TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE PAGE Officers Foreword Ipswich Crow Roost and the Great Horned Owl rhnrlo* W Ton - 2 26 Editors 3 , ^ , Charles W. Townsend 4 Four Days in May, 1928, in Essex County, Ludlow Qriscom 8 Ipswich Rivet Bird Trip - Ralph Lawson 16 Essex Co. Shooting Season, 1928 John C. Phillips W Moults and Plumages of the Starling James L. Peters 21 Bird Banding Notes for 1927-1928 Chas. H. Preate^| A Pine Tree State Ornithologist Among the Palms and Mangroves Sandford Ritchie 29 Annotated List of Birds Observed in Essex County in 1928 . Around the Big Table - Calendar for 1928 of the Essex County Ornithological Club of Massachusetts List of Members of the Essex County Ornithological Club of Massachusetts 39 52 59 61 BULLETIN OF THE Essex County Ornithological Club ' /: ‘ OF Massachusetts 1928 FIFTY CENTS COPYRIGHT 1929 BY THE ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB OF MASSACHUSETTS, INC. Salem, Massachusetts OFFICERS OF THE ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB 1928 President Frank W. Benson Vice-President Albert P. Morse 6 7 7^3 7 ' e V \ Secretary Ralph Lawson 88 Washington Square Salem, Massachusetts Treasurer S. Gilbert Emilio 7 Winter Street Salem, Massachusetts Recorder Arthur P. Stubbs 1 Addison Avenue Lynn, Massachusetts Council F. W. Bushby R. B. Mackintosh A. A. Osborne [ BULLETIN OF THE ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB OF MASSACHUSETTS Salem, Massachusetts ISSUED ANNUALLY EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Ralph Lawson Arthur P. Stubbs S. G. Emilio DECEMBER, 1928 SALEM, MASS. Number 10 FOREWORD Taken as a whole the year 1928 was not favorable for field work although some notable records were made. An outstand¬ ing event was the nesting of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Ipswich. The Annual River Trip held in May was made in the foulest of weather, but was most successful nevertheless, and a remarkably large number of species was recorded. A small group of Club members was exceedingly active in the field and our County’s possibilities were surveyed in a very thorough manner. Only parts of the northern and north-western areas now remain unexplored by the Club. The publication of a “Directory of the Birds of Essex Coun¬ ty” is in contemplation, although it is fully realized that a work of this sort could never be anywhere complete and would have to be very general in its indications. It is a fact, nevertheless, that we now know pretty well what to expect in any given area before that area is visited. For various unfortunate reasons the attendance at the regu¬ lar Club meetings reached a rather low ebb in 1928, but all other activities have prospered and the membership is full. We feel we are making distinct progress. THE EDITORS. 3 4 Bulletin of the 1928 THE IPSWICH CROW ROOST AND THE GREAT HORNED OWL Charles W. Townsend For some years prior to the winter of 1916-17 most of the Crows of the eastern parts of Essex County spent the winter nights in roosts in the pine thickets of West Gloucester and Essex. There were, however, a few small roosts in Ipswich. In November, 1916, I discovered that the Crows, instead of flying towards the south, to Gloucester, at night as formerly, were converging on the thick¬ ets of evergreens and hardwoods on the southerly side of Castle Hill at Ipswich. Here it was that Crows roosted in great num¬ bers — at least 12,000 of them — in the winter of 1916-17. On December 10, 1917, I read before the Club a description of the roost*, with an account of the impressive evening flight in three streams, one from the north, one from the south and one from the west, of the nocturnal conversations and of the morning awakening and flight, together with an analysis made by the Biological Survey, of hundreds of pellets I had collected, showing an interesting and varied bill of fare. In the next winter, that of 1917-18, the Crows resorted to the same woods in ever increasing numbers, but early in the winter of 1918-19 there were signs of the wrath to come, of the evil that was to overwhelm them. On October 4, 1918, I made the following record : “Some of the Crows have been roosting on one of the wooded islands in the salt marsh about a mile from the main roost. They make a great racket at daybreak, some¬ times visiting the ‘forest’ where I sleep, and continuing their harangue in these precincts. This morning, long before dawn while it was still dark, a clamor of great volume, which awak¬ ened me, broke out from this roost, and, after continuing an un¬ certain time, it died away. Whether this was due to an owl, to the breaking of a branch overloaded with Crows, to a fox snatch¬ ing a young one that had been crowded from the branches to the ground, or merely to the nightmare of one bird that had aroused the roost, I do not know, but the sounds suggested mob terror and anger.” I did not realize at the time that a Great Horned Owl was attacking the Crows at their main roost and had driven some * “The Auk,” XXXV. 1918, pp. 405-416 Essex County Ornithological Club 5 of them to roost elsewhere, but even there they were not safe from the “terror by night. ” On October 14, 1918, I noted that “the Crows which have been roosting temporarily on one of the wooded islands in the marsh have now returned to the old roost on Castle Hill and can be seen, evening and morning, flying to and from that locality. In the morning they sometimes stop in the ‘forest’ to talk.” But on my visits to Ipswich after that I came to the conclusion that the roost on Castle Hill was practically broken up and ceased to be after the early days of December, 1918, and that the Crows were flying as before towards the Gloucester and Essex woods. Occasionally, during the daytime, I saw excited bands of Crows mobbing something in the trees of Castle Hill and making a great outcry, although I did not actually see a Great Horned Owl there until February 18, 1919. Notwithstanding this serious handicap of the Owl, some Crows evidently roosted there from time to time, and I noted on April 12, that “Crows are flying by my place at sunset in considerable numbers to the roost on Castle Hill.” It is possible that the Owl or Owls took short vacations elsewhere. In the winter of 1919-20 the roost had but a straggling and uncertain tenure at Castle Hill. The season of 1920-21 began early and bravely. On August 22, I noted: “Crows flying over in considerable numbers towards the roost at Castle Hill, flying very high — a calm night.” On September 8, I counted from my house 460 Crows flying in the evening towards the roost. But again it was depopulated. In 1921-22 the roost began about August 15, and, on Septem¬ ber 4, I counted a stream of 449 birds straggling out for a mile or so, flying from the west towards Castle Hill. But again the * Crows had a hectic winter and the roost was more or less deserted. On November 25, 1922, I recorded : “The Crows are roosting in the forest [my planting of a little over an acre]. They were not there a week ago. Coming from all directions about 4.30 P. M., they alighted in the fields, bare trees and marsh. At 5 o’clock, when it was nearly dark, they swarmed into the forest with great cawing, squaking, moaning and rattling. The noise continued, and at 7 o’clock, I threw down a stick with a bang in 6 Bulletin op the 1928 the shed and the Crows rose up in a black cloud with much out¬ cry. They soon returned, and the talking went on for a couple of hours, at least.’ ’ The Crows had evidently been driven from the main roost by the Owl who later drove them from the forest. Again the roost was a failure, as was also the case in 1923-24. A note of mine written on March 16, 1924, describes a typical situation: “The Crow roost has been again broken up this win¬ ter. On January 27, the Crows were evidently mobbing an Owl but I did not see the offender. Today I started a Great Horned Owl from a tree near the brook on the southerly side of Castle Hill and he flew to a spruce where I could watch him through my binoculars. Crows darted down at him, and, after a little, drove him to the middle of the pine woods on the lower side of the road. Here many Crows gathered, darting downwards, caw¬ ing violently and alighting in nearby trees to curse the more.” The three following winters I was away from Ipswich, but members of the Essex County Ornithological Club assure me that there was.no general Crow roost at Castle Hill. I spent the whole winter of 1927-28 at Ipswich and found that Bubo virginianus reigned supreme at Castle Hill ; there was no Crow roost but Crows in moderate numbers were always to be seen in that region often engaged in their favorite sport of Owl-baiting. At intervals as late as June 12, I saw a Great Horned Owl perched in the upper branches of evergreens there, and once from my house on January 3, my attention was called to one in a great bitter-nut hickory on the edge of my forest by the excited caw¬ ing of five Crows in the top of the same tree. The Owl made his headquarters in the forest for several weeks, judging from the fact that I heard his hootings there from time to time in the evenings. Two Owls were seen at Castle Hill in the region of the roost, on February 22, 1928, but I never succeeded in finding any nest or young birds. One Owl generally spent the days in the same group of woods on the southerly side of Castle Hill where I had found him in former years, and he was often to be seen day after day in the same tree, generally a pine, in which he was nearly concealed close to the trunk among the thick branches near the top. Here he would rest, and, I suppose, sleep, although he was Essex County Ornithological Club 7 ever on the alert for danger. Here also he digested his food, ejecting from his mouth in the form of pellets the undigestible parts. Owing to thick branches through which the pellets had to fall, they were more or less thoroughly broken up. During May and June I collected a considerable mass of this material which was kindly examined by Dr. Glover M. Allen with the following results : Bones of Brown Rat . . 25 individuals “ Meadow Mouse . 10 i i “ “ Cotton-tail Rabbit 2 < < “ “ Crow . 2 < i “ “ Starling 2 i < “ Pheasant 1 i i Dr. Allen remarks of the first lot of ten brown rats, “That practically all the rats were not fully adult as shown by the teeth and by the fact that the proximal epiphysis of tibia and humerus were either lost or only partly ankylosed to the shaft.” The bill of fare of this Owl as disclosed by the pellets shows that, from the human point of view, he was a very desirable member of the community, and we can well allow him one Pheas¬ ant as a reward for his good work in destroying so many unde¬ sirable pests. This Pheasant was doubtless a weak specimen, and, therefor, more easily caught, and its removal would benefit the race. Considering all the fuss made about him by the Crows and the fact that he disrupted the roost, the Owl seems to have had but poor success in actually preying on them. A large Crow roost is extremely interesting to the Ornithologist, but it is not a desirable thing from the farmers’ point of view, and its break¬ ing up by the Owl is a benefit. Both the Crow and the Great Horned Owl are useful in the scheme of nature. Neither should be treated as vermin and ex¬ terminated. Bulletin of thU 1928 FOUR DAYS IN MAY, 1928, IN ESSEX COUNTY Ludlow Griscom For a good many years the writer has been taking all day spring bird censuses in various parts of the eastern United States, and with the kind help of more experienced friends, some four attempts of the same sort were made in Essex County last May. Much has been written about the value of these censuses, but having made thirty myself, I am notable to appreciate any special scientific value in censuses made in settled regions, where the bird-life is relatively well known and where the course of migra¬ tion is definitely established. Any intensive study of the avifauna of a local region, however, involves a comparative study of the migration from year to year, and it is apparent that the more hours spent afield, the more approximately complete will be the data obtained. If the human frame could stand the strain, the ideal would naturally be thirty-one all day censuses every May over what proved to be the most productive route. I must admit, therefore, that I take all day censuses because I enjoy them, and not because I am thrilled at advancing science in a manner in any way commensurate with the energy and effort expended. The interest in taking bird censuses is almost uni¬ versal, as every bird-lover prefers to see more rather than fewer birds in a day’s outing, and the question, “just how many can be seen,” arises with every new locality. This interest is at its natural height in May, when the maximum number of possible spe¬ cies is present in these latitudes. The weather is an all important factor, providing an ever present stimulus, in the nature of an uncertainty. The arrival of a wave of migrants the night before yields results very different from those obtained on a day when such a wave has moved on, leaving the countryside comparatively devoid of bird-life. High cold winds or rain, resulting in great¬ ly decreased activity of bird-life, are sure to result in a smaller list, but the increased difficulty in finding even the commoner birds known to be present lends a sporting element lacking under more favorable conditions. It thus happens that three or four censuses taken as occasion permits during the month can present an epi¬ tome of the spring migration of that year, if these days are properly checked with daily but briefer observations during the Essex County Ornithological Club 9 intervening periods. We can now proceed to an analysis of the