, two Ring-billed Gulls, two
laughing Gulls in changing plumage (adults putting on winter
garb), the usual number of Bonaparte’s Gulls and a Ruddy Turn¬
stone in summer dress. The marks of the Laughing Gulls were
as follows: back of the head smutty, forehead lighter, broken
white eye-ring deep slate mantle, end of tail white, legs and bill

i

62

Bulletin of the

1926

dusky if not black — showing no reddish tint. Only one smutty
headed Bonaparte’s was seen, all the others had taken on winter
plumage.

In company with S. G. Emilio I visited the place on Septem¬
ber 6 and again on the 15th. On the first date we found several
Bonaparte’s Gulls and Common Terns and also several White-
rumped Sandpipers. On the latter date we found one Ring-billed
Gull and about twenty-five Terns.

HERRING GULLS NESTING IN SALEM BAY

Ralph Lawson

The following letter received from Mr. Bernard B. Bancroft
of Salem is most interesting:

“One Sunday sometime around the first of July, a party of
five, myself included, landed on North Gooseberry Island to eat
our lunch and found quite a lot of young Herring Gulls that were
unable to fly. I could hardly credit it until I caught and exam¬
ined a few of them and found that they were about four or five
weeks old, so I made up my mind that they must have hatched
there. I went looking about for nests and found at least twenty
nests, and two whole eggs that were decayed, and quite a lot of
broken shells. I took the eggs down to the beach and gathered
a few large feathers, for blow pipes and a wire to break up the
dead chicks, I blew them and after washing them out and soak¬
ing them for a couple of hours was able to dry them and take
them home, where they are at present.”

Frank W. Benson, Esq., of Salem, tells me that when he
was a boy fifty years ago there were no gulls nesting in the bay,
and he believed at that time that these birds had not nested there
for many years before owing to constant shooting and the collec¬
tion of eggs. This may, therefore, be the first nesting there for
nearly a century.

Essex County Ornithological Club

63

ALDER FLYCATCHERS
S. G. Emilio

Whee-zee bears some resemblance to the call note, or rather
song, of the Alder Flycatcher. My introduction to the bird was
effected by Messrs. Clarke, Perry and Brounstein on June 6, 1926.
We met at Lowell Street station in the town of Wakefield and
walked northeastward along the railroad toward Lynnfield Center.
Scarcely a hundred yards from the station, Mr. Perry I think it
was, heard the bird and in a moment I too, for the first time to
recognize it, heard the whee-zee of the Alder Flycatcher. This
bird was in a rather forbidding appearing bit of swamp and we
did not try to approach it. Nearer the Lynnfield Center station,
and so well within the Essex county limits, two more birds were
heard and one we managed to approach quite closely. Some of
the party saw this bird under sufficiently favorable conditions to
observe the decided brownish coloration of the plumage.

This flycatcher occasionally breeds in Essex county and I
made two subsequent trips to the Lynnfield marshes but was
unable to find a pair of birds or any evidence of nesting. On
June 9 and again on the 20th, I found a single bird in song. It
proved to be rather shy and would fly some distance and remain
silent quite a while if approached too closely.

In late July while motoring in Maine I heard this species
twice as we were rolling along at considerable speed. The call,
though not loud, carries astonishingly well and can hardly be
mistaken. I stopped and hunted up the first of these two birds
to confirm the identification by ear.

SHRIKES AROUND A BANDING STATION
Arthur Morley

The present season has been anything but one of joy for the
bird-bander or for the enthusiast who maintains a feeding shelf
for birds, if the location happens to be known to a Northern
Shrike, for these marauders certainly raise havoc with the small
flocks of Juncos and Tree Sparrows.

Early in December I saw a Shrike alight on the top of a tall
hickory tree, and one look around showed him a Junco and a

64

Bulletin of the

1926

Tree Sparrow feeding under a pull-string trap. These two birds
“froze’ ’ the instant the Shrike appeared but he saw them never¬
theless and immediately swooped down straight into the trap.
Simultaneously there was a dead Tree Sparrow and a fall of the
trap making the Shrike a prisoner — only he did not know it, for
he proceeded to dismember his victim right there. When I went
out doors to take the Shrike I got to within six feet of the trap
before he picked up the sparrow with his beak and tried to get
away, whereupon he realized he was caught and was then quite
willing to drop his prey. The bird made no fight whatever when
I took it out of the trap and was easily banded. I then put it
in a cage until next day.

