BULLETIN

OF THE

PAGE PAGE

Officers

-

-

-

-

- 2

Foreword

• .

•

Editors 3

The Interesting May of 1930 - Ludlow Griscom 5

The Ipswich River Bird Trip - Ralph Lawson 14

The Shooting Season of 1 930 in Essex County

Edward Babson 1 7
Birds of a September Afternoon Arthur P. Stubbs 22

Say’s Phoebe in Essex County, Mass. 5. G. Emilio 24
A Blue-gray Gnatcatcher Family Philip Emerson 26

North American Birds of Accidental Occurrence

in the British Isles - - - S. Q. Emilio 29

Some Ocean Birds - - Francis H. A lien 40

The Avifaunas of the Counties of Norfolk, England and
Essex, Massachusetts, Compared Charles W. Townsend 44
The Post-breeding Northern Migration of

North American Herons Charles W. Townsend 47
“Hawks is Hawks" but Some are Mouse Traps

John B. May 5 1

Pursuit and Capture by Birds of Prey

Charles IV. Townsend 35

Annotated List of Birds Observed in Essex County, 1 930

Arthur P. Stubbs 62
Around the Big Table - - - - - 79

Club Calendar for 1 930 - - - 84

List of Members for 1 930 - r - - 86

• •

■

.

■

■

. ■

■

■

1 * ** .• ... ■ ■ , ■- t

.

v ' *y . j- „ , ; ,a * ; : '•*•-'* *•? ■ • * .1? - ^ ■W-tTi«aP

*

. • • *• «■ , v • , Arr - A* 41 :

' ' V ■ - ■ ■■: " . • ' . . • = -- ’ .. ^

j :■; ... :

■

• • -.. 7 •• V'.-A-' }i _ *■« x

*“>? *> > . v ■ i tjk. .**',* ». ♦. '

'

' ' . • ; ■ ; ; '. >". . Jl :v._

■

■

• - v .< •' vj£ • *?££&

' ' ■ '

. • ; .

ir-i

.

' .

■■

- ..

m

fill

■

.

■ '

•- "'X:\

•• ••• -'V *

.

■

.

■• ■

.

cfV* ^ . "*'* . s .r'*k * • ^

;-v

.

. ■

«fe A A ll 3 , ’ %

'

4 % .

nqt

pS&lsE^*'

• - •

n*A" ...

'

; ■•. * i -V -. .. v: - . .• *■••••

tZ ' ^ _ A. '* «. .. • A i »

■

.

v 1

•; . ‘ • : ‘ +,#

' • - A. ; . /•

BULLETIN

OF THE

Essex County Ornithological Club

Massachusetts

m

/cjL >’XV^

vo / |,A,

|f\

1930

FIFTY CENTS

ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
OF MASSACHUSETTS, INC.

Salem, Massachusetts

c

OFFICERS OF THE

ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB

1930

President

Frank W. Benson

Vice-President

Albert P. Morse

*

Secretary

Ralph Lawson

88 Washington Square

Salem, Massachusetts

V_).v A. \\)^ \ V t 1 _(V C 6*.

(!) % .a \o( j(s a

Treasurer

S. Gilbert Emilio

■e

7 Winter Street

"E\ S5

Salem, Massachusetts

'1*136

Recorder

Arthur P. Stubbs

1 Addison Avenue
Lynn, Massachusetts

Council , the Officers
and the folloiving
Charles F. Ropes
Stephen W. Jenkins
Roger S. Bruley

BULLETIN

OF THE

ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
OF MASSACHUSETTS

Salem, Massachusetts

ISSUED ANNUALLY

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE

S. Gilbert Emilio Arthur P. Stubbs Dr. C. W. Townsend

DECEMBER, 1930 SALEM, MASS. Number 12

FOREWORD

9

Of outstanding interest during the year was the meeting of
the American Ornithologists’ Union at Salem, Mass, in October.
The local committee which had in hand the arrangements for this
meeting and for the entertainment of our distinguished visitors,
was composed of members of the Nuttall and Essex County Orni¬
thological Clubs. Many other members of both clubs joined in
trying to provide for the pleasure of the occasion.

Another event of great interest to those of us who were so
fortunate as to be afield, was the immense flight of birds during
early May. It is many years since anything quite equal to it has
occurred.

The usual activities of the Club have been up to par, the
lectures were of much interest and the field work, which includ¬
ed as it did last year, the northern part of the County, was car¬
ried on with the usual vigor and gave pleasing results.

Several new names have been added to the Club roster and
there seems to be sufficient interest in ornithology to maintain
our membership list at the usual figure without any effort being
made to secure recruits.

A measure of criticism has come from certain ornithologists,
familiar with the Florida avifauna, concerning Mr. Ritchie’s

3

4

Bulletin of the

1930

article in the 1928 Bulletin. There are two references therein
to the Northern Crow which the editors should not have per¬
mitted. The word Northern, however, seems to have been used
merely to differentiate the bird from the entirely different species,
the Fish Crow, and not to indicate the race brachyrhynchos as
one might easily believe. The designation of the Florida Crow
as jioridanus, a name long since relegated to synonomy, is an¬
other point that should, perhaps, have been corrected by the
editors. And there is an all too casual reference to some Kitti-
wakes seen on the Gulf coast. As there is no authentic record
for this species in the Gulf of Mexico and only one for the entire
state of Florida, the editors were remiss in publishing this part
of Mr. Ritchie’s account. It seems that he erred in considering
scientifically correct the volume on Florida birds upon which he
relied and the editors erred in accepting some of his statements,
which, incidentally, were not intended originally for publication,
without more careful scrutiny.

The Editors.

Essex County Ornithological Club

5

THE INTERESTING MAY OF 1930
Ludlow Griscom

Two years ago I reported on four all-day trips in May, 1928.
In describing the localities visited and the order in which they
were visited, I commented on the importance of these factors,
and suggested that further experience might make it advisable
to alter the schedule, with improvement in the results. Addi¬
tional field work during 1929 and the first part of 1930 convinced
me that this was desirable. In the first place the trips in 1928
were most unsatisfactory as regards marsh birds, and the Lynn-
field Meadows, by all odds the best place in the County, could
not easily be visited on the old schedule. In the next place it
became apparent that Nahant and the Fay Estate were by all odds
the best places for Warblers, “wave” or no “wave.” Finally
the Plum Island region was the best locality for water and shore
birds, and did not require investigation in the morning hours,
which are the best for land-birds. The following route was con¬
sequently devised, and adhered to on the last two trips, with
minor variations only.

Lynnfield Meadows (dawn — 6.00) ; Nahant (6.30-8.30); Fay
Estate (2 hours) ; Danvers, Topsfield, Proctor Estate, Pleasant
Pond (2.00 P. M.); Plum Island Region (3.00-6.00); Clarke’s
Pond and Great Neck, winding up at dusk at the Club Camp.

The ornithological advantages of the route may be summed
up for each locality as follows :

Lynnfield Meadows — two Rails, both Marsh Wrens, and Alder
Flycatcher, certain ; also various other marsh and meadow birds,
including Woodcock, Killdeer, Marsh Hawk and Dove. The
Whip-poor-will was invariably recorded near Lynnfield before
dawn.

Lynnfield (village) — Warbling Vireo.

Nahant — various land-bird migrants and lingering water-
birds and sea-fowl. On May 13 we found there White-crowned
and Lincoln’s Sparrows and 18 species of Warblers.