four days in detail. No. 1. May 6. A large party of Club members and Maun- sell S. Crosby of New York, spent the night at the Club camp at Boxford. The day’s list began with the Bittern and Virginia Rail calling at 3.00 A. M. We worked down river, stopping par¬ ticularly at the Proctor Estate, to the Crane Estate at Ipswich (10.30-1.00), the Dunes, 1.30-2.30; Clark’s Pond, and thence to Marblehead, Lynn and Nahant, (5.00-6.30) ; Fay Estate until sunset. This route was traveled completely only by Lawson, Crosby and the writer. The majority of the party disbanded at Ipswich. Messrs. Emilio and Moulton left at Clark’s Pond, pass¬ ing up the shore-trip, but arrived at the Fay Estate about 5.30 and added several species to the list, missed by us as we arrived at the Fay Estate so late, that the birds had quieted down. The weather was ideal, and the only big wave of migrants of the month arrived over night. Very few possible species were missed, and very few were below par in the number of individuals pres¬ ent. An asterisk in the list which follows denotes new arrivals for the year or marked migratory movement. It will be noted that the number of these asterisks in the May 6 column is much greater than in any other. The absence from the list of many species which do not arrive until later in the month is compensated for in part by the list of sea-fowl and April migrants, which have not yet departed. The party list was 96, of which I saw 91 per¬ sonally. Messers. Moon and Stubbs spent most of the day in the Fay Estate, and found the Woodcock, Whippoorwill, Pine War¬ bler, Prairie Warbler, Carolina Wren, and Brown Creeper, missed by us. No less than 23 species arrived overnight. No. 2. May 17. With Mr. and Mrs. Robert Walcott all day, and Ralph Lawson until 10.00 A. M. The same route followed as May 6, but so much time was spent in the Crane Estate at Ips¬ wich, that we only had fifteen minutes before sunset at the Fay Estate, and had to omit Marblehead, Lynn and Nahant, thus los¬ ing at least half a dozen certainties. A beautiful day, but quite cold the previous night; birds very scarce and spotty; many ab¬ sences and bad misses, and practically no land-bird migrants. Total only 90 species. This list is of interest in showing that a 10 Bulletin of the 1928 wave is far more important than a later period in the month with no wave. The list also shows the importance of not only picking a proper route, but covering it on a carefully prepared timetable to be strictly adhered to. The weather during the month between the 6th and the 17th was very unfavorable for migration, and the 14th was the only day when Warblers were locally common about Boston. No. 3. May 20. The same route but reversed ; beginning with Nahant, Lynn and the Fay Estate, with a brief stop at Pleasant Pond on the way to Ipswich. Route reversed so as to co-operate with the Ipswich River party, and spend the best morn¬ ing hours in country they would not cover. With R. J. Eaton all day, and Dr. May, Messrs. Clarke and Perry until about 3.00 P. M. Weather very unfavorable ; misting or drizzling occasion¬ ally from the southeast all morning; pouring rain after 1.30 P. M. with rising wind from northeast and falling temperature ; more migrant Warblers in the morning than at any time this spring, but conditions hopeless for land birds all the afternoon and even¬ ing, and hopeless visibility for sea birds all day. In spite of several bad misses because of weather conditions, the list is of in¬ terest in showing how many birds can be found in spite of them. No. 4. May 27. With Lawson and Emilio all day. Spent night at Club camp; left at 8.00 A. M. and instead of going down river as usual, went to Lynnfield Meadows, stopping at Middle- ton and Howe’s Station, etc. ; Saugus River, Nahant, Lynn and Fay Estate up to 12.15 ; Ipswich region and up river to Camp at dusk; slight and erratic migration since the 20th; clearing pre¬ vious night after steady rain; foggy, early, clear and warm all rest of morning with light southwest winds, which changed to northeast about 3.00 P. M., the late afternoon dark and raw; slight but obvious migration. Probably the most favorable day of a very unsatisfactory month. In spite of the relatively late date most of the Warblers were still present, and the departure of various species was compensated for by the greater variety of shore-birds. In commenting on the results obtained, further experience is needed in adopting a route and a schedule, and these should un¬ doubtedly vary according to the period of the month and the general Essex County Ornithological Club 11 progress of the season. Thus the schedule of May 27, was probably the best possible for that day, but would have been foolish for May 6. It is undoubtedly best to start at the Club camp, acquir¬ ing as many land birds as possible. Clarke’s pond, Ipswich, is best visited at high tide, and the mouth of the Saugus River at low tide. Above all it is important to leave enough spare time to visit various places for land birds, depending upon what has been missed at the Club camp. The fact, however that birds like the Yellow-throated and Warbling Vireos were not recorded at all during the month shows a possibility for improvement. Some people disapprove of all day censuses on the ground that inaccurate and slip-shod identifications tend to creep in, when the main object is to roll up a large list. The four lists given below show how little this is actually the case, as they con¬ tain practically no exceptional records. The breeding pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons is now a matter of history, and needless to say this species will probably be absent from future lists. Two Golden-crowned Kinglets lingered into June in the Crane Estate at Ipswich and may have bred ; these also do not be¬ long on a May census. A very late Ipswich Sparrow is the only other bird out of the ordinary, and it should be noted that hardly any of the rarer transients were listed. It is a great wave of migrants, which brings rare and extraordinary birds, and not all day censuses. Their absence from the list below is in itself evi¬ dence that there was no wave on the three latter days. In conclusion let me offer particular acknowledgments to Messrs. Lawson and Emilio. This article should really have been written by one or the other of them. Horned Grebe Pied-billed Grebe Black-backed Gull Herring Gull Laughing Gull Bonaparte’s Gull Common Tern Cormorant sp. ? May 6 May 17 May 20 May 27 1—11 100+ 25 50 300 4* — 20 4 — — — 25 — 1* 2 100+ 15 1 — 1 Bulletin of the 1928 i2 Red-breasted Merganser May 6 100+ May 17 6 May 20 May 27 2 Black Duck 13 15 4 sev. Wood Duck 5 1 1 1 Golden-eye 1 — — — Bufflehead 15 — 8 — ■ Old-squaw 10 — • — — American Scoter — — • — 3 White-winged Scoter 20 — 50 50 Surf Scoter 2 — — — Bittern 1 8 — sev. Green Heron 5 6 3 1 Black-cr. Night Heron 6 10 15 com. Yellow-cr. Night Heron 2 2 1 2 Virginia Rail 2 1 — • 1 Sora — 1 1 — Woodcock r ■ — 1 1 Dowitcher 1 — • — 3 White-rumped Sandpiper — 1* 4 — Least Sandpiper 5* 50+ 100+ 50+ Semipalmated Sandpiper 15* 250+ 500+ 1000+ Sanderling — • — 10 — Greater Yellowlegs 31* 10 10 2 Solitary Sandpiper — 2 3 1 Spotted Sandpiper 1 2 4 6 Black-bellied Plover - - 20* 30 10 Killdeer 1 1 — — ■ Semipalmated Plover — 3 25 25 Piping Plover - - — 2 1 Ruddy Turnstone - - — — 1 Ruffed Grouse 2 1 1 4 Pheasant com. com. 2 com. Mourning Dove 2 3 — sev. Marsh Hawk 2 1 . — — Cooper’s Hawk 1 — ■ — — Red-shouldered Hawk 2 2 1 3 Sparrow Hawk 2 — — 2 Osprey 1 — ■ — — Essex County Ornithological Club 13 May 6 May 17 May 20 May 27 Great Horned Owl J — — — Barred Owl — — — 1 Yellow-billed Cuckoo — 1* 2 — Black-billed Cuckoo — 1 1 6* Belted Kingfisher 6 2 sev. sev. Hairy Woodpecker 1 — — — Downy Woodpecker sev. sev. sev. sev. Flicker com. com. com. com. Whippoorwill — • 2 1 sev. Nighthawk — — • — 2* Chimney Swift 11* com. 4 com. Hummingbird — 1 1 1 Kingbird 5* 6 sev. com. Crested Flycatcher — — — 2 Phoebe 10 sev. sev. 10 Wood Pewee — — — 2* Least Flycatcher 10* com. sev. com. Prairie Horned Lark 2 — 2 1 Blue Jay sev. com. com. com. Crow com. com. com. com. Starling abd. com. com. abd. Bobolink 1* 6 sev. sev. Cowbird com. 6 sev. sev. Red-winged Blackbird com. com. com. com. Meadowlark 10 com. com. com. Baltimore Oriole 1* com. com. com. Bronzed Grackle com. com. com. com. Evening Grosbeak 9 — — — Purple Finch com.* 8 3 sev. English Sparrow sev. sev. com. com. Goldfinch 11 com. com. com. Pine Siskin — — 2 — Vesper Sparrow com. com. com. com. Ipswich Sparrow — 1 1 — Savannah Sparrow com. com. com. com. White-throated Sparrow sev. 10 — 1 Chipping Sparrow com. com. com. com. 14 Bulletin of the 1928 f J May 6 May 17 May 20 May 27 Field Sparrow 4 — 2 6 Junco 2 - •' — • — Song Sparrow com. com. com. com. Swamp Sparrow sev. sev. com. 10 Towhee com. com. com. com. Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1* 6 3 10 Indigo Bunting — — — 1 Scarlet Tanager — • — 1 5 Purple Martin 1* 1 — — Cliff Swallow 1* 12 25 10 Barn Swallow com.* com. com. com. Tree Swallow com.* com. com. 25 Bank Swallow 5* 6 sev. 6 Cedar Waxwing — — — - 4* Red-eyed Vireo — 2 sev. 10* Blue-headed Vireo — 2 1 2 Black and White Warbler com.* com. com. com. Golden-winged Warbler 3* 1 2 sev. Nashville Warbler 2* 3 10* 4 Tennessee Warbler — • — 1* 1 Parula Warbler 4* 2 20* 3 Cape May Warbler — — ■ — 1 Yellow Warbler com.* com. com. com. Black-thr. Blue Warbler 1* 3 8* — ■ Myrtle Warbler 25* 2 3 3 Magnolia Warbler — 4 10* 4 Chestnut-sided Warbler 4* com. com. com. Blackpoll Warbler — — — 6 Blackburnian Warbler 3* — 1 6 Black-thr. Green Warbler com.* com. 2 com. Pine Warbler — • — sev. 1 Yellow Palm Warbler 1 — — — Prairie Warbler — — 1 1 Ovenbird 10* com. com. com. Water-thrush — 1 3 1 Northern Yellow-throat 6* com. com. com. Wilson’s Warbler — — 2* Essex County Ornithological Club 15 May 6 May 17 May 20 May 27 Canada Warbler — — 2* 5 Redstart 2* 10 com.* com. Catbird 10* com. com. com. Brown Thrasher 4 1 2 sev. House Wren 1 1 3 1 Short-billed Marsh Wren — — — 1 Long-billed Marsh Wren — — • 1 sev. Red-breasted Nuthatch 1 — ■ 1 — Black-capped Chickadee 10 10 com. com. Golden-crowned Kinglet 2 1 2 2 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 — 1 — Wood Thrush — 3 sev. 10 Veery sev.* com. com. com. Gray-cheeked Thrush — 1 — 1 Olive-backed Thrush — — 4* 6* Hermit Thrush 10 sev. 2 sev. Robin com. com. com. com. Bluebird 10 com. ^ev. 10 Totals 96 90 100 112 16 Bulletin of the 1928 IPSWICH RIVER BIRD TRIP 1928 Ralph Lawson The earlier part of the month of May, 1928 had been most disappointing for field observations, so that on Friday evening, May 18, when a dozen members gathered at the camp generously put at our disposal by Messrs. Kimball and Bruley, there were no illusions as to what might be expected during the two follow¬ ing days. The spring of 1928 was, however, probably only a normal New England spring, full of hopes and bad weather, with here and there a day or two of tantalizing warmth and sunshine. Vegeta¬ tion by the middle of May was, on the average, not far behind schedule. The River was brimful, the marshes very little flowed out with the grass thick in most of the back-waters. The morning of the 19th was cool and cloudy but, the tem¬ perature rose and there were occasional glimpses of sunshine during the late forenoon. The Saturday morning party, first on foot to the Paper Mills, and thence by canoe to Howe Station, therefore had the most favorable weather of the entire two days. Shortly after noon Saturday the wind hauled into the east, and as the day wore on a light mist turned into a steady rain, so that it was deemed advisable to spend the night at the Club Camp and at Mr. Nichols’ camp close by. A delightful warm dry even¬ ing was spent around the big stone fireplace in the Nichols’ living room while it poured rain without, and particularly on three members of the party who had pushed on ahead to “The Pines’’ and who had gotten under canvas just before the deluge started. Sunday morning broke foggy and wet, but between showers most of the party managed to explore the general vicinity of the Camp and and then to push down to Willowdale where the canoes were left. Just before reaching Willowdale the heavens opened again, but not to be denied the remnant of our party pushed on around the usual circuit of Clark’s Pond to Little Neck, where we boarded a motor boat for the trip back to Ipswich. It is hard to imagine more difficult and trying out of doors conditions, particularly the walk in the cold driving rain of late Sunday afternoon, but everyone had a good time, and there seemed to exist throughout the trip a little extra incentive to Essex County Ornithological Club 17 follow up every song and wing-beat where the identification was not at once apparent. A.O.U. 51. Herring Gull 133. Black Duck 144. Wood Duck 165. White-winged Scoter 190. American Bittern 194. Great Blue Heron 201. Green Heron 202. Black-cr. Night Heron 203. Yellow-cr. Night Heron 212. Virginia Rail 214. Sora 228. Woodcock 240. White-rumped Sandpiper 242. Least Sandpiper 243a Red-backed Sandpiper 246. Semipalmated Sandpiper 254. Greater Yellow-legs 256. Solitary Sandpiper 263. Spotted Sandpiper 270. Black-bellied Plover 274. Semipalmated Plover 300. Ruffed Grouse Ring-necked Pheasant 316. Mourning Dove 331. Marsh Hawk 332. Sharp-shinned Hawk 357. Pigeon Hawk 373. Screech Owl 387. Yellow-billed Cuckoo 388. Black-billed Cuckoo 390. Belted Kingfisher 393. Hairy Woodpecker 394c Downy Woodpecker 412a Northern Flicker 417. Whip-poor-will 423. Chimney Swift 428. Ruby-thr. Hummingbird 444. Kingbird 452. Crested Flycatcher 456. Phoebe 461. Wood Pewee 467. Least Flycatcher 474b Prairie Horned Lark 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. American Goldfinch 533. Pine Siskin 