Less than thirty minutes elapsed before my youngest boy
came rushing into the house with the news that another Shrike
was in the hickory. I stepped across to the dining room window
and sure enough there was No. two in the same tree. This time
two Juncos and an English Sparrow had been feeding and as be¬
fore, had “frozen” on the appearance of the Shrike. Before the
bird moved I pulled the trap but when I got out doors the Shrike
had already dropped down, and, outside of the trap, was working
at top speed, eyes following his intended victim, oblivious to
everything except the business in hand. When I got too close
this fellow simply flew up to a nearby bush and waited to see
why I should “butt in” on his game. I worked gently and took
out the two Juncos but left the English Sparrow in, and opened
the drop of the trap. With the Shrike sitting so close I could
have reached out and touched him I then stepped back several
paces whereupon he deliberately rushed into the trap and the
Sparrow was no more.

I kept both Shrikes until next morning when I fed them the
birds they had killed, banded No. two and carried them off ten
miles and released them. Ten days later one was recaptured in
Brighton, Mass.

Since this occurrence I have caught two more and shot sever¬
al, but still more have appeared. The small birds are pretty
well driven out now so the Shrikes do not stay long. They
surely do strike terror into the small winter resident birds and
so far as I can see should be reduced in numbers for the benefit
of all concerned.

Essex County Ornithological Club

65

THE BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPER AT IPSWICH

S. G. Emilio

It has been my good fortune to find the Buff-breasted Sandpiper
two years in succession at Ipswich. August 26, 1925 in company
with Dr. E. G. Rowland I saw an odd sandpiper among the scores
feeding at Clark s Pond. It was larger than the innumerable
Least and Semi-palmated Sandpipers about it and its buffy color¬
ation made it quite conspicuous. We lay quietly on elevated
ground and the bird obligingly came nearer to us, while feeding,
and eventually ran along on a somewhat drier area than the
smaller peep were frequenting not over ten yards from our
feet.

The physical characteristics of size, length and shape of bill,
length and color of tarsus and feather coloration were studied at
leisure. The size, general coloration, short bill and rather long
greenish-yellow tarsi, indicated at once the Buff -breasted Sand¬
piper but we were reluctant to identify our bird as such a rare
visitor. Nevertheless after carefully checking observed points
against the known physical characteristics of the other commoner
species with which it might possibly be confused we were com¬
pelled to eliminate everything except the Buff-breast. This was
my first meeting with the species in life.

September 12, 1926, from almost the same spot, I saw two
friends some ways to the northwestward intently studying some
bird. With the aid of my telescope I soon found what appeared
to be a Buff -breasted Sandpiper at considerable distance. I
approached at once and found the bird under observation to be
in fact a Buff-breast. The sandpipers were restless that day and
several times our bird took to the air with the host of shore
birds present, but we easily found it again when they had all
alighted to feed. As in the previous year the Buff-breast fre¬
quently left the water and wet mud for relatively drier areas.

66

Bulletin of the

1926

JUNE SWANS
Ralph Lawson

On Sunday morning, June 20, 1926 while sailing on Duxbury
Bay I saw a flock of fourteen Swans about over Powder Point,
flying in a northeasterly direction. These great white birds
made a beautiful picture with sun and shadow alternately light¬
ing and darkening their plumage and we followed them with our
eyes until they disappeared out at sea off Scituate.

From reports received by Mr. Forbush it would appear that
this flock followed the coast east beyond Nova Scotia.

A VERY LARGE FLIGHT OF GUILLEMOTS

Ralph Lawson

November 21, 1926, while sailing in, and just outside of,
Salem Bay with my friend John Robinson, we saw a most extra¬
ordinary number of Black Guillemots, all in winter plumage.
The birds were nowhere in sizeable flocks, but at certain points,
notably around Eagle Island bar, the water was dotted with indi¬
vidual birds which were evidently feeding. As no attempt was
made at first to count the birds it is only possible to guess at
their numbers, but a most conservative estimate would indicate
not less than one hundred and fifty individuals and I am satisfied
there were on that day over two hundred in Salem Bay and the
waters immediately adjacent thereto.

I have since wondered if there was any connection between
this flight of Guillemots and the great flight of Snowy Owls
which was then at its height, as I have read that these owls prey
upon Guillemots to some extent in the north. Incidentally we
saw three Snowy Owls that same day, one on Tinker’s Island and
two on Marblehead Rock.

Essex County Ornithological Club

FEET TO TALONS?

Ralph Lawson

During December 1926, a Northern Shrike apparently made
his headquarters near Washington Square in Salem, where I had
an opportunity to make many observations of his feeding habits.