Fay Estate — land-birds; best or only chance for Crested Fly¬
catcher, Wood Pewee, Field Sparrow, Indigo Bunting, Prairie
Warbler, Thrasher, House Wren, Wood Thrush.

6

Bulletin of the

1930

Danvers (pond). Pied-billed Grebe and Florida Gallinule.
This locality might produce no specialties another year, and
would then be omitted.

Topsfield (village) — Evening Grosbeak and Warbling Vireo.

Proctor Estate — Wood Duck and Cooper's Hawk (on nest) ;
chance for Grouse and other land-birds, especially lingerers, like
White-throat, Junco, Myrtle Warbler, etc.

Pleasant Pond — Solitary Vireo, Pine Warbler and Brown
Creeper breeding ; also Grouse, breeding Blackburnian and Canada
Warblers and Water-thrush, in case they are missed elsewhere.

Plum Island Region — Killdeer and Prairie Horned Lark
breeding; Terns, Bonaparte’s Gull, shore-birds and other water-
fowl.

Clarke’s Pond and Great Neck, Ipswich — shore-birds and
other water-birds, Night Heron, Prairie Horned Lark.

Club Camp and vicinity — Woodcock, Nighthawk, Whip-poor-
will, Hermit Thrush.

Another change was made in the dates on which the all day
trips were taken. In 1928 the majority were on Sundays, and the
poor returns were in part due to the fact that there was no marked
migration on three of the days when the census was taken. In
1930 a careful study of weather conditions was made, checked by
daily observation, and an effort was made to take the census on
the day when a ‘'wave” would reasonably be expected the night
before. The good results this last year were due in part to the
fact that we happened to guess right every time.

Part of the element of guessing right was due to the remark¬
able conditions during the spring, particularly the month of May.

The first spring migrants were early, but March closed with¬
out a warm spell, and the usual “wave” the last days of the
month never materialized. An all day trip on the 29th showed
the land birds way below par for the season and the only com¬
pensation was the long list of 16 ducks, including some of the
rarer species observed on the Merrimac River, the Artichoke
Sanctuary and Plum Island.

April was a particularly poor month in 1930. On the 13th
arrivals were still behind schedule, but Messrs. Clarke, Perry
and Conkey found Rough-legged Hawk, Horned Lark and Lapland

Essex County Ornithological Club

7

Longspur at Ipswich. Continued cold weather prevailed most
of the following week. On April 20 Emilio and I obtained a list
of only 63 species, and could not find a Chipping Sparrow. But
we recorded 14 species of ducks and 17 individual hawks of 6
species. The relative abundance of hawks remained a feature of
the spring from then on. The succeeding days were also unus¬
ually cold, with frost practically every night until April 30, and
the month closed with only casual migration.

May 1. Temp. 52° at sunrise. Marked migration.

May 2. Minimum temp, the preceding night, 66°. First
“wave” of the year. At least 13 new arrivals including a King¬
bird. Emilio and I recorded 77 species, including 6 hawks, 15
individuals.

May 4. Minimum temp. 50°. Continued and early migra¬
tion. Total 83 species, 13 new arrivals, including Solitary Sand¬
piper and Blackburnian Warbler. 7 Hawks, 16 individuals.

May 5-6. Remarkably warm, calm weather.

May 7. Minimum temp. 76°, extraordinary weather condi¬
tions. Eaton, Emilio and I take “big day” route, with Lawson
up to 9 A. M. Big “wave”. Total 111 species ; many new arriv¬
als, even the Blackpoll Warbler, at Nahant ; a total of 8 Hawks,
18 individuals. The scarcity of the Catbird supplied an out¬
standing contrast.

May 9. Slight migration with continued mild weather.

May 10. Much cooler ; marked exodus of migrants.

May 11. Light frost; continued exodus; birds distinctly
scarce; only 86 species recorded.

May 12. Rapidly rising temp.; light southwest winds; full
moon.

May 13. ' Ideal day; “big day” route with Emilio and Law-
son. Total 122 species ; second big wave of the year ; 6 White-
crowned Sparrows, 6 Lincoln’s Sparrows and 18 Warblers at Na¬
hant, including Cape May and Wilson’s; early arrival of shore-
birds.

May 14-16. Northeast rain storm.

May 17. Slight migration.

May 18. Migrants pass on.

May 19-20. Northeast rains.

8

Bulletin of the

1930

May 21. Cold.

May 22. Mild ; good flight of Warblers.

May 23. Exodus.

May 24-29. Northeast rains, clearing from southwest.

May 30. Ideal night ; “big day” route ; Conkey, Eaton and
Emilio all day, Clarke and Perry until 4.30 P. M. ; the expected
late May flight materialized. Total 115 species, 20 Warblers.

In commenting on the lists which follow in parallel columns,
it should be noted how nearly the early and late May censuses
balance. The birds still present on May 7 nearly equal the late
arrivals found on May 30. Experience in other sections of the
eastern states shows that this principle is surprisingly true over
a long period of years. Were it not for the fact that the 13th
ushered in a “wave” of most unusual proportions, a mid-May
census would yield approximately similar results.

Compared with 1928, the smaller proportion of bad misses
will be evident. The Grouse and the Yellow-billed Cuckoo are
the most marked absences from all three lists, and one or two
common birds were missed one day or another. This is always
the case, and is a factor which can never be reduced to zero.
Some statistical contrasts are given below :

1928 — Total species recorded on 4 trips 137
1930 — Total species recorded on 3 trips 153

The difference in these figures shows graphically the difference
in results when the censuses are taken on days when there are
“waves” compared with days when there is no “wave.” Even
an extra trip in 1928 did not produce a total as great as in 1930.

1928 — Total 137— seen every day, 64 or 46%

1930 — Total 153 — seen every day, 81 or 53%

The differences in these two percentages indicates the improve¬
ment resulting from the change in route adopted in 1930. This
is a statistical method of demonstrating the importance of a care¬
fully planned itinerary on schedule time. As a matter of fact
the difference is actually greater than the figures indicate, be¬
cause a period of 23 days exists between the first and last census
of 1930, and only 21 days in 1928.

Essex County Ornithological Club

9

As in the 1928 article, an asterisk (*) indicates a new arrival
or marked migratory movement. Needless to say they occur
more numerously in 1930.

HolboelTs Grebe

MAY 7

35

MAY 13

MAY 30

Pied-billed Grebe

1

— •

- —

Loon

2

10*

—

Red-throated Loon

—

1

—

Herring Gull

sev. 100

125

1,000

Ring-billed Gull

?4

2

—

Laughing Gull

— ■

12

25

Bonaparte’s Gull

30

100

50

Common Tern

—

500*

100

Roseate Tern

—

1*

— •

Red-breasted Merganser

31

3

%

2

Black Duck

sev. pairs

sev. pairs

25

Red-legged Black Duck

82

30

—

Green-winged Teal

Id

—

—

Blue-winged Teal

29

—

—

Wood Duck

—

11 d

—

Golden-eye

—

ld29

2

Buffle-head

6

19

19

Old-squaw

—

Id

4

American Scoter

—

1

—

White-winged Scoter

100

50

65

Surf Scoter

—

1

3

Bittern

2

6

3

Great Blue Heron

2

—

—

Green Heron

2

1

3

Black-crowned Night Heron

25

100

15

Virginia Rail

1

11

sev.

Sora

2

12

sev.