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 619. Cedar Waxwing 624. Red-eyed Vireo 628. Yellow-throated Vireo 629. Blue-headed Vireo 631. White-eyed Vireo 636. Black and White Warbler 642. Golden-winged Warbler 645. Nashville Warbler 648a Northern Parula Warbler 652. Yellow Warbler 654. Black-thr. Blue Warbler 18 Bulletin of the 1928 A.O.U. 655, Myrtle Warbler 657. Magnolia Warbler 659. Chestnut-sided Warbler 661. Black-poll Warbler 662. Blackburnian Warbler 667. Black-thr. Green Warbler 671. Pine Warbler 673. Prairie Warbler 674. Oven-bird 675. Water-Thrush 681. Maryland Yellow-throat 686. Canada Warbler 687. American Redstart 704. Catbird 705. Brown Thrasher 721. House Wren 724. Short-billed Marsh Wren 725. Long-billed Marsh Wren 735. Chickadee 755. Wood Thrush 756. Veery 759b Hermit Thrush 761. Robin 766. Bluebird Essex County Ornithological Club 19 ESSEX COUNTY SHOOTING SEASON OF 1928 John C. Phillips While the Essex County shooting season of 1928 was not remarkable as to water-fowl, we got at Wenham Lake the first Blue Goose ever taken there. This, a single bird, was shot on October 26. The specimen was turned over to the Boston Socie¬ ty of Natural History. It is an immature female. The only other feature of great interest was a very considerable flight of Ruddy Ducks, the first of any consequence since the period 1912 to 1915. The Ruddies came mostly on October 26 and 27 with a few odd birds scattered along until November 30. Other Massa¬ chusetts ponds also saw many more Ruddies than have been seen of late. On one large pond on the outer cape (Brewster) I saw many Ruddies in mid-December. There were also more Canvas-backs than usual this year and we shot six at Wenham. Lesser Scaup continue to be scarce with us, and three or four Greater Scaup are shot in the pond to one of the Lesser species. We got one Greater Scaup this last season on September 17, a very early record. Of Ring-necked Ducks we shot four and saw others in 1928. On Sunday September 30, there were two ducks of this species near the stand, a very early date. I believe there was also a very early September record for this species last autumn on the Potomac River near Washington. Another very rare duck at Wenham is the American Scoter. One was shot this year on November 29. We only shot one Red¬ head, and saw one or two others. The Canvas-back is becoming commoner than the Red-head in most of our ponds. Of the surface-feeders, Black Ducks were far more numerous than in 1926 and 1927. There were also a few Mallards and Green-winged Teal. We shot only three Pintail and two Ameri¬ can Widgeon. Canada Geese went far to the Eastward of us and I do not remember a season in many years when so few geese passed over the base of Cape Ann. I saw only one flock myself. All over eastern Massachusetts, except perhaps on Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, this was a season of great scarcity of geese. Fewer were shot than for very many years. There was a large flight in 20 Bulletin of the 1928 January and many geese were shot the last two weeks of the sea¬ son on Cape Cod. Upland game was scarce. A closed season on grouse made hunting unattractive. Grouse were at least as scarce as last year, although in some parts of New England, especially in the north, there was a real improvement. Pheasants also were certainly scarce, and it is to be feared that they cannot any longer hold their own in our County unless far more artificial stocking is done. Snipe were very scarce, in spite of rather favorable condi¬ tions. On the spring flight also very few were seen. The Wood¬ cock season over most of New England was a remarkably good one and from the many returns to the questionaires sent out by the Massachusetts Fish and Game Association, I should not hesitate to call it even better than 1927. It must be remembered that most of our “home” coverts in Essex County are now so disturbed by an over-population of gunners, most of them rabbit hunters, that Woodcock do not stay about their old haunts in October as they used to do. Woodcock resent being constantly disturbed, and will simply move on if driven about too much. The practice of hunting in large crowds, (gang hunting, it might be called) is a recent development that seems to be on the increase. Many people do not mind seeing a single hunter about, or maybe a couple working together, but they greatly resent being confronted by an organized band of heavily armed men, not to mention a train of dogs. This sort of hunting ought to be dis¬ couraged, but I know of no way of preventing it under present conditions. It will result, if it continues, in much greater post¬ ing of land and more difficult relations between land-owners and shooters. Another question must be answered sometime in the future. Do we want deer in every county in the state? Do we want them in Essex County, and if so are we willing to make the nec¬ essary sacrifice in deer damage that a series of closed seasons would naturally bring about? This deer question is a very em¬ barrassing one in a thickly settled community and it is likely to become the basis of a great deal of ill-feeling unless some settled policy can be decided upon. Essex County Ornithological Club 21 MOULTS AND PLUMAGES OF THE STARLING STURNUS VULGARIS LINN. James L. Peters It is now over fifteen years since the Starling, gradually ex¬ tending its range from the region about New York City where it was first introduced in 1890, reached eastern Massachusetts. In this time the species has gradually increased in numbers until it is now one of the most familiar birds here, especially so since it thrives in settled districts. In the cities, suburbs and around farms, the songs, calls and whistles of the males (presumably) may be heard from warm days in late winter on into the spring. The perch chosen is usual¬ ly the ridge or cornice of a house, or the top branches of a tree. By early April at the latest the nesting site is selected, some crev¬ ice or hole in a building or a Flicker hole in an old orchard, and here the eggs, generally five or six in number are laid, and the young hatched late in April or early in May. The young remain in the nest until able to fly and may be then seen with their parents walking about on lawns, or in pastures where they often accom¬ pany cattle. Young Starlings have a particularly harsh disagree¬ able chirr, a note that has become characteristic of late May and early June. Shortly after the young are on the wing, several broods combine to form a small flock, and this gathering is con¬ stantly added to until a flock of several hundred birds is formed, mostly young birds with sprinkling of old ones. All members of the flock roost together at night either in belfries, towers, pine woods or occasionally, I believe, in swamps. During the early summer some pairs of adults raise a second brood, but for the most part the birds nesting in eastern Massachusetts I think are single brooded. During the autumn the flocks wander about, performing local migrations, many birds move down to the coast where enormous flocks are found on the salt marshes and adjacent fields. A few spend the winter inland, remaining generally where a daily supply of food is obtainable in spite of the snow. Piggeries are favorite winter haunts. With the appearance of bare ground the birds appear once more about their breeding grounds, and once more the males sound their long repertory of notes. 22 Bulletin of the 1928 Owing to the striking dissimilarity between the juvenal and immature plumages of the young Starlings, the sequence of plu¬ mages is well marked; moreover, the bird shows several features not usually seen in passerine birds. The dress with which the fledgeling leaves the nest is called the juvenal plumage. In the Starling it is grayish brown to sooty brown paler below with whitish throat and whitish edgings on the feathers of the abdomen. The post-juvenal moult commences shortly after the wings and tail in the young are fully grown ; it begins with the appearance on the flanks of a few of the feathers of the immature plumage which are white-tipped glossy green feathers much like the adults, and at about the same time the innermost juvenal prim¬ ary is shed and a few of the new central tail coverts appear; in some specimens the growth of the new primaries is coincident with the renewal of some of both upper and under tail coverts prior to the appearance of any fresh feathers on the lateral tracts, while in others new under tail coverts have not appeared until two or three primaries have erupted and still others show the first sign of moult in the growth of the innermost primary prior to the appearance of any other trace of the post juvenal plumage. As a general rule the moult for the first month or so is slow and irregular on the body tracts, but regular and progressive on the primaries, from inside toward the outer. With the growth of the inside five primaries well under way, we note the appearance of the median set of primary coverts, and the greater secondary coverts; in one specimen at this stage the new central pair of rectrices are just emptying from their sheathes and one odd lat¬ eral rectrix is fully grown out, normally at this stage, however, while the juvenal tail feathers show plenty of abrasion, all twelve are still present. With six new primaries partly grown there is still no regular development of new feather growth on any of the body tracts; a few more contour feathers have appeared on the flanks, rump and tail coverts, but there is a decided appear¬ ance of fresh immature feathers on the lesser coverts. The ap¬ pearance of the seventh primary is more or less coincidental with the growth of the two central pairs of tail feathers, the innermost pair somewhat in advance, though the renewal of the tail is not always bilaterally symmetrical; the innermost secondary develops Essex County Ornithological Club 23 at this stage and is accompanied by a marked increase of imma¬ ture flank feathers. This stage is attained late in July or during the first week in August. Birds acquiring the eighth primary present a curious forked-tail appearance due to the fact that none of the inner three or four pairs of rectrices have completed their growth while the two or three outer pairs are still unmoulted. By the time that the ninth primary is fully grown the tail has been completely renewed, but two secondaries, the outer ones, have yet to be moulted, nearly all the wing coverts are fresh, the back and scapulars are about half juvenal, half immature feath¬ ers, the underparts from the upper breast to the tail coverts, ex¬ cept a line down the abdomen and a few posterior flank feathers are the glossy white-tipped feathers of the immature plumage. One interesting feature is very conspicuous at this time, namely that as yet there is not a sign of moult involving any of the feather tracts of the head. This stage is found between the middle of August and early September. The early stage of the acquisition of the tenth primary are accompanied by the complete assumption of the immature plumage from the lower edge of the throat back, an increase of new feathers on the back, on the ap¬ pearance of a few scattered immature feathers on the central occipital portion of the capital tract. As the tenth primary develops, additional feathers appear on the top of the head for¬ ward to the base of the bill, on the lores, the auriculars, and a line down the centre of the throat ; there is a gradual encroach¬ ment of the long hackle feathers from the crest towards the throat ; the loss of the remaining juvenal secondaries during this stage is irregular, but is complete with the full development of the tenth primary. During the tenth primary stage, and even during the latter phase of the ninth primary stage, it becomes possible to distinguish the sexes by their plumage, the hackle feathers of the males are longer, more pointed and more narrowly tipped with white. The earliest example I have in the tenth primary stage is August 19, the feather is then little longer than the primary coverts, another in the same stage of development is September 5, but even up to September 29, the tenth primary has not attained its full length, but by early October the immature 24 Bulletin of the 1928 plumage is completely assumed and the young of the year can be distinguished from adults only by the condition of the skull and by the somewhat less lanceolate hackle feathers with their broader pale tips. To understand how the nuptial plumage is acquired, it is nec¬ essary to examine one of the fresh immature feathers. Under a hand lens the edges are seen to be loose and fringe-like, and the black shaft extends well into the white tip. As we examine birds killed in November and December, the white tipping becomes noticeably less and the feathers more pointed, this is due to the wearing off and breaking away of the white tip and the loose fringe along the sides of the feather. By the first week in Feb¬ ruary this process of attrition results in a bird without trace of white below except on the very last flank feathers and under-tail coverts, a few minute spots remain on the ear-coverts and on the occiput and nape ; the buffy edges to the back are never entirely lost nor are the rusty edges to the wing and tail ; still the entire body plumage has become lanceolate through this wearing and breaking, but is still bright and glossy. The nuptial plumage is, then, acquired without moulting a feather. From early February on their is no appreciable change in the plumage except that the wings show signs of wear, and as the season advances the gloss becomes dulled and the edges of the tail abraded. My early summer series of adults has too many gaps to be satisfactory, but shows that the sequence of moult of the differ¬ ent feather tracts is the same as in the juvenal. In a male in mid-July but four of the old primaries remain, the central pair of tail feathers is being renewed, a fresh set of wing coverts has appeared, and a few scattered feathers along the sides. In the male, by August 11 the tenth primary alone remains un¬ moulted, the tail is entirely replaced, but the outer feathers not fully grown out, two or three outer secondaries remain unshed while the tail coverts seem to be completely renewed ; except for the head which is unmarked by the appearance of a single fresh feather, the rest of the body plumage is about half replaced. Females at the same season are not as far advanced as the males and still have three of their old primaries left as well as half of the tail. By the beginning of the third week in August males have Essex County Ornithological Club 25 only to complete the development of the tenth primary, the body moult is complete except the head, and here pin feathers are to be found on the lower throat and along the center of the crown. By mid-September the females likewise lack only the whole devel¬ opment of the outer primary, the top of the head is almost fully feathered while the throat and sides of the head are a mass of pin feathers. Early October sees both sexes in their full post nuptial dress. 