I was particularly impressed with the extent to which this
bird used his feet in moving and carrying the bodies of his vic¬
tims, which were mostly English Sparrows, and I have wondered
if evolution is slowly providing this species with feet suitable
for properly handling its food. Several times I have seen Shrikes
carrying objects with their feet, and on one occasion I saw this
bird transfer a sparrow from his bill to his feet immediately
after launching himself from the limb of an elm. I have never
seen this transfer reversed as I suppose it would be unless the
bird should alight on the ground or upon some roof or broad
limb. I have seen other Shrikes use their feet to hold birds
which were being eaten and my bird of last December once
dragged the body of a sparrow several feet along the ground with
the aid of wings and one foot only. I feel confident that on this
occasion the foot was not caught in any way.

68

Bulletin of the

1926

CALENDAR FOR 1926
ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
OF MASSACHUSETTS

January 11. Fourteen members present. List of species
observed by club members during 1925 and prepared by Recorder
Stubbs read and reviewed. General field notes.

February 8. Regular meeting. Nineteen members pres¬
ent. Mr. J. K. Myers of the Department of Agriculture of New
Zealand spoke on the birds of that region and showed many lan¬
tern slides giving a general idea of the country. Field notes.

March 8. Regular meeting. Eight members present.
Evening devoted to general field notes.

March 22. Regular meeting. Thirty-five members pres¬
ent. This was the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Club.
Secretary Clarke of the Massachusetts Fish and Game Protective
Association spoke on conservation and showed motion pictures of
winter feeding stations and of Quail, Grouse and Heath Hens,
also of Florida Pelicans and of the bird rocks of the north. A
brief tribute was paid departed members. A social hour with
refreshments followed.

April 12. Regular meeting. Eight members present.
Evening devoted to migration notes and general discussion. The
possibility of publishing a “Directory of the Birds of Essex
County’ ’ was discussed.

April 26. Regular meeting. Twelve members present. It
was voted to build up a collection of lantern slides of the birds
of Essex County. It was voted to hold the annual Ipswich River
Bird Trip on May 15 and 16. It was further voted to hold regu¬
lar club suppers at the Club campon Wednesday evenings during
May and June.

May 10. Regular meeting. Eighteen members present.
Communication of the evening from Dr. C. W. Townsend who
told of his recent winter’s trip through the southern states,
starting down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers in October and

Essex County Ornithological Club

69

ending in Virginia in April. He visited the Rainey and Sage
sanctuaries and worked along the Gulf coast from Brownsville to
Pensacola thence north through Georgia and the Carolinas with
the spring migration.

May 24. Regular meeting. Eleven members present. The
Ipswich River Bird Trip of May 15th and 16th was reviewed and
the list discussed and checked. General field notes.

June 14. Regular meeting. Twelve members present.
General field notes and discussion with particular reference to the
recent shore bird migration.

September 13. Regular meeting. Ten members present.
Mr. W. G. Means spoke of his recent summer’s trip hunting wild
life with the camera, in the Rocky Mountains and Idaho. Mr.
Emilio told of a summer camping trip in the White Mountains
and across Maine to Mt. Desert. General field notes and summer
records.

October 10. Regular meeting. Seven members present.
Mr. Jeffrey spoke of birds seen about Wayne Pond, Maine during
the summer. Mr. Stubbs read a manuscript which he had pre¬
pared, on the Fay estate.

November 8. Regular meeting. Nine members present.
Evening devoted to a discussion of the sparrows found in Essex
County. General field notes.

December 13. Regular meeting. Twenty-four members
present. This was the annual meeting of the club. Officers
were elected for the year 1927. Mr. G. E. Benson showed mov¬
ing pictures taken by him while on a salmon fishing trip on the
Kedgwick River in New Brunswick and while on wild fowl shoot¬
ing trips at Providence, Rhode Island and Eastham, Massachu¬
setts. Field notes.

70

Bulletin of the

1926

LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE
ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
OF MASSACHUSETTS

Bates, Walter E.
Beckford, Arthur W.
Benson, Frank W.
Benson, George E.
Bosson, Campbell
Brown, Everett B.
Bruley, Roger S.

Bryan, G. Warren
Bushby, Fred W.

Chase, Charles E.
Cogswell, Lawrence W.
Cushing, Milton L.
Doolittle, Albert W.
Doyle, John F. *

Emilio, S. Gilbert
Felt, George R.

Fletcher, Laurence B.
Fowler, Albert B.
Gifford, Lawrence W.
Gifford, Morris P.
Goodale, Loring B.
Hubon, William P.
Ingraham, Phocion J.
Jeffery, Thomas B.
Jones, Gardner M.
Kelley, Mark E.