Florida Gallinule

—

1*

1

Woodcock

3

1

2

Dowitcher

—

2*

—

Knot

—

1*

—

Purple Sandpiper

4

6

9

Bulletin oe the

1930

10

White-rumped Sandpiper
Least Sandpiper
Red-backed Sandpiper
Semipalmated Sandpiper
Sanderling
Greater Yellow-legs
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Black-bellied Plover
Killdeer

“Ring-necked’ ’ Plover
Piping Plover
Ruddy Turnstone
Pheasant
Mourning Dove

Marsh Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk
Goshawk

Red-shouldered Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
Duck Hawk
Pigeon Hawk
Sparrow Hawk
Fish Hawk (Osprey)

Short-eared Owl
Great Horned Owl
Black-billed Cuckoo
Belted Kingfisher
Downy Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Northern Flicker
Whip-poor-will
Nighthawk
Chimney Swift f

Hummingbird
Kingbird

MAY 7

MAY 13

MAY 30

—

4*

—

17*

sev. 100*

100

—

1*

—

12*

2,000*

10,000*

—

—

50

25

125*

50

1

1

— •

1

3

sev.

—

1*

50*

1

2

sev.

— •

—

100*

—

— -

2

—

—

1*

com.

com.

sev.

1

1

1

4*

— '

1

3*

—

—

2*

1

1

1*

—

—

— •

2

2

2*

—

—

—

—

2*

2*

1

—

3

—

1

1

1

—

i

1

—

— . ,

—

3

2

sev.

sev.

2

sev.

sev.

2

1*

—

—

com.

com.

com.

sev.

6

3

—

—

3

.com.*

com.

com.

—

—

1

6*

10

f.com.

Essex County Ornithological Club

11

MAY 7 MAY 13

MAY 30

Crested Flycatcher

—

3*

2

Phoebe

6

6

6

Wood Pewee

—

—

2*

Alder Flycatcher

—

—

3

Least Flycatcher

f. com.*

com.

com.

Prairie Horned Lark

2 pairs

1

2

Blue Jay

f.com.

f.com.

f.com.

Crow

com.

com.

com.

Starling

abd.

com.

com.

Bobolink

—

8

6

Cowbird

f.com.

.f.com.

sev.

Red-winged Blackbird

com.

com.

com.

Meadowlark

com.

com.

com.

Baltimore Oriole

com.*

com.

com.

Rusty Blackbird

65

—

—

Bronzed Grackle

com.

com.

com.

House Sparrow

sev.

sev.

sev.

Evening Grosbeak

10

1$

—

Purple Finch

6

6

2

Goldfinch

f.com.

f.com.

sev.

Vesper Sparrow

sev.

sev.

sev.

Savannah Sparrow

com.*

f.com.

f.com.

White-crowned Sparrow

—

6*

—

White-throated Sparrow

com.*

com.*

—

Chipping Sparrow

com.

com.

com.

Field Sparrow

sev.

6

2

Song Sparrow

com.

com.

com.

Lincoln’s Sparrow

—

6*

—

Swamp Sarrow

sev.

com.

com.

Towhee

com.

com.

com.

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

i *

JL

com.*

2

Indigo Bunting

—

2

1

Scarlet Tanager

—

sev.*

2

Purple Martin

—

—

ld1

Cliff Swallow

2

1

rj *

Barn Swallow

com.*

com.

com.*

Tree Swallow

com.*

f.com.

f.com.*

12

Bulletin of the

1930

Bank Swallow

Rough-winged Swallow

Cedar Waxwing

Red-eyed Vireo

Warbling Vireo

Yellow-throated Vireo

Blue-headed Vireo

Black and White Warbler

Golden-winged Warbler

Nashville Warbler

Parula Warbler

Cape May Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Black-throated Blue Warbler

Myrtle Warbler

Magnolia Warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

Blackpoll Warbler

Bay-breasted Warbler

Blackburnian Warbler

Black-throated Green Warbler

Pine Warbler

Yellow Palm Warbler

Prairie Warbler

Ovenbird

Water-Thrush

Maryland Yellow-throat

Wilson's Warbler

Canada Warbler

Redstart

Catbird

Brown Thrasher
House Wren

Short-billed Marsh Wren
Long-billed Marsh Wren
Brown Creeper
Red-breasted Nuthatch

MAY 7

MAY 13

MAY 30

1*

20

12*

2*

—

—

- —

—

7*

■ — •

6*

com.

1*

4

1

— •

4*

—

1

2

—

abd.*

com.

f.com.

5*

10*

sev.

26*

1

1

25*

6

Id1*

—

1*

—

com.*

com.

com.

4*

5*

1 9 *

com.*

4

—

1*

4*

5*

5

com.*

f.com.

1*

4*

15*

—

—

1 9 *

2

1

29 *

com.

f.com.

f.com.

sev.

q

sev.

sev.

o

1*

2

1

f.com.*

com.

f.com.

2

2

2*

com.*

com.

com.

— —

1*

1*

—

3

sev.*

3

com.*

f.com.

6

com.*

com.

sev.

com.

sev.

5

sev.

sev.

1

com.

com.

—

com.

com.

2

2

2

Essex County Ornithological Club

13

2L

Chickadee

Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Wood Thrush
Veery

Gray-cheeked Thrush
Olive-backed Thrush
Hermit Thrush
Robin
Bluebird

MAY 7

MAY 14

MAY 30

f.com

f.com

sev.

6

1

—

1*

4

sev.

4

1

f. com.

—

—

1*

—

—

6*

sev.

2

sev.

com.

com.

com.

sev.

10

10

14

Bulletin of the

1930

IPSWICH RIVER BIRD TRIP
Ralph Lawson

The twenty-fourth annual River Trip was held on May 17th
and 18, 1930. Although one hundred and fourteen species were
recorded, the individuals of each species were, with two excep¬
tions, remarkably few. It seemed as if the stream of birds which
had been pouring up along the Massachusetts coast during the
previous ten days had mostly passed north and that the usual
spring migration of 1930 was about over. Even the shore-birds,
which had literally covered all favorable feeding grounds only
the week before, had practically disappeared.

The hot weather of early May had brought out the foliage
which was about ten days in advance of normal at the time of
the Trip. The river was probably lower than on any previous
annual Trip and this fact may possibly have accounted for the
scarcity of Marsh Wrens in the great Wenham Swamp, but Wood
Ducks were seen in unusual numbers, both singly and in flocks
of five to eighteen, and Black Ducks were also abundant. One
flock of a dozen or more young Blacks were seen near Pine Island.

An interesting observation was of two Rough-winged Swal¬
lows seen near the spot where they were found during the previ¬
ous year’s Trip. Another, was of a female Buffle-head, probably
a sick or crippled bird which was seen in Clark’s Pond, Ipswich —
the first River Trip record of this species. And our old friend
“the” Warbling Vireo, missing from the elms near the Ipswich
boat landing for several years, greeted us this year on our return
from Little Neck and, as on many other Trips, furnished us with
our only record of this vireo.

Twenty-seven members and guests made the journey from
Howe Station to Ipswich, sixteen of whom also made the Saturday
morning trip from South Middleton to Howe and of these, six
had spent Friday night in the hospitable camp of Roger Bruley
and John Kimball, on the River in Danvers Center.

The weather was not all that might be expected in mid-May
and the eighteenth was particularly cold and raw, but there was
no deviation from our now time-honored route and a fine camp
fire made more enjoyable another happy evening at our tenting
ground under “The Pines.”

Essex County Ornithological Club

15

The following is the list
two days :

A.O.U.

No.