26 Bulletin of the 1928 BIRD BANDING NOTES FOR 1927 AND 1928 Charles H. Preston The number of birds banded by resident members of the Club in 1927 and 1928 shows a falling off from that of previous years, because Mr. Ropes moved to Salem and has done very little banding, and no other members have taken up the work. Now, at the close of 1928, Mr. Emilio also has taken up his residence in Salem and turned in his bands. Some very interesting results have been obtained even with the few members who have been engaged in the work, but we are sorely in need of more banders in the Club who will cover Essex County more widely. A number of our members who are not residents of the Coun¬ ty are doing fine work, which is not included in the tabulation which follows. Mr. Charles B. Floyd has been working on Tern Island, Chat- am, Mass, for several years making a special study of the plumage and development of the Common and Roseate Terns, banding as many as possible and retrapping the adult birds. With the assist¬ ance of one or two others he banded over ten thousand, about five thousand each in 1927 and 1928. One hundred and fifty- seven adult birds have been retaken, three proving to have been banded in 1925 and two in 1926. These five were all Common Terns. Recoveries have been made from points on the Atlantic coast as far north as Newfoundland and as far south as Para, Brazil, just south of the Amazon river. He is planning further activities the coming year and will make a special effort to trap more of the adult birds to determine if possible if either of the above species nest the first year and exactly what the first year plumage is. An unusual record of the past year was the presence of a pair of Yellow-crowned Night Herons at Ipswich. These birds raised a brood of young and the young were banded by Dr. Townsend. Mr. Emilio banded the Evening Grosbeaks which appear in the tabulation. These were part of a flock which wintered in Topsfield from January 1928. A good percentage of banded birds of some species return to the station where they were banded, but practically none of Essex County Ornithological Club 27 those banded in Essex County are captured elsewhere, if we ex¬ cept the Black-crowned Night Heron. Mr. Morley has had some interesting returns among which are the following : A Tree Sparrow banded January 6, 1923 has returned every year since and another banded November 24, 1924 has also returned each year. Of a group cf Tree Sparrows banded in the winter of 1927-28 and numbered from 21401 to 21421 in¬ clusive, numbers 21401-05-06-07-08-09-10-18-21, have all returned this winter. A Chipping Sparrow banded May 21, 1924 has re¬ turned each year. Its mate in 1925 and 1926 was the female car¬ rying band 59047, while in 1927 and 1928 its mate was another female, 58656A. A Field Sparrow banded April 15, 1924 was retaken May 23, 1928. A Brown Thrasher banded May 18, 1926 was recaptured in the same trap feeding two full-fledged young two years later, on June 26, 1928. A Towhee banded May 4, 1924, was recaptured April 27, 1927. Two Blue Jays taken to¬ gether February 16, 1927, were again taken together November 15, 1927. Among the birds banded by the writer is a Song Sparrow banded July 14, 1923 which has returned every year and was taken in May 1928. A White-breasted Nuthatch banded in Novem¬ ber, 1925, has been recaptured every year since. The only record of a bird banded by the writer that has been taken outside the County is a Song Sparrow which was found dead at Wolfville, N. S., Canada, April 1, 1928. It was banded March 23, 1926 at Danvers. The following table gives the species and number of each banded in Essex County by members of the Club in 1927 and 1928. Yellow-cr. N. Heron Pheasant Sparrow Hawk Barred Owl Downy Woodpecker Flicker Phoebe 1927 1928 Adult Fledgeling Returns Adult Fledgeling Returns 3—24—1 3 ' 5 — 1 — — 28 Bulletin of the 1928 1927 1928 Adult Fledgeling Returns Adult Fledgelings Returns Blue Jay 8 3 — — • — — Starling 15 — ■ — 4 — • — Cowbird 2 • — • — • 6 — — Evening Grosbeak — — — 3 — — Purple Finch — ■ — — 2 — — Savannah Sparrow — — — 2 — — White-crowned Sparrow 3 — « — • 3 — — White-throated Sparrow 17 — — 69 — — • Tree Sparrow 20 — • 2 75 — 4 Chipping Sparrow 22 8 5 13 3 2 Field Sparrow — • — — 7 — — Slate-colored Junco 45 — • 2 111 — 1 Song Sparrow 69 6 3 66 — 6 Lincoln’s Sparrow — — ■ • — 1 — — Swamp Sparrow 1 — — — — — Fox Sparrow 2 — • — 21 — - — Towhee 6 — — 2 — — Barn Swallow 10 — . 2 4 — — Tree Swallow 7 2 — — — - — Northern Shrike 2 — - — — — — Golden-winged Warbler — — — 1 — — Catbird 9 4 1 4 — 1 Brown Thrasher 8 — • — 4 — — House Wren 7 — — — — — Brown Creeper — — — 1 — — White-brested Nuthatch 1 — 2 2 — 2 Black-capped Chickadee 15 — 2 18 — 4 Robin 5 11 — 3 6 . — Bluebird 3 4 — 1 5 — 291 43 21 425 14 21 Essex County Ornithological Club 29 A PINE TREE STATE ORNITHOLOGIST AMONG THE PALMS AND MANGROVES Sanford Ritchie We left Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, on the sixteenth of October and coming- with a car and by easy stages, did not reach St. Petersburgh until the twenty-seventh. At that date bird-life along our route would naturally be scarce and our first interest¬ ing * ‘discovery' ’ was at the National Cemetery at Arlington, Virginia, just across the Potomac from Washington, D. C., where we saw both the Cardinal and Mockingbird. As we approached Washington, the day previous, we noted a few buzzards flying in the distance, too far away to distinguish the species, but from that day they were in evidence frequently and more commonly until we reached our destination. Both the Turkey Buzzard and Black Vulture are common throughout Florida and, around the West Coast where my “ex¬ plorations” have, to date, taken place, I believe are about equal in numbers. They are not so tame here as I had been led to imagine. About the only way to get a close-up view is to sur¬ prise them when engaged in feasting on some carrion or some animal recently killed by passing vehicles, as when I was riding in an outlying region on the trolley, a pair of “red-necks” were devouring a skunk, close to the rails, that a passing car had run over a half hour previous. The odor was such that the passen¬ gers on the trolley were nearly paralized, but the two Buzzards evidently considered it a rare morsel and were squabbling for its possession. Another time I stalked a bunch of four Black Vul¬ tures that had found a dead skate along shore and had dragged it close beside a clump of mangrove bushes and were having a real feast. On my approach they left the spot only to return a little later as I moved down the beach. Doubtless the species that is everywhere in evidence and most frequently observed by tourists is the Mockingbird. When we first arrived they were singing or chattering at all hours of the day; at 3.30 A. M. they were good as an alarm clock if one was an early riser, otherwise they were in any class that the disposition and vocabulary of the human slumberer might place them. Personally I could find no necessity for arising at that 30 Bulletin of the 1928 early hour, hence their musical efforts could hardly merit my approval. But from about the middle of November until the last of February only an occasional song is attempted, after which the spring chorus bursts forth in all its fullness and beauty. At this season of the year the Mockingbird is, I believe out¬ numbered by but one other species, the Palm Warbler, Dendroica palmarum, which is found everywhere from the tufts of beach grass along the shore and mangrove thickets of the off-shore islands to the pine-openings of the uplands and live-oak and pal¬ metto jungles of the interior. I could never understand why this bird should be so named until I had penetrated a few palmetto thickets and observed the little warbler in its ready adaptation to life within the shadow of the palms ; and yet it is as common in the parks and shade trees of the city streets and also is found in small flocks containing a dozen or more individuals throughout the suburban districts. All down through the Carolinas and Georgia we occasionally observed Bluebirds perched on telegraph wires and they were here ahead of us. They are not as generally distributed as When in the north, very few being observed within the densely populated portions of the city, but there are outlying sections where I rare¬ ly fail to find some. A few of the males are wearing nearly as brilliant plumage as in spring time. Goldfinches have been hard to find, the first being in evidence on November 27 when two were on the beach, feeding on grass seed at Snell Island, a part of this city. That same day I saw the first Northern Red-winged Blackbird, a single individual in com¬ pany with a dozen Florida Red-wings and in that company this male bird was readily identified by its larger size and scarlet shoulder patches. The Florida Red-wing is a common bird around the islands and the dense mangrove swamps along shore. It is rather smaller than the northern species, the females not so prom¬ inently streaked, while the dull red shoulder patch of the male shows only in flight, there being only a streak of dull buff in evi¬ dence when the wing is closed. Purple Grackles are occasionally noted, but the Boat-tailed is in evidence everywhere along the bay or Gulf shores, also in the brackish lagoons, well back from the shore line. They are very Essex County Ornithological Club 31 common about the beaches and mud flats left there by the receding tide, feeding largely upon small forms of marine animal life. I have observed a considerable degree of pugnacity in their atti¬ tude to other species, even to the extent of chasing a flock of fif¬ teen Black-bellied Plovers away from a feeding ground which the Grackles did not really need. Mr. Harold H. Bailey in his splendid work, “The Birds of Florida, ” states that the American Crow is a migrant and occa¬ sional resident, but as yet I have not observed it, or its pine woods relative the Florida Crow, C. b. floridanus, but Fish Crows, C. ossifragus, in good sized flocks are common along the coast, which is their habitat and range generally. This bird is quite familiar, coming into the city and perching on the electric light poles or other elevations, where its peculiar call and small size coupled with the richer coloration readily serve to identify it. There are three forms of Jays here, ‘the Northern Blue Jay, the Florida Blue Jay and the Florida Jay. The Florida Blue is the common form and is very familiar, nesting about the city streets and in the parks as well as in the rural regions. It is not so highly plumaged as our northern species but fully as noisy and its calls may be heard at almost any time one cares to listen. Logger-head Shrikes are common outside the built up sec¬ tions of the larger cities and may occasionally be found even there. The fact that this species is somewhat of a songster, may not be generally known to many of our New England bird stu¬ dents, but once as I was passing along the main street of Passa- dena, an outlying ward of St. Petersburgh, a continued series of sweet warbled notes greeted my sense of hearing and tracing the song to its source, I found the author to be a Shrike that was hidden under the drooping leaves of a Washingtonian palm, and in this seclusion was voicing its feelings in a hymn of melody. For some minutes I studied it from a distance of about fifteen feet, the bird being perfectly conscious of my presence and as I moved along, its song continued to reach me for some distance down the street. So far as my observations reach, I am impressed by the scarc¬ ity of sparrows both in species and individuals, the Song Sparrow being the one commonly seen. 32 Bulletin of the 1928 Warblers, apart from the abundant Palm, are not much in evidence. I have seen a few Myrtles and a few Northern Yel¬ low-throats and also the Florida Yellow-throat. I have seen both House and Winter Wrens. • Mourning Doves are numerous, the larger or, so called, Turtle Dove, predominating in numbers. I am leaving St. Peters- burgh for a two weeks’ trip to Fort Myers and vicinity and am hoping to come in contact with the Zenaida and Quail Doves and if not observed there shall make an effort to locate them in Janu¬ ary or February while I am down at Key West. To a person whose life has been spent amidst the hills of New England the change to a sub-tropical region with its