Lawson, Ralph
Little, Philip
Long, Harry V.

Lord, J. Anderson
Mackintosh, Richards B.
McNeill, David C.

279 Essex Street, Lynn
10 Park Street, Danvers
14 Chestnut Street, Salem
2 Chestnut Street, Salem
19 Brewster Street, Cambridge
86 Grove Street, Lynn
64 Center Street, Danvers
Y. M. C. A. Salem
17 Washington Street, Peabody
31 Euclid Avenue, Lynn
288 Essex Street, Salem
Box 374, Fitchburg
Burley Ave., Danvers
44 State Street, Boston
156 Hobart Street, Danvers
85 Main Street, Peabody
54 Cotswold Road, Brookline
111 Locust Street, Danvers
63 Federal Street, Salem
17 Beckford Street, Salem
1 Pope's Lane, Danvers
25 Flint Street, Salem
235 Lowell Street, Peabody
Salem Willows
Public Library, Salem
52 Sutton Street, Peabody
88 Washington Square, Salem
10 Chestnut Street, Salem
260 Clarendon Street, Boston
13 Ash Street, Danvers
109 Central Street, Peabody
33 Beckford Street, Beverly

Essex County Ornithological Club

71

Means, Robert W.

Means, W. Gordon
Moon, Wilbur D.

Morley, Arthur
Morrison, Alva
Morse, Albert P.

Morse, Frank E.

Newhall, Milo A.

Nichols, Rodman A.
Osborne, Arthur A.

Phelan, Joseph C.

Phillips, Dr. John C.
Porter, Willard B.

Preston, Charles H.

Preston, Charles P.

Proctor, George N.
Robinson, John
Ropes, Willis H.

Sears, Judge George B.
Smith, Fred A.

Spofford, Charles A.

Stubbs, Arthur P.

Taylor, Arthur W.

Teel, George M.

Tenney, Ward M.

Tortat, William R. M.
Townsend, Dr. Charles W.
Walcott, Judge Robert
Whitney, Charles F.
Wilkinson, Robert H.

Brown, C. Emerson
Clark, W. Hobart
Cousins, Willard C.
Donaldson, Major George C.
Griffin, Bertram S.

Moulton, Charles E.

Sanders, Richard D.
Spalding, Frederic P.

19 Pearl Street, Boston
108 Water Street, Boston
46 Maple Street, Lynn
26 Minerva Street, Swampscott
35 Congress Street, Boston
Peabody Museum, Salem
162 Boylston Street, Boston
12 Temple Court, Salem
27 Broad Street, Salem
183 Lowell Street, Peabody
16 Pierce Road, Lynn
Wenham
5 Lee Street, Salem
42 Preston Street, Danvers
42 Preston Street, Danvers
35 Congress Street, Boston
18 Summer Street, Salem
33 Summer Street, Salem
37 Cherry Street, Danvers
420 Maple Street, Danvers
23 Elm Street, Danvers
14 Fiske Avenue, Lynn
24 1-2 Briggs Street, Salem
2 Otis Street, Danvers
60 East Street, Ipswich
6 Perkins Street, Peabody
Argilla Road, Ipswich
152 Brattle Street, Cambridge
29 Pine Street, Danvers
Hamilton

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS

1829 Green Street, Philadelphia, Pa.
364 Plantation, Ave. Worcester, Mass.
8 Sargent Street, Hanover, N. H.

Lock Box 17, West Newbury, Mass.

R. D. 6 Belfast, Maine
Brokers’ Exch. Bldg., Norfolk, Va.
1016 Middlesex Street, Lowell, Mass.

PUBLICATIONS of the
ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB

BULLETIN 1919
BULLETIN 1920
BULLETIN 1921
BULLETIN 1922
BULLETIN 1923
BULLETIN 1924
BULLETIN 1925
BULLETIN 1926

Price 75 Cents
Price 75 Cents
Price 75 Cents
Price 75 Cents
Price 75 Cents
Price 75 Cents
Price 75 Cents
Price 50 Cents

Check List of the Birds of Essex County - Price 10 Cents
Revised Check List - Price 25 Cents

The above may be obtained from Ralph Lawson, Secretary,
88 Washington Square, Salem, Mass.

or

S. G. Emilio, Treasurer, 156 Hobart Street, Danvers, Mass.

PUBLISHED MAY 9, 1927

I

72

MILO A. NEWHALL ft CO . PRINTERS
SALEM, MASS.