7 Loon

51 Herring Gull
70 Common Tern
133 Black Duck
144 Wood Duck
153 Buffie-head
190 Bittern
194 Great Blue Heron

201 Green Heron

202 Black-crowned Night Heron
212 Virginia Rail

214 Sora

228 Woodcock

230 Wilson’s Snipe

242 Least Sandpiper

243aRed-backed Sandpiper

246 Semipalmated Sandpiper

254 Greater Yellow-legs

256 Solitary Sandpiper

263 Spotted Sandpiper

273 Killdeer

300 Ruffed Grouse

Ring-necked Pheasant
316 Mourning Dove

331 Marsh Hawk

332 Sharp-shinned Hawk
339 Red-shouldered Hawk
343 Broad-winged Hawk
357 Pigeon Hawk

360 Sparrow Hawk

387 Yellow-billed Cuckoo

388 Black-billed Cuckoo
390 Belted Kingfisher
393 Hairy Woodpecker
394cDowny Woodpecker
412aNorthern Flicker
417 Whip-poor-will
423 Chimney Swift

428 Ruby-th’t’d Hummingbird
444 Kingbird

the species recorded during the

A.O.U.

No.

452 Crested Flycatcher

456 Phoebe

461 Wood Pewee

467 Least Flycatcher

474bPrairie Horned Lark

477 Blue Jay

488 Crow

493 Starling

494 Bobolink

495 Cowbird

498 Red-winged Blackbird
•501 Meadowlark
507 Baltimore Oriole
509 Rusty Blackbird
511bBronzed Grackle
517 Purple Finch
English Sparrow
529 Goldfinch
540 Vesper Sparrow
542aSavannah 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

611 Purple Martin

612 Cliff Swallow

613 Barn Swallow

614 Tree Swallow

616 Bank Swallow

617 Rough-winged Swallow
624 Red-eyed Vireo

627 Warbling Vireo

628 Yellow-throated Vireo

629 Blue-headed Vireo

636 Black and White Warbler

16

Bulletin of the

1930

A.O.U. A.O.U.

No. No.

642 Golden-winged Warbler
645 Nashville Warbler
647 Tennessee Warbler
648aNorthern Parula Warbler
652 Yellow Warbler
655 Myrtle Warbler
657 Magnolia Warbler

659 Chestnut-sided Warbler

660 Bay-breasted Warbler

661 Black-poll Warbler

662 Blackburnian Warbler
667 Black-th’t’d Green Warbler
671 Pine Warbler
672aYellow-palm Warbler

673 Prairie Warbler

674 Oven-bird

675 Water-thrush

681 Maryland Yellow-throat

685 Wilson’s Warbler

686 Canada Warbler

687 Redstart
697 Pipit

704 Catbird

705 Brown Thrasher
721 House Wren

724 Short-billed Marsh Wren

725 Long-billed Marsh Wren
735 Chickadee

749 Ruby-crowned Kinglet

755 Wood Thrush

756 Veery

759b Hermit Thrush
761 Robin
766 Bluebird

Essex County Ornithological Club

17

THE SHOOTING SEASON OF 1930 IN ESSEX COUNTY

Edward Babson

The shooting season for the year just past can best be de¬
scribed by the general verdict of gunners as the most unsatisfac¬
tory one ever experienced. Except for Wood Duck, Blue-winged
and Green-winged Teal, a paucity of other species of ducks, even
including our seafowl, was extremely apparent. Very few of
our other and more valued species of fresh-water ducks were tak¬
en hereabouts; but such as were taken were about as follows (in
the order given) as to numbers taken: Green-winged Teal, Blue¬
winged Teal, Black Duck, Pintail, Baldpate, Mallard and Red¬
head. Canada Goose shooting was for once better than duck
shooting here. During the first week in October the first “gray-
bellies” or young Canada Geese were taken in Newburyport Har¬
bor. All during October, November and early December many
small flocks of these young, unsuspicious geese, came in to our
tidal rivers and marshes. That fact alone accounts for the unus¬
ual success of the local goose shooting season. I heard of eight
geese being taken over on the Greenland side of Great Bay, N. H.,
during the last week of September, which I believe is about as
early a date for geese hereabouts as I know of.

The local pheasant shooting season, while ideal as to condi¬
tions, was a distinct disappointment to many of its followers,
considering the number of birds reared and released at a very
considerable expense to them. This kind of shooting fails to ap¬
peal to many good wing shooters, who prefer Woodcock, Quail
and Grouse shooting to the hunting of these “skulking, semi-do¬
mesticated, bobtailed phantoms.’ ’ There is a fair stock of these
birds remaining in our covers. It would be interesting as well
as instructive to know how many of these are barren birds. The
absolute protection accorded the female of the species is, in my
opinion, destined to create barren birds.

I do not find Ruffed Grouse in normal numbers in some of
their best and less hunted habitats. Grouse hunters reported
them extremely wild. Why they should be so after several sea¬
sons in which no grouse shooting was permitted is something of
a mystery, unless they were very old birds that had survived

18

Bulletin of the

1930

other shooting seasons. I note that the flocks of young Grouse
seen yearly in certain covers have a habit of totally disappearing
from that locality before the shooting season commences on them.
About all one can see during the hunting season is single birds,
and in recent years I have noticed that Grouse are living closer
to human habitations than they used to. Considering the num¬
ber of Grouse in our covers at the start of the shooting season,
and what are there since the season closed, I should say that we
have a fair stock remaining.

Flights of Woodcoek appeared hereabouts on October 30th
and November 2nd. The latter date had the heaviest flight.
Gunners on the north side of the Merrimac River in Salisbury,
Amesbury and Merrimac also reported a flight of Woodcock on
October 23rd. Quite a few birds were taken by gunners about
these dates.

Quail were reported more widely distributed during the past
breeding season than for some years. On June 16th, 1930, 1
came upon a pair of adult quail with about twelve or fifteen
young in a curve in the road just below School No. 9, in West
Newbury. The young looked very small, but they could fly
though they broke up and some went on each side of the road,
with their parents doing likewise. Two bevies of quail that were
reared by Dr. John C. Phillips, of Wenham, were given me for
distribution on August 15th, and these were liberated on the
estate of Frederic S. Moseley, in Newburyport, which is a part
of the Artichoke River Sanctuary. These quail have been seen
frequently within a radius of a mile or two of the place where
they were liberated. I last saw one of these bevies on Sunday,
November 23rd, on the Emery estate, in West Newbury. There
were then nine birds in it, which is the same number I counted in
it after liberation. Since the snow came I have tried to locate
these quail, so that they can be fed whenever deeper snow requires
it. I have been unable to find any trace of them in their former
haunts, so I believe that they have wandered to more favorable
winter covers.