strange forms of animal and vegetable life is so very interesting that, for a time at least, one is so absorbed in observing and studying, in the novelty of the surrounding conditions, he hardly misses the old time favorites; but after a period there comes a yearning for more familiar forms and he experiences a sense of loss at their absence. Such is the case now with the Robin, as I have not seen, in all my trailing, a single individual during the almost two months I have been here. I had expected that at least the advance scouts of the migrant hosts would have beaten us to this sunshine land. Doubtless conditions down through the Atlantic States are proving so congential to their welfare that they are moving southward slowly. Competent observers here inform me that the bu4k of the species is not seen before February and that after a short stay it swings north again. Amongst the hawks I find the Sharp-shinned and Sparrow are quite common, the Marsh Hawk less abundant with few of other species in evidence. The Osprey is occasionally noted fish¬ ing about the keys while Bald Eagles are quite often seen. On one occasion four adult birds were circling in pairs, quite closely together, their white heads and tails flashing in the sunlight; a sight to send a thrill to the soul of one who admires our national bird. The Florida Gallinule is frequently observed about the small fresh water ponds where it swims about, while feeding, quite unconcernedly when it sees no one around, but if closely followed up, it will hide in the reeds or water hyacinths until one retires. Essex County Ornithological Club 33 On one occasion a couple of the rare Purple Gallinule were seen but it is not so numerous as its relative. The city of St. Petersburgh and adjacent towns with a shore line of several miles extent, also several islands lying off shore are included in a Federal reservation or sanctuary in which there can be no legal shooting and, being under the care of a resident warden, who has behind him the sentiment of a majority of the residents and tourists, there is little poaching. As a result of such protection, many kinds of shore and water birds become very tame and are easily approached within this large area. Furthermore several species even venture to come into the very heart of the city and frequent the several natural and artificial fresh-water lakes or ponds to drink, feed and bathe. To date only the Pied-bellied Grebe, American Coot and Les¬ ser Scaups are using the ponds but later other species will venture to do so and by hundreds. A ramble along the shores or, better still, a sail or motor- boat trip through these protected waters will give the nature lover thrills enough to many times recompense him for the effort. Tampa Bay is a large but shallow area with a few deep channels dredged through for freighters and other craft and on the shal¬ lows where the smaller fish love to linger, the sea birds congregate by thousands. These shallows also afford good feeding ground for the vegetable eating ducks. I have seen a flock of ducks awing there that was probably half a mile in length and doubt¬ less contained thousands of individuals, in which I could identify American Merganser, Black Duck and Scaup the Lesser species predominating in the last mentioned. Comparatively few ducks were seen until after November first, since which time their numbers have constantly increased until at this date (December 12) great rafts of birds are frequently observed. This West Coast is one of the breeding places of the Brown^ Pelican and they are so tame that they hang around the wharves and piers waiting for the hand-out of shiners or fish waste thrown them by the tourists. On the last trip to Bird Key we saw not less than four hundred of these awkward yet wonderful birds; and on December sixth, on my way to Pass-a-Grill, another of the chain of islands lying beyond Tampa Bay and out on the Gulf of 34 Bulletin op1 the 1928 Mexico, we were favored with a very good view of four White Pelicans, the larger species which is common along the Gulf coast states as far as Texas and only occasionally drifts east to Florida.' Gulls of four species are seen, Herring, Bonaparte’s, Kitti - wake and Ringed-billed and possibly others. I have noted the Black Skimmers in flocks of five or six to twenty-five or more in¬ dividuals, when I have been on the Gulf coast. Also a flock of about twenty-five of the Man-o’-War or Frigate Birds that spend a part of the early winter months around Bird Key but migrate further south in the cooler season. I have been fortunate in hav¬ ing them under observation on several occasions and it is fasci¬ nating to watch their flight as on motionless wings they soar in wide circles up and still higher up into the ether blue until some¬ times lost to view and one can only pick them up by the aid of a good glass. It is a great satisfaction to note the large number of White Herons and Egrets about the flats ; not the abundance probably, of earlier days before the demands of the millinery trade caused such slaughter in their ranks, but enough so that with proper protection there will need be no fears of their extermination. To date I have not positively identified the Great White Heron but expect to find it down around the Keys, South ; but the American Egret, Herodias egretta, and Snowy Egret, Egretta candidissima, are seen in considerable numbers every time I visit their haunts. Wards Heron, Ardea wardi which is the Florida representative of A. herodias , is quite a common bird along shore, and because of its longer neck, can be identified even at a considerable distance from the observer. The Louisiana Heron has been observed once and Little Blue Herons in numbers, sometimes twenty to forty in a group, containing individuals in all combinations of color mixtures from dark slaty-blue to pure white with a slight shading of bluish in the wing tips. This is by far the most common heron about this region. Have seen one or two of the Little Green species also a few Bitterns and railbirds which are shy and hard to identify but probably were the Florida Clapper Rail. During November the Wood Ibis was seen in small numbers, Essex County Ornithological Club 35 two to four in a group, but is scarcer now as they are following the coast line southward toward the southern keys. Sandpipers are well represented by Least, Semipalmated, Spotted, Solitary, Buff -breasted, Sanderling and doubtless others; Greater and Lesser Yellow-legs, Willetand sometimes Bartramian Sandpiper feed along the flats and I have seen flocks of mixed shore birds, principally the smaller kinds, that could be safely esti¬ mated in hundreds, so densely massed on the flats that at a dis¬ tance they looked like little ants running about. A list of species commonly seen along shore would not be complete without mention of the Florida Cormorant that is seen in every harbor, bay, bayou and the small lakes not far inland. When in flight it resembles a large black and overgrown duck and its manner of getting up from the water when startled is similar to a duck’s. It is a wonderful diver, the equal probably of the northern Loon, pursuing and capturing its finny prey un¬ der water and, I believe, eating it there as I have never seen it bring a fish to the surface. After feeding they love to congre¬ gate in groups where perching places are convenient and spread¬ ing their wings to the air and sunlight will hold them in a half opened position for several minutes or until the feathers have dried out. Although not handsome birds they are interesting and worthy of ones’ attention. They are rather out of favor with the professional fishermen who believe that they destroy large quantities of small food fish, which may be true. December 14th I left St. Petersburgh for a several weeks’ trip along the coast towns and cities. My earliest stop was at Sarasota where I first came in contact with the Red-bellied Wood¬ pecker, several being seen, and from that place southward on the mainland and off-shore keys, I found it in much greater abun¬ dance than the Red-headed species, so common in the regions of northern and central Florida. In fact it was the only represen¬ tative of the family seen on some of the keys. Both species have a rather shady reputation in the citrus belt because of their habit of puncturing fruit. My next move was to Fort Meyers which is about one hun¬ dred and twenty miles south of St. Petersburgh and eighty miles below Sarasota and is located on the Caloosahatchee River. Here 36 Bulletin of the 1928 is the northern point of the natural habitat of the Royal Palm. It was here that the first Sandhill Cranes were seen as we were motoring over a trail miles away from any highway. A flock of six birds were observed through my glass at a distance of only about sixty yards, so near that we could readily distin¬ guish the red skin on the top of their heads. Two individuals favored us with a few brief hopping and skipping movements, ere I started them, when they flew away in line, their long necks stretched out to their fullest extent. When within about thirty miles of Fort Meyers, the vegeta¬ tion began to assume a more sub-tropical appearance, the eleva¬ tion above sea-level being less and the Cabbage Palmetto Palm, to a considerable extent superseding the Long-leaf Pine. At this point I saw the first Northern Crows and swallows since coming south. Since then both have been frequently noticed and yester¬ day, as I came through the Everglades, Tree and Cliff Swallows were as abundant as in July up north, hundreds being in evidence. I spent a week at Captiva and Sanibel Islands, two of the outer keys at this point. A few Frigate Birds were about the region and two small bunches of three and four White Pelicans were around the harbor and inside passages. The little Ground Dove is the common representative of the family about the outer keys. Herring, Laughing and Bonaparte’s Gulls are numerous, their relative abundance standing in the order mentioned. Flocks of common Terns were sometimes seen and one Royal Tern at close range. At Sanibel a flock of fifty-five Franklin’s Gulls were bathing on a shallow bar. On December 30th we motored from Fort Meyers eastward to Moore Haven which is about twenty miles from Lake Okee¬ chobee. The region for a considerable distance west of the lake was originally low-lying and wet but an elaborate system of drainage canals has rendered it fit for agriculture and on these extensive prairie muck-lands large herds of cattle range and gar¬ den truck is being produced. Over this prairie, hawks of various species were quartering. I spent a day at Naples Beach where an interesting feature was a flock of twenty-two Dowitchers feeding close by the pier. From Naples my next jump was to Marco and Caxambas Islands. Essex County Ornithological Club 37 Here I employed a guide and his motor boat and visited the out¬ side beach at Cape Romano, five miles distant. The most inter¬ esting bird seen was the Reddish Egret, which perched in a mangrove tree as we drifted slowly by, affording splendid oppor¬ tunity to observe species I had not previously seen. Leaving the islands I made connection at Belle Meade station with a bus for the ride to Miami through the Everglades over the new Tamiani Trail. This route Is largely through virgin terri¬ tory populated at present by alligators, snakes, turtles, birds and Seminole Indians, all of which we observed enroute. Much of the region traversed by this recently built highway is being drained for farm lands and a wholesale program is being considered whereby the main body of the great everglade region may finally be subjugated for man’s use. This will signify the practical extermination of the ’gator and Seminole, as neither take kindly to the ways of civilization ; or possibly a remnant of their former numbers may be preserved in parks and small reser¬ vations. What its effect may be upon bird-life, yet remains to be seen but at present there appears to be no lack of numbers in the family Ardeidae ; and although we may not have them in the immense colonies that formerly prevailed, yet I am ready to tes¬ tify that there is a mighty large remnant still remaining and under the present state and federal laws, which are being strictly enforced, there appears to be no reason why this and succeeding generations of bird-students may not be permitted to observe and enjoy these beautiful species. During a great portion of the nearly one hundred mile ride we passed through regions where Herons and Egrets were just swarming, not by hundreds only but thousands, and doubtless tens of thousands. Flocks near the highway would rise by tens, fifties and hundreds, as we motored past, but back on the open prairies, as far as the eye could pick them up, were immeasur¬ able flocks whose white forms could be distinguished above the short scanty grasses of the region. One can only guess at the numbers existing beyond our range of vision in the millions of acres of territory embraced in that wild and untamed region. In the multitude of individuals present and at the speed of forty 38 Bulletin of the 1928 miles an hour that we traveled, it was impossible to positively identify all of the species seen, but, I was reasonably sure of Great and Little Blue, Ward’s, Louisiana and White Herons, American and Snowy Egrets, Buzzards of both species by hun¬ dreds, Sharp-shinned, Sparrow, Pigeon, Marsh, Broad-winged, and Red-shouldered Hawks, one individual each of Everglade Kite, Audubon’s Caracara and Anhinga. I estimated at least one hundred Kingfishers perched along the canal bordering the trail, and, in the waters of this same canal Pied-billed and Horned Grebes, American Coot and a few Lesser Scaup were feeding. Northern Crows, Purple and Boat-tailed Grackles were com¬ mon about the cypress heads, while Tree and Cliff Swallows were as numerous as in summer time. Doubtless there were species which I overlooked but these will give an idea of the relative abundance of avian life in this sanctuary of the southland. Essex County Ornithological Club 39 ANNOTATED LIST OF BIRDS OBSERVED DURING 1928 BY THE ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB Nineteen twenty-eight weather conditions were, in a meas¬ ure, irregular, there was an open winter with little snow ; Janu¬ ary was warm, February normal, March and April were cold, May cool and cloudy but warmed toward its close, June rainy but with a few hot days, while July and August had a fair rainfall with many fair and hot days, September was cool with much fair weather, October fair and warm, November normal with much fair weather and December, on the whole, was mild, with a storm in the mid¬ dle of the month, which produced about five inches of snow, this later being taken away by rain. Christmas was mild and fair and variable but moderate weather closed the year. Blackbirds, barring a few wintering individuals, were a little late in arriving as were the Phoebes. April Sparrows and Warblers were about on time. May birds were somewhat back¬ ward, apparently due to bad weather, but caught up during the warmer weather toward the end of the month. Breeding condi¬ tions were apparently normal with an early start to the fall migration. Northern land birds have not been greatly in evi¬ dence during the fall and early winter, which may be caused by mild weather or plenty of food or both to the northward. Shore and water migrants moved, as usual, according to schedule. Good field work and good luck have resulted in several rare species being listed during the year and we feel that the nineteen twenty-eight list is well worth perusal. A.O.U. 2. HolboelPs Grebe. April 25 ; October 27. In normal num¬ bers during early part of the year but rather late and scattering during the fall. 3. Horned Grebe. April 27; August 16. Normal numbers. 6. Pied-billed Grebe. April 6 to May 6; September 12 to 30. Rather few reported. 7. Loon. Present in usual numbers. 11. Red-throated Loon. February 19; October 12. Few re¬ ported. 40 Bulletin of the 1928 13. Puffin. December 23. Three birds seen on the wing off Marblehead by Mr. Griscom during the Christmas Cen¬ sus conducted by the Essex County Ornithological Club on that date. 27. Black Guillemot. March 4 ; December 2. Fairly common about the outer part of Salem Harbor. 34. Dovekie. Ferbuary 8 ; December 23. Decidedly uncommon. 37. Parasitic Jaeger. July 6 to September 8. Fairly common at Ipswich Beach and Plum Island. 40. Kittiwake. July 7; December 2. The July record was made at the “Sow and Pigs,” Lynn, being the third summer record made at this place. See Bulletins 1926, page 61 and 1927, page 42. 43. Iceland Gull. February 19 to May 30 ; December 9. Both of above spring dates are Mr. Ludlow Griscom’s. 45. Kumlien’s Gull. April 1 and December 23. Both dates to Mr. Griscom’s credit. 47. Great Black-backed Gull. Present. Seen in varying num¬ bers throughout the year. 51. Herring Gull. Present in thousands. 54. Ring-billed Gull. May 16 to October 27. Apparently be¬ coming more and more common in the County. 58. Laughing Gull. May 6 to September 16. Present in us¬ ual numbers. 60. Bonaparte’s Gull. March 25 to December 23. Common species. 70. Common Tern. May 25 to October 14. Common species. 71. Arctic Tern. May 27 to September 12. Uncommon species. 72. Roseate Tern. May 27 to September 16. This seems to be the first year we have any spring records of this bird. 77. Black Tern. August 14 to 27. A few were seen in the Ipswich-Plum Island region. 117. Gannet. April 15; September 16 to December 2. Com¬ monly seen off Plum Island and less commonly off Nahant. 119. Cormorant. April 15 ; November 12. Most common off Marblehead and about Salem Harbor. 120. Double-crested Cormorant. April 11 to May 6 ; July 6 to October 28. Very common migrant. Essex County Ornithological Club 41 129. American Merganser. November 4 to December 2. Few reported. 130. Red-breasted Merganser. Present in greatly varying num¬ bers throughout the year. 132. Mallard. October 27 to December 23. A few scattering wild birds seen about the ponds. 133. Red-legged Black Duck. April 22. September 30. Win¬ ters in good numbers in favorable locations in or near salt water. 133a Black Duck. Probably resident. Young birds seen on the Ipswich River, May 6. 135. Gadwall. October 21. Identified by Mr. Griscom. 137. Baldpate. April 13 to 27 ; September 11 to November 4. Uncommon species. 139. Green-winged Teal. April 13 to May 7; September 16 to November 11. Uncommon species. 140. Blue-winged Teal. April 19 ; September 7 to 16. Uncom¬ mon species. 142. Shoveller. April 1 to 7. Seen at Ipswich. Very rare species. 143. Pintail. January 1; September 16 to October 21. Not at all common. 144. Wood Duck. April 2 to October 21. Nested in Phillips’ barn beside the Ipswich River in Middleton during May. Young birds were seen on the River at Camp on June 21. 146. Redhead. October 27 to November 4. Uncommon species. 147. Canvas-back. October 27 to November 4. Uncommon species. 148. Greater Scaup. May 9 ; September 17, shot at Wenham. Locally common. 149. Lesser Scaup. October 7 to November 4. Not so fre¬ quently noted as the preceding species. 150. Ring-necked Duck. February 19 ; September 30, two birds at Wenham, November 4, Ipswich ; February date was of a drake seen by Griscom and Emilio at King’s Beach, Lynn. 151. American Golden-eye. May 14 ; October 28. Very com¬ mon species. 42 Bulletin of the 1928 152. Barrow’s Golden-eye. April 1; December 5. Again at the Sliding Rock Station. 153. Buffle-head. May 20 ; October 28. Locally common species. 154. Old-squaw. May 31 ; October 27. Common species. 155. Harlequin Duck. February 19, 22 and March 4. Identified by Emilio and Griscom. Rare. 160. Eider. March 31 and May 30. Uncommon species. The latter date is of a drake, seen with Scoters off Plum Island. 163. American Scoter. May 27 ; September 27. Fairly com¬ mon species. 165. White-winged Scoter. Present in some numbers through¬ out the year. Common except during mid-summer. 166. Surf Scoter. Same status as the preceding species except that it is not so frequently seen in mid-winter. 167. Ruddy Duck. September 8 to December 2. More reported during this fall than for several years previous. 169.1. Blue Goose. Reported by Dr. John C. Phillips, shot at Wenham October 26. 172. Canada Goose. January 14, February 5, March 25, April 30 ; October 7 on.j 190. Bittern. April. 19 to — . For some' reason none were re¬ ported after early June. 194. Great Blue Heron. April 8 to June 8 ; August 12 to No¬ vember 14. Seen in about the usual numbers. 196. American Egret. August 9 and 29. Seen by two observers in the Ipswich region. 200. Little Blue Heron. August 22 to 27. Two young birds at Breed’s Pond, Lynn. 201. Green Heron. April 27 to September 23. Common species. 202. Black-cowned Night Heron. January 1 to 8 ; March 22 to December 23. Present in usual numbers. 203. Yellow-crowned Night Heron April 11 to July 15. A pair bred successfully on the Crane Estate at Ipswich. 212. Virginia Rail. April 6 to May 27. As usual the Rails have been neglected. 214. Sora. May 6 and 20. Same status as above. 221. Coot. December 2. East Point, Gloucester. The sole record for the year is also a very late one. Essex County Ornithological Club 43 223. Northern Phalarope. September 7. Reported from Ips¬ wich by Dr. Townsend. 224. Wilson’s Phalarope. September 22. Collected at Eagle Hill Slough by Ludlow Griscom in company with Dr. Townsend. 228. Woodcock. March 5, Plum Island, [Wilkinson ; March 21, East St., Emilio and Preston; late October or early No¬ vember on Dry Breakers, Salem Bay, J. Robinson. 230. Wilson’s Snipe. April 6 to May 5 ; September 27 to December 23. Wintering again at their old station at Hall’s Brook, Lynn. 231. Dowitcher. May 2 to 27 ; August 10 to September 27. All of these records were made at Ipswich. 232. Long-billed Dowitcher. September 16. Collected at Ips¬ wich by Ludlow Griscom. 234. Knot. May 30 ; August 8 to November 6. Uncommon species. 235. Purple Sandpiper. April 25 November 18. Common about the ledges of Salem Bay. 239. Pectoral Sandpiper. April 13 to May 2 ; August 10 to September 22. Records made at Ipswich. The presence of the birds in April, there were five or more, is note¬ worthy. 240. White-rumped Sandpiper. May 20 to June 6 ; September 27 to October 28. No great numbers reported this year. 241. Baird’s Sandpiper. September 24 to October 14. Rare species in Essex County. 242. Least Sandpiper. May 6 to June 6 ; July 6 to September 22. Present in normal numbers. 243a Red-backed Sandpiper. May 20; September 27 to October 27. Not numerous this year. 246. Semipalmated Sandpiper. May 6 to June 8; July 13 to October 21. Present in their usual thousands. 247. Western Sandpiper. September 22. Identified by Gris¬ com and Townsend. 248. Sanderling. May 12 to June 8 ; July 24 to November 6. Present in usual numbers. 44 Bulletin of the 1928 251. Hudsonian Godwit. September 9 to 12. Single bird at Eagle Hill Slough, Ipswich. Very rare bird in County. 254. Greater Yellow-legs. April 13 to June 23 ; August 10 to November 4. Present in greater numbers than last year. 255. Yellow-legs. July 13 to September 27. Not so numerous as preceding species. 256. Solitary Sandpiper. May 11 to 27; July 13 to October 6. Normal spring and fall flights. 258. Willet. August 10 to September 2. Seen in the Rowley- Ipswich region. Rare bird in Essex County. 261. Upland Plover. April 13 to August 27. Very local and un¬ common breeder in the County. 263. Spotted Sandpiper. April 22 to September 30. Common breeding species. 265. Hudsonian Curlew. August 9 to September 19. Very un¬ common bird this year. 270. Black-bellied Plover. May 12 to June 7 ; August 2 to November 6. Present in good numbers. 272. Golden Plover. May — ; August 10 to October 12. Un¬ common species in this county. 273. Killdeer. Scattered pairs from mid-March on. Flocks up to 20 or more late summer and a single bird survived the month of December at Marblehead. 274. Semipalmated Plover. May 20 to June 6; July 18 to Oc¬ tober 28. Normal flights. 277. Piping Plover. May 9 to September 8. Local breeding species. 283a. Ruddy Turnstone. May 27; August 2 to September 27. Not very numerous this year. 289 Bob White. “Since May 28 about my house.’ ’ Dr. Town¬ send. June 24. A rare bird in Essex County. 300. Ruffed Grouse. Present in small numbers. Ring-necked Pheasant. Barely holding its own against the gunners. 316. Mourning Dove. Wintered from last season but none re¬ ported after November 11 of this year. 331. Marsh Hawk. March 10 to November 4. Present in usual numbers. Essex County Ornithological Club 45 332. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Present but not numerous. 333. Cooper’s Hawk. Present but not as numerous as above. 334. Goshawk. January 16 and March 4. Only two reported. 339. Red-shouldered Hawk. Present in usual numbers. 343. Broad-winged Hawk. April 13 and 30, May 3 and 13, June 28, July 25 and September 16. This range of dates is the result of the work of five observers and is the best year’s accounting the Recorder has yet received. 347a Rough-legged Hawk. January 1. One lone record. 352. Bald Eagle. January 1, May 2, June 18, August 11, 12 and 14. Summer dates were probably of the same bird. 354. Black Gyrfalcon. December 27. Identified by S. G. Emilio and C. P. Preston. 356a Duck Hawk. September 27 and 30. Very few reported. 357. Pigeon Hawk. May 11 to 20; September 28 and 30. Un¬ common species. 360. Sparrow Hawk. Present somewhat commonly. 364. Osprey. April 6 to August 27. About usual numbers. 367. Short-eared Owl. February 22. One record, two birds. 368. Barred Owl. Present. 372. Saw-whet Owl. January — , February 16, March 25. Un¬ common species. 373. Screech Owl. Present and rather common. 375. Great Horned Owl. Present and uncommon. 387. Yellow-billed Cuckoo. May 19 to July 1. An uncommon species. 388. Black-billed Cuckoo. May 9 to July 1. Much more com¬ mon than above. 390. Belted Kingfisher. Present each month in year. 393. Hairy Woodpecker. Present in normal numbers. 394c Downy Woodpecker. Present in normal numbers. 402. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. April 1 to May 2 ; September 27 to October 7. Present in average numbers. The April date is very early. 412a Northern Flicker. Present in usual numbers. 417. Whip-poor-will. May 6 to September 1. Locally common. 420. Nighthawk. May 25 to September 2. Few reported this year. 46 Bulletin of the 1928 423. Chimney Swift. May 4 to September 12. Average numbers. 428. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. May 13 to September 23. Most frequently seen about gladiolus gardens. 444. Kingbird. May 6 to September 12. Common species. 452. Crested Flycatcher. May 19 to August 8. Uncommon species. 456. Phoebe. March 25 to September 27. Present in usual numbers. 459. Olive-sided Flycatcher. May 30 and June 6. Two records probably of same bird, at least it was found in the same place both times. 461. Wood Pewee. May 27 to September 30. Average numbers. 463. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher. June 3, Ipswich. Identified by Dr. Townsend. 466a Alder Flycatcher. June 3 and 8, Ipswich. Identified by Dr. Townsend. 467. Least Flycatcher. May 6 to August 12. Average numbers. 474. Horned Lark. April 13 ; October 12. Present in normal numbers. 474b Prairie Horned Lark. April 22 to November 4. Small flocks reported principally at Ipswich, numbering up to twenty birds and seen in early fall. No doubt aggrega¬ tions of a few local families. 