Mr. Henry Pickard, of Newbury, an old time gunner who is
yet active afield, and who is night crossing tender at the New¬
buryport Turnpike of the Boston and Maine R. R., early in May

Essex County Ornithological Club

19

reported hearing Upland Plover calling nightly about the low
and open pasture land near this crossing. Later observations,
personally made at dusk, convinced me that there were a dozen
pairs of Upland Plover in that locality. On July 9th I saw a
pair of Upland Plover with young in the cow pasture off Parker
Street, in Newburyport. I could not count the young because
they were so active that one could only catch sight of them here
and there. Both old birds kept flying and crying about me when¬
ever I ventured near the place where their young were hid. And
then they would alight and try to induce me to chase them by
feigning that they were crippled. Again on July 15th, while
motoring with my brother on Scotland Road, Newbury, I espied
an adult Upland Plover atop a telephone pole there. I stopped
to allow my brother to see this Upland Plover, as he had never
seen one alive before. I could tell by the actions of this bird
that she had young close by. I got over a barbed wire fence into
a field, and there I discovered four, much younger and less active
than the ones I saw on July 9th. However, I found these young¬
er birds sufficiently active when finally I caught and examined
one of these downy young. I found it to be all legs, and so pret¬
tily and deceptively spotted as to be hard to see in tall grass.
The primaries already appeared in pinfeather form. The old
bird made much ado over my act, even after I had released the
young bird. I know of one Upland Plover’s nest, containing
four eggs, to have been deserted when a cow stepped upon it and
broke three of the eggs. The mowing of these meadows cannot
but fail to interfere with the nesting and rearing periods. This
year there were no breeding Upland Plover on the meadows ad¬
joining the Plum Island Turnpike, nor were there any there¬
abouts thereafter. I attribute this to the fact that a bad grass
fire swept across these meadows late in April and destroyed con¬
ditions favorable to their nesting there, and also wiped out the
supply of grasshoppers on which they are wont to feed. I noted
that last year these Upland Plover left here much earlier than
they usually do. I think that this was because of the drought so
destroying their food supply of insects that they had to move on.

Killdeer Plover are yearly becoming more numerous here¬
abouts, and they are breeding in the same locality as the Upland

20

Bulletin of the

1930

Plover. About the same number of Piping Plover as usual bred
on Plum Island beach.

Very few Black Ducks nested in this vicinity the past year,
nor was there the usual early September concentration of young
on the river and salt marshes. Wood Ducks were more abun¬
dant than I ever knew them to be before about here. One nested
in the hollow limb of an elm within twenty-five feet of the Byfield
Schoolhouse. The teacher and scholars watched it with interest,
and saw it leave the nest with the young clinging to it and fly to
a small waterhole in Deacon Johnson’s meadow three quarters of
a mile distant. One young Wood Duck fell off as it emerged
from the hole in the limb. It was recovered alive by the pupils,
but died later. On September 3rd, I counted 27 Wood Ducks on
Scragg Pond, Georgetown. Just before dusk on the evening of
September 22nd, I witnessed a flight of Wood Ducks come into
the wild rice fields near the Indian and Artichoke Rivers, West
Newbury, that exceeded 200 birds in actual count. They came
from the west in pairs, singles and small sized bunches in quick
succession, and I could still hear them coming after it got too
dark to see to count them. Not only were there more, but there
were many that remained about here much later than they usually
do. I saw the last ones on the Parker River, at Byfield, on Sun¬
day, October 19th.

On Sunday, September 14th, 1930, I observed 138 Black
Ducks, 19 Blue-winged Teal, 11 Wood Ducks, 3 Shovellers and 3
Pintails in the southern end of the Artichoke River Sanctuary.
A week or more later I noted that there were over 200 Blue¬
winged and Green-winged Teal there.

The benefits derived from the establishment of this Arti¬
choke River Sanctuary by the interest of the various landowners
there, and Laurel Grange, of West Newbury, are not likely to
continue under the present regime of the Newburyport Water
Board. The board has withdrawn its lands and waters from the
sanctuary, bought several parcels of land that had been included,
in it, and has thrown the whole open to shooting. Such birds
as formerly congregated will do so no longer now that shooting
is occurring there. Of the hundreds of ducks that were present
with the opening of the past duck shooting season, not one

Essex County Ornithological Club

21 '

remained next day. Although duck hunters swarmed there that
day. but very few birds were killed, and those taken were both
species of teal. I am convinced that this area of land and water
is worth more to the gunners when conducted as a sanctuary,
than it is to them as a shooting ground. The animosities of this
group of duck hunters to the sanctuary has been engendered by
the personal animus of one of the board of water commissioners
who has several times been prosecuted by its guardians.

The northeast rain storm of October 24, and the gale next
day, brought in a heavy flight of Black-breasted Plover, Greater
Yellow-legs and White-rumped Sandpipers. I did not consider
the fall flight of “summer” Yellow-legs quite up to their usual
numbers. “Jack” Curlew were uncommonly tame and numerous
during August and September on all the tidal marshes, especially
those bordering on the Plum Island River. In driving down the
Island to the Bluffs one day during this period, I counted 41
“Jack” Curlew. Some of these were in the road, and on my ap¬
proach they would leisurely walk out of the way of the car a few
feet, and return to the road again as soon as I had passed by
them.

A very heavy flight of Canada Geese passed over all of this
section (high in the air) on Thursday, December 4th. Before it
was light enough to see them that morning I heard geese going
over my house. I had occasion to go to Georgetown that morn¬
ing and then to Lawrence, to Haverhill and back again to George¬
town. I saw geese passing over all of these places in a south¬
westerly direction. That afternoon I visited Rowley Marshes,
and I estimate that I saw fully 5,000 geese pass by high in flight
before it got so dark I could no longer see them. So continuous
was the afternoon flight that there were several flocks within
sight at the same time. Most of these geese kept outside of the
Plum Island coastline and seemed to be following the shore.

Quite a few Snowy Owls appeared about the marshes the
first part of December, but in no such numbers as a few years
ago. I saw four at Plum Island the last week in December.

22

Bulletin of the

1930

BIRDS OF A SEPTEMBER AFTERNOON

A. P. Stubbs

The weather was sunny and warm with a bit of smoky haze
and a moderate southerly breeze on the afternoon of September
24, 1930, when Mr. Emilio and I motored northward towards the
Merrimac River.

Our first point of investigation of the birding grounds of
the Newburys remained unselected until we were crossing the
Parker River, on the “Pike” and found the tide unusually high.
At once we became curious as to what might be happening to the
birds at Joppa and Plum Island so on reaching the outskirts of
Newburyport, we turned seaward touching salt water at the far
end of Joppa and then, turning to the right, kept on until we
reached the pavilion at Plum Island where we parked and looked
out upon the Atlantic.

While crossing the causeway we found the marshes well
flooded, even though it was an hour after the time of high water,
and the stacks of salt hay sitting high and dry upon their stad-
dles were miniature islands. Few birds were noted in crossing —
a bunch or two of Yellow-legs upon the wing and the call of a
lone Black-bellied Plover.

There was little to be seen at first from the pavilion. A
radio in the big house picked crooning tunes out of the air and
some Loons, just off the beach, laughed softly, seemingly in an¬
swer. Bunches of Scoters winged southward and, as one of us
expressed a desire for Gannets, a half dozen wheeled into view
and performed their evolutions within easy range of our glasses.

From the Island we drove through the town and out on the
Groveland road. At the old white church we swung off on the
dirt road to the right, as we wished to visit the long stretch of
marshy shore of the Merrimac which can be easily studied from
the road which runs for some distance on the river bank. The
marshy shore is quite wide and is covered with a growth of
brush, weeds and wild rice. Through this growth the water
flows in at high tide making a famous hiding and feeding place
for water loving birds. Here we found a few Teal, feeding on
the outer edge of the wild rice. A few stones thrown out in

Essex County Ornithological Club

23

the weeds brought forth a chorus of Sora Rail notes, and White-
throated and other Sparrows made known their presence from the
brush on both sides of the road. A little farther along clouds
of Red-winged Blackbirds rose from the weeds and rice to come
to rest again nearby. A lone “Bluebill” was seen out in the
river beyond the rice.