477. Blue Jay. Present. 488. Crow. Present. 493. Starling. Present. 494. Bobolink. May 6 to August 27. Locally common. 495. Cowbird. March 22 to December 11. Present in usual numbers. 498. Red-winged Blackbird. Present during the twelve months. Common during the breeding season. 501. Meadowlark. Present throughout the year in varying numbers. 507. Baltimore Oriole. May 6 to October 8. Present in nor¬ mal numbers. 509. Rusty Blackbird. February 16 to May 4 ; September 23 to October 21. Usual numbers. 511b Bronzed Grackle. Reported during every month but Feb¬ ruary. Common during the breeding season. Essex County Ornithological Club 47 514. Evening Grosbeak. From early in the year till May 12. Reported from Ipswich, Essex, Middleton, Topsfield and Beverly. 515. Pine Grosbeak. February 12 and 22. Only two reports. 517. Purple Finch. Present in variable numbers throughout the year. 521. Red Crossbill. February 19 to April 15. Few reported. 522. White-winged Crossbill. February 12. Reported by S. G. Emilio. 528. Redpoll. February 12 and 19; March 23; December 23. Very few reported. 529. Goldfinch. Present in variable numbers. 533. Pine Siskin. May 20. This appears to be one of the years when Siskins passed us by. 534. Snow Bunting. April 11 ; October 22. Average numbers. 536. Lapland Longspur. October 21. In some numbers after the above date at Ipswich, a dozen or more having been seen together. 540. Vesper Sparrow. March 25 to October 7. Normal numbers. 541. Ipswich Sparrow. February 4 to April 8 ; October 27. May 20, Ipswich, reported by Ludlow Griscom. 542a Savannah Sparrow. March 25 to November 6. Locally common. 549. Sharp-tailed Sparrow. May 27 to October 28. Above dates are from Ipswich by Dr. Townsend. 554. White-crowned Sparrow. March 25 to May 26 ; October 8 to November 4. Uncommon species. The early date is rather extraordinary but is no doubt explained by the tremendous wave of migration at that time. 558. White-throated Sparrow. With us all this year. Most common during spring and fall. 559. Tree Sparrow. May 1 ; October 27. Common species. 560. Chipping Sparrow. April 1 to October 27. A single bird wintering in Topsfield, December 23. 563. Field Sparrow. February 26 to November 28. Common during breeding season. 567. Slate-colored Junco. May 6; September 27. Most com¬ mon spring and fall. 48 Bulletin of the 1928 581. Song Sparrow. Present. Very common during the breed¬ ing season. 583. Lincoln’s Sparrow. May 18 to May 26; September 27 to October 7. Very uncommon migrant. 584. Swamp Sparrow. An all the year bird for 1928. Locally common during the breeding season. 585. Fox Sparrow. March 4 to April 6; November 4 to Decem¬ ber 23. About average numbers. 587. Towhee. April 27 to October 7. Common species. 595. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. May 6 to November 1. Novem¬ ber bird was collected by Dr. Townsend, a very late fall record. 597. Blue Grosbeak. July 3-4, Ipswich. Seen by Dr. Townsend. 598. Indigo Bunting. May 27 to June 21. Rather a spare season. 608. Scarlet Tanager. May 16 to August 12. Unusual numbers. 611. Purple Martin. May 6 and 27. Rare bird in Essex County, and only a migrant. 612. Cliff Swallow. April 25 to July 15. Uncommon summer resident. 613. Barn Swallow. April 19 to September 16. Common species. 614. Tree Swallow. March 25 to September 12. Common species. 616. Bank Swallow. April 29 to August 15. Only locally common. 619. Cedar Waxwing. Present in varying numbers. Very erratic. 621. Northern Shrike. February 12 and March 25; November 4. Few reported. 624. Red-eyed Vireo. May 18 to September 23. Usual numbers. 627. Warbling Vireo. May 11 to September 28. By no means common. 628. Yellow-throated Vireo. May 15 to August 11. Uncom¬ mon species. 629. Blue-headed Vireo. April 22 to June 28. Breeds locally, notably near Camp. 631. White-eyed Vireo. May 19. Seen by Dr. Townsend on the Ipswich River Trip. 636. Black and White Warbler. April 30 to September 27. Common breeding species. Essex County Ornithological Club 49 642. Golden-winged Warbler. May 6 to August 12. Locally common breeding species. 645. Nashville Warbler. May 6 to September 30. Breeds locally. 647. Tennessee Warbler. May 16 to May 27. Rare migrant. 648a Northern Parula Warbler. May 2 to June 8; September 30. Hardly up to normal numbers. 650. Cape May Warbler. May 27 ; October 3. Only two birds reported. 652. Yellow Warbler. May 6 to September 9. Common breed¬ ing species. 654. Black-throated Blue Warbler. May 6 to 19. Uncommon species. 655. Myrtle Warbler. June 24 ; August 11. Seen again on the Palmer Estate in Ipswich in the breeding season. 657. Magnolia Warbler. May 11 to 30; September 30 to Octo¬ ber 14. Rather a scanty migration spring and fall. 659. Chestnut-sided Warbler. May 6 to August 12. Normal numbers. 660. Bay-breasted Warbler. September 30, Only one reported. 661. Black-poll Warbler. May 16 to June 6 ; September 12 to October 12. Average numbers during migration. 662. Blackburnian Warbler. May 6 to June 28. Observation of the past three or four years seems to indicate that this species breeds regularly in the mixed growth wood¬ lands in the interior of the County, favoring the white pine. 667. Black-throated Green Warbler. April 30 to September 27. Common denizen of pine woodlands. 671. Pine Warbler. April 5 to September 27. Locally com¬ mon species. 672. Palm Warbler. September 30, October 27, November 25, December 5 and December 23. This year’s range of dates and scattering dates of past observations seem to indicate a disposition of this species to winter in east¬ ern Massachusetts. 672a Yellow Palm Warbler. March 24 to May 15 ; September 30 to October 21. Rather a thin migration spring and fall. 50 Bulletin of the 1928 673. Prairie Warbler. May 6 to August 12. A bird of the sprout-lands but not abundant anywhere. 674. Oven-bird. May 2 to August 12. Very common wood¬ breeding species. 675. Water-Thrush. May 11 to June 6. Few reported. 678. Connecticut Warbler. September 27. On this date, two of this species were seen about a bushy pasture over¬ grown with tall goldenrods. 679. Mourning Warbler. August 11 and October 3. Seen at Ipswich by Dr. Townsend. 681. Maryland Yellow-throat. May 6 to October 12. Common breeding species. 683. Yellow-breasted Chat. May 30 and June 6. One bird was on Town Hill, Ipswich, on the above dates. 684. Hooded Warbler. May 25. W. D. Moon at Fay's, Lynn. 685. Wilson’s Warbler. May 25 and 27. Very few reported. 686. Canada Warbler. May 19 to September 5. Definitely placed as a summer resident of Essex County in hard¬ wood swamps. 687. Redstart. May 2 to September 30. Very common summer resident. 697. Pipit. May 11; September 27 to November 4. Consider¬ able numbers at Ipswich during the fall. 703. Mockingbird. North Salem, January to April 29, W. B. Porter. Ipswich, February 21, Dr. Townsend. Crane Estate, February 22, E. C. 0. C. 704. Catbird. May 6 to October 21. Common summer resident. 705. Brown Thrasher. May 4 to September 23. Common sum¬ mer resident. 718. Carolina Wren. March 11 to December 12. It is appar¬ ent that a pair of this species wintered on or in the neighborhood of the Fay Estate and in May or early June nested in the swampy run beside Seldom Good Pas¬ ture Road and later again nested in a small tar paper nesting box over a Mr. Crane’s hen house on the up-hill side of the above road. Later two birds reappeared about the “Barnacle” at Fay’s and a male bird was afterward collected across the valley, the supposed female being seen later well into December. Essex County Ornithological Club 51 721. House Wren. May 6 to September 12. Several nesting birds about Fay’s again this year. 722. Winter Wren. April 22 ; December 1 and 22. A few reported. 724. Short-billed Marsh Wren. May 16 to August 12. Locally common. 725. Long-billed Marsh Wren. May 16 to August 10. Probably not so common as above species. 726. Brown Creeper. Present. Breeding status at Fay’s not fully proven this year but probable. 727. White-breasted Nuthatch. Present. Apparently bred at Preston’s in Danvers. 728. Red-breasted Nuthatch. May 20; September 27. 735. Black-capped Chickadee. Present in good numbers. 748. Golden-crowned Kinglet. May 27; June 24; September 27. Very common fall of 1928. Both May and June dates represent the same pair or more of birds that may have nested on the Crane Estate at Ipswich. There were probably no migrants present in May. 749. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. April 13 to May 20 ; September 30 to November 28. Rather thin migrations. 755. Wood Thrush. May 5 to August 12. About usual numbers. 756. Veery. May 6 to August 12. Common locally. 757. Gray-cheeked Thrush. April 28 to May 28. Rare species. 757a Bicknell’s Thrush. May 27. Identified by Dr. Townsend. 758a Olive-backed Thrush. May 18 to 27 ; September 30 to Oc¬ tober 21. Uncommon species. 759b Hermit Thrush March 31 to November 11. Breeds reg¬ ularly to some extent. 761. Robin. Present in variable numbers. Two partial albinos reported one at Ipswich and another at Topsfield. 766. Bluebird. March 17 to November 10. Normal numbers. 52 Bulletin of the 1928 A; WILSON’S PHALAROPE AT IPSWICH, MASS. Charles W. Townsend and Ludlow Griscom On September 22, 1928, a Wilson Phalarope, Steganopus tri¬ color, in winter plumage was seen by us on the mud flats near Eagle Hill at Ipswich. It was easily recognized by its general pale gray color, white below, its slender neck and head, marked by a faint white line over and behind the eye, its long slender black bill, its pale yellow legs, and when it flew, by its white rump and unmarked wings. It was always in motion, running hither and thither on the dry flats or in the shallow water, with head and neck stretched out and thrust this way and that, evi¬ dently in the pursuit of small flies. While we watched it, it did not swim on the water. From the Lesser Yellow-legs, with which it was associated, it was at once 'distinguished by its paler coloration, its more slender bill, head and neck, by its shorter legs and by its more active motions. In fact, it stood out unmistakably from the nine other species of shore birds on the same flats. These nine were : Dowitcher, six birds, one of which had a suspiciously long bill ; Pectoral Sandpiper, two birds; Baird’s Sandpiper, one; Least Sandpiper, two; Semipalmated Sandpiper, fifty; Western Sand¬ piper, one with an unmistakably long bill; Greater Yellow-legs, Essex County Ornithological Club 53 sixteen ; Lesser Yellow-legs, ten ; and Semipalmated Plover, four¬ teen. We collected the Wilson’s Phalarope and have presented it to the Boston Society of Natural History. This is the fifth record for Wilson’s Phalarope in Essex County. The first was taken by G. 0. Welch at Nahant on May 20, 1874, and is now in the collection of the Boston Society of Natural History1; the second, shot probably at Ipswich about 1883, now in the same collection2; the third shot by a gunner at Salisbury on August 18, 1907, and now in Dr. Townsend’s collec¬ tion3; the fourth seen by C. E. Clarke, G. L. Perry and several members of the Club at Clark’s Pond, August 15 1926 4. There are only three other records for the State. . THE LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER AT IPSWICH Charles W. Townsend In “The Birds of Essex County” I have entered three records of the Long-billed Dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus scolapaceus, for the County, two in the collection of the Peabody Museum of Salem and one in my own. There are no additions in the “Sup¬ plement”, published in 1920. This western form of our Dow¬ itcher was called to my attention this summer by Mr. Ludlow Griscom who collected a specimen at Ipswich, after identifying it in the field by its long bill. In my collection I have the skin of an adult female collected at Ipswich on August 14, 1895, whose noticeably long bill led me, when I was writing “The Birds of Essex County,” to refer it to Mr. Brewster who pronounced it the eastern form, L. griseus griseus. As is well known, the female of the shore birds, with only a few exceptions, has a longer bill than the male, and on account of this fact, doubtless, Mr. Brewster excluded this spec¬ imen from the ranks of the western form. Since then, Mr. 1 Baird, Brewer and Ridgway Water Birds, 1884, vol. Ill, p. 338. 2 G. M. Allen, The Auk. XXV, 1908 p. 234, also Forbush, Birds of Massachusetts, 1925, p. 378. 3 C. W. Townsend, Supplement to the Birds of Essex County, 1920, p. 6. 4 G. L. Perry, The Auk, XLIV, 1927, p. 99. 54 Bulletin of the 1928 Ridgway’s great work has come out, and he gives the following measurements for the bills of adult females of the two races : Dowitcher, adult female, Exposes culmen, 55.5—62 mm. Long-billed Dowitcher, adult female, Exposed culmen, 62 — 79 mm. Mr. Griscom and I, on measuring the bill of August 14, 1895, found it to have a length of 65 mm., which would make it according to Mr. Ridgway the western form. The specimen also conforms to Ridgway’s statement, “with cinnamon color of the under parts deeper and much more uniform, covering abdomen, and sides distinctly barred with dusky”. At the late date of September 27, 1928, I saw a single Dow¬ itcher on the beach at Ipswich that was noticeable for these latter points and for its long bill. Of course I am unwilling to state that this was the Long-billed form without collecting it, and I have no intention of making this a record. It is interesting to know, however, that the western form, according to Griscom, is a later migrant at Long Island than the eastern form. It would be of great interest to compare a series of adults of these two forms taken on their breeding ranges. That has never been done, and the breeding is, according to the 1910 A. 0. U. Check List “unknown, but probably northern Ungava”. Bent, however, in his “Life Histories” quotes W. E. Clyde Todd as writing, “it is my opinion that this species does not breed in the interior of Northern Ungava”, and Bent goes on to say: “prob¬ ably typical griseus, if there is any such thing, will be found breeding somewhere in the muskeg regions of central Canada between Alberta and Hudson Bay.” Essex County Ornithological Club 55 A BLUE GROSBEAK AT IPSWICH Charles W. Townsend On July 3, 1928, several of my family and I noticed an un¬ usual bird at the feeding table near a window. I noted it down as larger than a Song Sparrow with longer tail, and having a grosbeak bill ; brownish gray in color with a faint buff line over the eye and two buff bars on the wing, the upper being the larg¬ er. The next day the bird appeared again and I tried to collect it but failed. Its association with other birds on the small feeding tray showed its size, which at once excluded the smaller female Indigo bird. It certainly was not a female Cowbird, a species which also visited the tray, and its size, coloration and especially the buffy wing bars proclaimed in all probability a female Blue Gros¬ beak, Guiraca cxrulia casrulia. (L.) THE YELLOW CROWNED NIGHT HERON AT IPSWICH S. G. Emilio On Friday the 13th, April, 1928, I saw a Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Ipswich. On the 27th I saw two, and on Friday, July 6, I climbed the tree where they had nested and lowered four young to the ground to be banded, at least, three to be banded and one to go as a specimen to the Boston Society of Natural History. Eleven days later the young were still on the nest, but I did not see any of the family after that. But it was Dr. Townsend who discovered and identified the bird first on April 11, and I was but one of a party of Club mem¬ bers some of whom saw the two birds on the later April date. So I supposed the Doctor would write a short account for the Bulletin before he went to South America, but he did not do so, and I have ventured to set forth very briefly the salient points of my connection with the birds. The Yellow-Crown is a rare straggler to New England. There are about fifteen records for Maine, New Hampshire and Massa¬ chusetts, and the species has twice before been taken in this 56 Bulletin op the 1928 County. But its normal breeding range is in the Southern states and there is no prior record of the bird nesting in New England. The nest was about 25 feet up in a red maple, so loosely constructed that the eggs could be seen from below, but it was never suspected that there were more than three young until I climbed the tree and found four. Dr. Townsend kept close track of the nesting and watched the birds for many hours from a very simple blind nearby. I was with him on June 12 when we found egg shells on the ground indicating that at least three young had hatched probably two days previously. As above stated I saw the birds still on the nest July 15, or more than five weeks later. Many people saw the birds, but all were very careful not to disturb them or keep them from the nest any length of time, and only Dr. Townsend studied them closely and he alone is in a position to write in detail on their behavior at the nest. I only noted that they were a very silent pair of birds, extremely good parents, leaving the nest only under strong provocation and re¬ turning as soon as possible. No Crows got a chance to eat their eggs or young and even when the young were nearly full grown one parent or the other seemed to be always at, or very near, the nest. In all probability this pair of birds came north together at the time the Black-crowns came which was about the 10th of April. Instead of nesting in the Black-crown heronry about a mile away they chose a maple swamp of a few acres in extent and enjoyed a degree of peace and quietness quite impossible in the vicinity of the hundreds of nests of noisy Black-crown in the pines of the sand dunes. A BLUE GROSBEAK AT DANVERS S. G. Emilio On September 23, 1921, I saw a young male Blue Grosbeak in changing plumage in the swamp some three hundred yards southerly from my house at 156 Hobart Street, Danvers, Mass. This bird appeared about 8 A. M. in an opening in the brush Essex County Ornithological Club 67 of the swamp about forty feet distant. He perched for some time in unobstructed view with the sun coming from over my shoulder full upon him. I had and used my eight power glass. The underparts were a fairly uniform dirty grayish white, the upperparts were dark dull brownish, and the exposed part of the primaries fuscous. The bill, while of the grosbeak type, did not seem to me as large or as “Roman nosed” as represented in certain plates and I noted it at the time as not as large as a Rose¬ breasted Grosbeak's. But the bird was about the size of a Blue¬ bird and the tail was blue. There was also a small patch on the side of the head of several blue feathers. The tail was gently “pumped” like a Phoebe or Hermit Thrush. Apart from the fact this bird was about twice as large as an Indigo Bunting, it presented not at all the smooth buffy brown appearance of that bird in similar plumage and I felt justified at the time in elimi¬ nating it from consideration. Mr. Forbush, to whom I immediately reported the observa¬ tion, told me in reply he had one or more reports of this grosbeak from nearly every county in New York, most of the counties of Massachusetts and many of the counties of Maine, Vermont and Connecticut. Under those circumstances it did not seem to me to be a primal record of sufficient importance to require a speci¬ men though the bird had not been previously recorded from Essex County. So the following year this species was included in the Second Check List of the County birds published by the Club, but no detailed account of the observation has heretofore been pub¬ lished. IT IS WISE TO LOOK TWICE Arthur P. Stubbs Three “bird men” approached Clark’s Pond over the ridge from the south. They were the Medico, the Engineer and the Pill- man ; each wise in his own conceit and each in his own mind per¬ haps a little cocky over his knowledge of local bird-life. A mild wrangle started between the Medico and the Engineer over the 58 Bulletin of the 1928 identification of some shore-birds at the near end of the pond while the Pill-man struggled to focus a refractory telescope. At the same time each man was registering in the back of his mind that there was a suspicious something near some low rocks at the other end of the pond but put the impression aside as trivial. The wrangle was settled, the Pill-man closed his telescope in dis¬ gust and all three took a few steps along shore toward the far end of the pond, when, all of a sudden the suspicious object sprang into the air and revealed itself as a young Bald Eagle, which slowly flapped to the scattered willows at the top of the high hill beside the pond, where it alighted to be worried by Crows. Three humble and crest fallen ornithologists gazed sheepishly at each other and each reluctantly confessed that he had regis¬ tered more or less sub-consciously, that the suspicious object would bear study but had at once put the idea out of his mind. After a laugh all around, they proceeded to the work of the after¬ noon, which fortunately produced a very satisfactory list. \ Essex County Ornithological Club 59 CALENDAR FOR 1928 ESSEX COUNT ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB OF MASSACHUSETTS January 9, 1928. Regular meeting. Nine members pres¬ ent. Field notes covering the fall and early winter observations, and a complete check of the 1927 Club records. February 13, 1928. Regular meeting. Twelve members present. Outline of a prospective publication by the Club of a Directory of the Birds of Essex County, Massachusetts. Field notes. March 12, 1928. Regular meeting. Eleven members pres¬ ent. Reports of 1927 Bird Banding by Club members. Field notes. March 26, 1928. Regular meeting. Twenty members pres¬ ent. Communication from Mr. Ludlow Griscom. A Recent Trip to Panama. Field notes. April 9, 1928. Regular meeting. Eight members present. Field notes and migration records for Essex County. April 23, 1928. Regular meeting. Twelve members pres¬ ent. Discussion of ways and means of making Bird Census. Field notes. May 14, 1928. Regular meeting. Seventeen members pres¬ ent. Communication from Mr. Charles B. Floyd. Bird Banding Operations on Muskeget Island and elsewhere. Field notes. May 28, 1928. Regular meeting Ten members present. Communication from Mr. Edward Babson, game warden of north¬ ern Essex County. Activities of the State Department of Fish¬ eries and Game. Review of the 1928 Ipswich River Bird Trip. Field notes. June 11, 1928. Regular meeting. Eleven members present. Communication from Mr. S. G. Emilio. Rare Birds and Unusual Records for 1928. Field notes. 60 Bulletin of the 1928 September 10, 1928. Regular meeting. Six members pres¬ ent. Field notes and records of various summer trips without the county. October 8, 1928. Regular meeting. Fifteen members pres¬ ent. Communication from Dr. C. W. Townsend. A summer trip down the St. Lawrence to Labrador and Newfoundland. Field notes. November 12, 1928. Regular meeting. Eleven members present. Field notes. Nomination of officers for 1929. December 10, 1928. Regular meeting and annual meeting of the Club. Fifteen members present. Communication from Mr. Ludlow Griscom. Birds of Yucatan. Election of officers. Essex County Ornithological Club 61 LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB OF MASSACHUSETTS Bates, Walter E. Beckford, A. Courtney Beckford, Arthur W. Benson, Frank W. Benson, George E. Bosson, Campbell Bruley, Roger S. Bushby, Fred W. Chase, Charles E. Clark, W. Hobart Cogswell, Lawrence W. Cushing, Milton L. Doyle, John F. Emilio, S. Gilbert Fay, S. Prescott Felt, George R. Fletcher, Laurence B. Floyd, Charles B. Fowler, Albert B. Gifford, Lawrence W. Gifford, Morris P. Griscom, Ludlow Hubon, William P. Ingraham, Phocion J. Jeffery, Thomas B. Jenkins, Stephen W. Jones, Gardner M. Kelley, Herbert W. Kelley, Mark E. Lawson, Ralph Little, Philip Lockwood, Dunbar Fayette Court, Lynn 3 Warren Avenue, Danvers 10 Park Street, Danvers 14 Chestnut Street, Salem 31 Summer Street, Salem 560 Concord Avenue, Belmont 64 Center Street, Danvers 17 Washington Street, Peabody 31 Euclid Avenue, Lynn 163 Hobart Street, Danvers Y. M. C. A., Salem Box 374, Fitchburg Lee, Higginson & Co., Boston 7 Winter Street, Salem 2 Otis Place, Boston 85 Main Street, Peabody Room 940, 50 Congress Street, Boston 454 Walcott Street, Auburndale 111 Locust Street, Danvers 63 Federal Street, Salem 17 Beckford Street, Salem 34 Bates Street, Cambridge 25 Flint Street, Salem 235 Lowell Street, Peabody Salem Willows 273 Locust Street, Danvers Public Library, Salem 3 Willow St., Winchester 52 Sutton Street, Peabody 88 Washington Square, Salem 10 Chestnut Street, Salem 205 Richdale Avenue, Cambridge 62 Bulletin of the 1928 Long, Harry V. Long, William B. Mackintosh, Richards B. May, Dr. John B. Means, Robert W. Means, W. Gordon Moon, Wilbur D. Morley, Arthur Morrison, Alva Morse, Albert P. Morse, Frank E. Moulton, Charles E. Newhall, Milo A. Nichols, Rodman A. Ordway, Frank L. Osborne, Arthur A. Osgood, Edward H. 49 Phelan, Joseph C. Phillips, Dr. John C. Porter, Willard B. Preston, Charles H. Preston, Charles P. Proctor, George N. Raymond, John M. Robinson, John Ropes, Col. Charles F. Ropes, Willis H. Sears, Judge George B. Shreve, Benjamin Spofford, Charles A. Stubbs, Arthur P. Taylor, Arthur W. Teel, George M. Tenney, Ward M. Tortat, William R. M. Townsend, Dr. Charles W. Very, Nathaniel T. Walcott, Judge Robert 260 Clarendon Street, Boston 6 West Cedar Street, Boston Central Street, Peabody 136 State House, Boston 19 Pearl Street, Boston 108 Water Street, Boston 46 Maple Street, Lynn 26 Minerva Street, Swampscott 35 Congress Street, Boston Peabody Museum, Salem Steinert Hall, Boston 72 Maple Street, Lynn 12 Temple Court, Salem 27 Broad Street, Salem Whipple Hill, Danvers 183 Lowell Street, Peabody Fayerweather Street, Cambridge 16 Pierce Road, Lynn “ Windyknob”, WTenham 5 Lee Street, Salem 42 Preston Street, Danvers Great Neck, L. I. 35 Congress Street, Boston 2 Brookhouse Drive, Clifton 18 Summer Street, Salem Dearborn Street, Salem 36 Summer Street, Salem 37 Cherry Street, Danvers 17 Chestnut Street, Salem 23 Elm Street, Danvers 1 Addison Avenue, Lynn 24 1-2 Briggs Street, Salem 2 Otis Street, Danvers 60 East Street, Ipswich 6 Perkins Street, Peabody Argilla Road, Ipswich 96 Bridge Street, Salem 152 Brattle Street, Cambridge Essex County Ornithological Club 63 Whitney, Charles F. 29 Pine Street, Danvers Wilkinson, Robert H. Asbury Grove CORRESPONDING MEMBERS Babson, Edward Brown, C. Emerson Cousins, Willard C. Donaldson, Major George C. Doolittle, Albert W. Griffin, Bertram S. Ritchie, Sanford Sanders, Richard D. Spaulding, Frederic P. Newburyport, Mass. Zoological Garden, Philadelphia Hanover, N. H. U. S. Army Lawrence, Mass. West Newbury, Mass. Dover-Foxcroft, Maine Brokers Exch. Bldg., Norfolk, Va. Wilton, N. H. PUBLICATIONS of the ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB BULLETIN 1919 BULLETIN 1920 BULLETIN 1921 BULLETIN 1922 BULLETIN 1923 BULLETIN 1924 BULLETIN 1925 BULLETIN 1926 BULLETIN 1927 BULLETIN 1928 Check List of the Birds of Ess Revised Check List Price 75 Cents Price 75 Cents - Price 75 Cents Price 75 Cents Price 75 Cents Price 75 Cents - Price 75 Cents Price 75 Cents Price 75 Cents - Price 50 Cents x County - Price 10 Cents - Price 25 Cents The above may be obtained from Ralph Lawson, Secretary, 88 Washington Square, Salem, Mass. or S. G. Emilio, Treasurer, 7 Winter Street, Salem, Mass. PUBLISHED MAY 13, 1929 64 MILO A. NEWHALL h CO. PRINTERS SALEM. MASS