Leaving the Merrimac we visited the shallow, grassy pond,
beside the Groveland road, through which Indian River runs.
At first this pond seemed to be populated only by Pied-billed
Grebes of which we counted nine, but we soon found a number
of Wood Ducks resting on the roots of the long line of big wil¬
lows which cuts across the back corner of the pond, and, while
studying the actions of the ducks, we were lucky enough to see a
pair of Coot threading an open channel through the grass.

i

The upper reaches of the Artichoke being our main objec¬
tive, we moved on to look that district over, starting in near the
first bridge above the water-works dam. Here the first bird
noted was a squatting Great Blue Heron, and, while watching it
among the maze of brush, water weeds and stumps, we saw what
at first we thought to be a grebe, paddling about in an open chan¬
nel. More careful examination showed the bird to have markings
not grebe-like and it shortly became evident to Jboth of us that
we were looking at a Florida Gallinule. The bird was drab colored,
lighter in shade than a Coot, with a longitudinal white line in
the wing, the tail upcocked and the under coverts showing broad
white margins with a black stripe up the center. The bill was dull
yellow and rather small. No red frontal plate was noticed. The
bird swam like the Coot with a jerky movement that suggested
walking, while the nervous twitching of the tail was more rail¬
like. The gallinule was in the same boggy and weedy section of
the Artichoke in which we had seen large numbers of Wood Ducks
in July and August of this year.

Going to and from the dam we saw and heard quite a large
number of Black-poll and Myrtle Warblers and Golden-crowned
Kinglets.

• We next skirted both ends and one long side of the big basin
of the water system in the car, seeing nothing worth noting until
we parked on the bridge at the upper end, when to our surprise

24

Bulletin of the

1930

we saw, not more than a hundred yards from where we sat, some

twenty odd small ducks feeding in shallow water near the grassy
shore. They proved to be a single female or immature Pintail
with a retinue of Blue-winged Teal. Southward, on the other
side of the bridge, there were more ducks, but in such a light
as to make identification difficult and uncertain.

To get a better light and to bring other pools and reaches
into view we rode around the westerly and southwesterly sides
of the upper basin with the result that we found Blue and Green¬
winged Teal, several Wood Duck, another Pintail, a Black Duck,
a Bittern, Great Blue Heron, a Killdeer or two and, just as the
light began to fade, a hidden cove filled with ducks evidently of
the species we had been seeing but there was the aggravating
possibility that we might be just missing some rarer species for
want of light.

All that remained was to find our way back to the “Pike”
and roll home to a late supper.

SAY’S PHOEBE IN ESSEX COUNTY, MASS.

S. G. Emilio

On October 13, 1930, I secured at Ipswich, Mass., a speci¬
men of Say’s Phoebe, Say or nis say a (Bonap.) for the Peabody
Museum of Salem.

A full account may be of interest to some.

This bird was found by a small party of the Brookline Bird
Club in mid-morning as they came from Town Hill over to the
highway leading to Great Neck. It was “hawking4” from a
wire fence running several hundred yards across the salt marsh.

Essex County Ornithological Club

25

The day was cloudless with little breeze and unseasonable
warmth. I had intended to cross to Plum Island at noon with
the Brookline contingent but found bird life so conspicuous by
its absence on the mainland that I finally decided to go home.
On the way I met Prof. F. A. Saunders, who had been one of the
party to see the strange flycatcher, and he strongly advised me
to search for the bird and told me just where he had seen it.

It was easily found and not very wild. Without another bird
nearby for comparison of size, it seemed much larger than our
eastern Phoebe. Generally dusky, with a black tail, there was
a suggestion of brownish below even when the underparts were
in shadow.

Of course this happened to be the first time in weeks I had
been out without my collecting gun, and as it was nearly fifteen
miles to Salem, I took a chance on finding Dr. Townsend at home
and drove hurriedly to his house. He was there, gladly loaned
me his gun and with Mr. Taber came back with me to where I
had last seen the bird. It was still on the fence and permitted us
to examine it again at leisure. Its identity was still uncertain
but on returning to the Townsend home we promptly settled the
question.

The bird, an immature male seems to be the third to have
been taken in New England, the others, according to Forbush,
1927, were collected at North Truro, Mass., September 30, 1889,
and the second at Gaylordsville, Connecticut December 15, 1916.
Another example, from just outside of New England, is recorded
by Mr. W. F. Eaton in The Auk, October 1927 — a bird seen at
Brooklyn, N. Y. on September 25, 1926 — the only record for the
New York City region.

This Ipswich bird is obviously a species new to Essex County
and is the eighth addition to the local avifauna since Dr. Town¬
send published his “Supplement to the Birds of Essex County”
in 1920.

As above indicated, it has been placed on exhibit at the Pea¬
body Museum of Salem and it proved of some interest to people
from the West, where it is a familiar bird, on the occasion of
the meeting in Salem in October of the American Ornthologists’
Union.

26

Bulletin oe the

1930

A BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER FAMILY
Philip Emerson

A few rods south of the New Hampshire- Massachusetts
boundary-stone of the Amesbury-Newton highway, a pair of
Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers reared their brood the past summer and
departed promptly in mid-August. The writer notified the club
secretary of the find in July, but, hearing nothing*, concluded
that, although the books said the presence of the species was
occasional or accidental in our region, it must be that experts
deemed the report of only minor interest,. However, when Mr.
Emilio hurried to Amesbury, after the matter was mentioned at
the September meeting of the Club, to secure the nest, and after
it appeared that the species had not been observed breeding in
the County and that the nest itself seemed unlike a typical nest
of the Gnatcatcher to certain members of the American Ornithol¬
ogists Union, it was clear that the finder should have compelled

i

attention at first.

Since it appears that the case is a record, and also to defend
the writer from a proverbial reminder that there is no fool like an
old fool, details should be recorded. While I cannot lay claim to
being a skilled ornithologist, I have known birds from boyhood
days on the home farm, sixty odd years ago, and much field work
in other departments of natural science, has long since taught
me not to arrive at hasty and unauthorized conclusions as to
what I may see.

Leaving Camp Powow of the Lynn Council, B. S. A., my
sixth year as assistant camp director, in charge of field activities,
I turned from the highway to the short Meadowbrook road, one
morning of early July, 1930. A black walnut tree stands beside
the deserted cottage, on a knoll beside a nearby rivulet and over¬
looking the broad meadows. As I approached, a little bird
curved up into a limb about ten feet above the grassy roadside
bank. Looking for it, I saw it clearly on its nest, snugly placed
in a fork of the long, horizontal branch. I was so near, at the
cottage corner, that I had to edge back into the lilac bushes to
bring my “8 x 30” glasses into focus.

Was it a Vireo? The little nest suggested this, though it

* The Secretary was on an extended trip in the West.

Essex County Ornithological Club

27

was not pendant. Red-eyed Vireos were common songsters near¬
by, but while this bird had as white a breast, instead of a line
of white over the eye there was a white ring around it. No, it
could be none of the Vireos.

It gave no song. The female was very constant on the nest,
the male rarely in evidence ; though both were so similar I could
not definitely distinguish them apart. They seemed to feed at a
distance, but occasionally I saw one dart at an insect in the air.

Were they Fly-catchers? Least Flycatchers, Phoebes and
Wood Pewees were in the neighborhood. No Flycatcher ! Then,
one day, as I stopped to watch bird and nest, with a group of
scouts on their way to practice tracking in nearby woodlands, I
saw the bluish gray of the bird’s back distinctly. This I had
not been able to see when only head and tail appeared above the
nest rim. The glimpse recalled the name, Blue-Gray Gnatcatch-
er. Careful checkup with Chapman’s description and with the
pictures of the New York State portfolio of colored plates,
showed that the birds must be Gnatcatchers. The long, uptilted
tails, their outer feathers white, helped to confirm the identifi¬
cation.

Near the end of July the female (?) was often absent from
the nest, presumably gathering food for fledglings. When brood¬
ing at this time she sat higher than when on the eggs. In Au¬
gust, two, then three, little heads peeped over the edge of the nest.
After a trip to Mount Pawtuckaway, in charge of a party of
scouts for a week, I returned to the nest to find that the family had
apparently left the vicinity as soon as the young were able to fly.

Gnatcatchers they assuredly were, however atypical their
nest. This may seem more like that of some warblers — the birds
were quite distinct from warblers. Warblers there were in the
neighborhood, Maryland Yellow-throats and Redstarts in abun¬
dance ; Black and Whites, Yellow Warblers, Pine Warblers fre¬
quently, others rarely. But this pair were not warblers, not
even the bluish gray Cerulean Warbler; the whole appearance of
the birds, the pure white throat and breast, the likeness of the
sexes, the marked eye rings, the long, white-bordered, uptilted
tails denied the possibility.

If perchance they return in 1931, other Club members shall
be compelled to come and give witness.

d

28

Bulletin of the

1930

Note. The nest was situated 11 feet from the ground on
the lowest branch of a black walnut tree — a tree common in the
south but not indigenous to eastern Massachusetts. It is securely
fastened in a strong crotch, the main branch close to the nest be¬
ing 1J inches in diameter. The nest is cup-shaped and some¬
what oval, 2| by 2 inches at the brim, pressed between the fork.
The vertical dimensions are, outside, 2 inches; inside lj inches.
It does not extend below the stouter limb of -the crotch and but J
inch above it, so that it is well concealed. The bark of the crotch
is spotted with gray lichen and the outside of the nest is decora¬
ted with scraps of newspaper which resemble bits of lichen. The
interior is lined with long white horse hair. A few feathers and
delicate strips of bark are to be seen in the compact substance of
the nest.

This nest, in several ways, is unlike the customary nest of the
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. It was in an unusual situation in a tree
standing alone and only 11 feet from the ground, although Pear¬
son and C. S. and H. H. Brimley in “Birds of North Carolina,”
state they have found the nest only 5 feet from the ground. From
20 to 50 feet seems to be the usual altitude. The usual shape is
high, about 3 inches or more in vertical dimension and the brim
is narrower than the bottom of the nest, i. e. it is purse-shaped.
All writers describe it as plastered with lichens and the material
of the nest is generally said to be soft and downy, the lining of
fine grasses, plant fibres and feathers. Horse hair is mentioned
by a few writers.

Although, after reading Mr. Emerson’s account, there seems
to be no doubt as to the identity of a bird so easily recognized,
the fact that the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher — of casual occurrence in
this County on a number of occasions — has not previously been
found breeding further north, near the coast, than southern New
Jersey together with the fact that the nest is unlike the usual one
of the bird, should make us extremely cautious about entering
this as a breeding record. The nest has been examined by several
ornithologists familiar with the Gnatcatcher and its nesting.
While none of them recognized it as the work of this species none
were willing to say definitely what else it must be. Neverthe¬
less we should not wholly ignore their failure to recognize it,
although, occasionally, birds do build atypical nests. [Eds.]

Essex County Ornithological Club

29

NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS OF ACCIDENTAL OCCURRENCE

IN THE BRITISH ISLES

S. G. Emilio

A few European birds occur in North Amercia as stragglers
or accidentals. There come to mind the Widgeon, the Teal, the
Common Sheld-duck, the Pink-footed Goose, the Lapwing, the
Ruff, the Curlew Sandpiper, the Little Gull and last to be for¬
gotten, perhaps, the Black-headed Gull (ridibundus) , of recent
capture in this County.

With the exception of the American Bittern, however, which,
as is rather generally known, was first described to science from
a specimen taken in England, I had no idea of the identity of the
other stragglers from North America to the eastern side of the
Atlantic or their seasons or frequencies of occurrence. So, to
satisfy my curiosity, I have gleaned from the “Manual of British
Birds,” Saunders and Clarke, 1927, the following more or less
interesting material.

In the Preface to this edition of the Manual it is stated that
“The classification and nomenclature adopted (with a few desir¬
able exceptions in the latter) are those of the “List of British
Birds compiled by a Committee of the British Ornithologists’
Union,” in 1915. Precisely what the “desirable exceptions”
are I have not attempted to ascertain, and I assume that the
great majority of the common and scientific names used are those
of the British List.

Now, I am quite unversed in the intricacies of scientific
nomenclature and this paper is not directly concerned with the
subject, nevertheless I venture to say that I was somewhat aston¬
ished at the common and technical names applied to our North
American birds by the British ornithologists. Occasional differ¬
ences of opinion both in regard to ornithology and technical
nomenclature are quite understandable but the differences seem
more than occasional. Furthermore, it is far from clear why
the common names long since adopted by the Amercian Ornithol¬
ogists Union, for North American birds, might not be used with
propriety elsewhere than on this Continent, if any common names

This paper in slightly different form was read before the Club on May 13, 1929.

30

Bulletin of the

1930

are to be used at all. When neither set of names conforms to
our usage, as frequently occurrs in this Manual it becomes nec¬
essary, sometimes, to study descriptions in order to find out what
bird is under discussion.

In the following notes I have given in each instance the
names used in the Saunders-Clarke, Manual.

A bird the English know as the Carolina Crake, Porzana
Carolina (L. ), which we call the Sora, has appeared in the British
Isles on at least five occasions. These have been in spring and
fall, April and October, with one in November, obviously migrat¬
ing birds. Several others have been captured at sea, far from
land. It is very difficult to understand how a bird so weak (or
apparently so) of wing can traverse the Atlantic. If, as it prob¬
ably does, it rests on the water, on what does it feed? What is
the source of the energy necessary for such a flight?

The North Atlantic Great Shearwater, Puffinus kuhlii bore¬
alis Cory, are the names given to the bird we call Cory’s Shear¬
water. It is only sub-specifically distinct from the Mediterranean
Great Shearwater Puffinus k. kuhlii, (Boie). Apparently these
birds rarely venture north of a line from Newfoundland to Por¬
tugal, and we find that Cory’s has occurred in Britain but once,
14 March 1914, and the Mediterranean, which has been taken
near Long Island, off the southern New England coast, though it
rarely strays out of the Mediterranean sea, is recorded also but
once from Britain, a dead female having been found 21 February
1906.

So, in the first two birds considered we have the interesting
contrast of a North American rail occurring five times, while a
strong flying bird of the ocean, normally ranging within a few
hundred miles of the British Islands has been detected but once
in each of its two races.

The Sooty Tern, Sterna f. fuscata L., another strong-flying
water bird, while normally ranging much further away from
England than the Shearwaters has occurred there and on the Con¬
tinent of Europe much more frequently. Seven birds have ap¬
peared in England, one in Wales and four more are known from
the Continent. These are mainly October records with April
ranking next and June, July and August each having one date.

Essex County Ornithological Club

31

This is a tropical and sub-tropical bird and it must be remem¬
bered that England’s latitude, though not its climate, is that of
Labrador.

Bonaparte’s Gull, Larus Philadelphia (Ord) has reached
England and Scotland six times and the Continent twice. The
British records fall between October and April inclusive.

While the Killdeer Plover, Aegialitis vocifera (L.) has not
been recorded from continental Europe, there are records of nine
birds in Britain. The first was killed in 1859, three were ob¬
tained April 1908 and three more in November 1915.

This brings us to the Semipalmated Ringed Plover, Aegialitis
semipalmata (Bonap.) of British nomenclature. "A female of
this American species was said to have been obtained on 8 April
1916, at Rye, Sussex.” It does not appear to have been detec¬
ted elsewhere in Europe. This bird, of course, is our Semi¬
palmated Plover, which might well have been given the official
name of Ringneck.

Another bird of this family is the American Golden Plover,
Charadrius d. dominions Muller, a different species than the
European Northern and Southern Golden Plover, Charadrius
apricarius L., though much resemblance between the two exists.
There are five British records, all late summer and fall.

The Eskimo Curlew, Numenius borealis (J. R. Forster), “has
been an occasional straggler to the British Isles, the first instance
on record being that of a bird which was killed on 6 September
1855,” and the last from the Scilly Islands 10 September 1887.
The five other occurrences were all in the fall migration.

We encounter a somewhat radical departure from our Ameri¬
can nomenclature in the Red-breasted Sandpiper, Macrorhampus g .
griseus (Gmelin). The common name we apply to it is the Dow-
itcher. The first recorded occurrence is of a bird secured in
Devon, in October, “prior to 1802.” This specimen is now in
the British Museum. About two dozen more have since been
taken, all but two or three appearing in the fall, mainly October.

The Solitary Sandpiper, Totanus s. solitarius (Wils.) comes
next. As we all know, it is a bird of our lakes and rivers and
not of our sea coast, so it obviously wanders far in crossing the
Atlantic. About a dozen birds have been shot or seen in the

32

Bulletin of the

1930

British Isles. The dates extend over spring, summer and fall
with the last season predominating.

And our Spotted Sandpiper, Totanus macularius (L.) has
also journeyed to England a few times and there are five or six
records for continental Europe. Prior to the taking of a female
in Ireland 2 February 1899, there were about a dozen more or
less unsatisfactory records, some merely of birds seen, others,
specimen not preserved, etc. Since 1899 however, about half a
dozen wholly authentic records exist, all but one of which seem
to be spring occurrences as contrasting with the prevailing fall
dates of other members of the family.

The Greater Yellowshank, Totanus melanoleucus (Gmelin)
we can readily believe is our Greater Yellow-legs. Large and
strong of wing as it is compared with the preceding, and inci¬
dentally so much more easily detected, there are but two records
for Britain and apparently none for continental Europe : fall
birds both, one 16 September 1906, the other 4 October 1915.

There are a few more records of the smaller Yellowshank,
Totanus fiavipes (Gmelin) and the first British-killed Yellow-
legs to be recorded was taken in the winter of 1854-5 and five
more have been recorded in August and September of later years.
It has been recorded also from Holland.

Bartramia longicauda (Bechstein) is, perhaps literally, Bar-
tram’s Sandpiper but we call it now, somewhat arbitrarily, the
Upland Plover. Late October 1851 is the date of the first Brit¬
ish record and of the remaining twelve records, strangely enough,
eleven are fall dates and one 18 July. There are seven Conti¬
nental records.

The Semi-palmated Sandpiper, Ereunetes p. pusillus (L.) is
known to have occurred but once in England, a female having
been shot 17 September 1907.

There are, of course, other species, as the Sanderling, of
regular occurrence along the eastern side of the Atlantic as well
as here in North America, of which no mention will be made.
We are considering only birds from North America which are of
accidental occurrence in the British Isles.

The Buff-breasted Sandpiper, Trygnites subrujicollis (Vieil.)
has gotten across the water to England and the Continent on quite

Essex County Ornithological Club

33

a number of occasions. There are records of at least eighteen
birds on the Isles and two more on the Continent. Many of these,
since the first in September, 1826, have been in that month, but
May, July, August and October are represented by one record
each.

Bonaparte’s Sandpiper, Tringa fuscicollis (Vieil.) is a com¬
mon name less familiar to us younger people than the more
descriptive White-rumped Sandpiper of the American Check List.
Over a dozen examples of this bird have, been recorded in the
British Isles since the first one, which was some time prior to
1839, in Shropshire. There are no records from the European
mainland in spite of the frequency of occurrences in Britain. I
do not know the monthly dates.

Baird’s Sandpiper, Tringa bairdi (Coues) was not detected
until 1900, across the water, when a young female was taken, 11
October, and there have been four records since, all in September.

The American Pectoral Sandpiper, Tringa maculata (Vieil.)
has been observed in the British Islands with far more frequency
than any other species of wader from the New World. The first
authenticated specimen was shot in October 1830. Since then,
while over fifty records for Britain are known, the bird has not
been detected on the European mainland. The great majority
of the visits have been in autumn, September and October — but
three have been in winter, five in spring and two in summer.
There seems to be one record for Iceland.

The American Stint, Tringa minutilla (Vieil.) is our Least
Sandpiper. On four occasions this companion of the Semipal-
mated Sandpiper has arrived and been identified in Britain, 10
October 1853, September 1869 and 1890 and lastly 22 August
1892, from which we can safely conclude that it is really an ac¬
cidental visitor across the water.

Western Europe has three species of Snipe, the Gommon, the
Great and the Jack. Our Wilson’s Snipe, Capella gallinago deli-
cata (Ord) is considered only sub-specifically distinct from the
Common Snipe, gallinago. This brings up an intertesting point.
It is, or has been, rather generally understood that the criterion
of the sub-species is complete intergradation. Now the Common
Snipe has 14 tail feathers normally, while our Wilson’s has 16,

34

Bulletin of the

1930

Just how two races so differing can intergrade completely is not
quite clear, even if there are, or were at some time, Snipe with
15 tail feathers! However this trivial and none too serious dis¬
cussion has preceded mentioning the record of occurrence of only
a single Amercian bird in the Hebrides, 26 October 1920. There
seems to be no other European record.

This brings to a close the account of the wanderers of this
large family and in number it is two-fifths of all the birds I have
to mention. These arctic-breeding shore-haunting birds would
be most likely to stray to distant shores. From the North Pole
there is but one earthly direction, — south. To the Atlantic, to
the Pacific, to the eastern shore of the Atlantic or to the west¬
ern shore, it is all the same from that point, — due south. I
realize, of course, that all the birds do not cluster around the
Pole before migrating southward, but they do foregather with¬
in the Arctic Circle in summer and a very small percentage of
their number does disperse along other lines than the normal
migratory ones during the great southward movement, as is
proven by the great preponderence of fall dates heretofore men¬
tioned.

It is interesting, though perhaps futile, to speculate on the
reasons why this very small percentage leave the normal migra¬
tion routes. Birds and other animals seem to have an acquired
or instinctive sense of orientation and location, and to human
minds this is a very wonderful thing. That this delicate sixth
sense sometimes fails to function and to guide the bird along
its normal route, is not to be wondered at, and presumably the
occurrence of some stragglers in regions remote from their ordi¬
nary range may be accounted for in this way. The birds simply
become lost. Perhaps too, that tendency which causes birds to
“storm the barriers of their environment” is successful in free¬
ing a few from the normal confines of the species and results in
the appearance of stragglers in strange lands. Possibly there is
a reversion to ancestral instincts which prompts a few individual
to traverse ancient migration routes and thus cause occasional
appearance of birds in areas far from their present normal
ranges. Beyond question weather conditions, particularly storms,
are responsible for many accidental occurrences. And lastly at-

Essex County Ornithological Club

35

tention may be called to the geography of the North Atlantic
and the facility with which a shore bird nesting in Greenland
might fly to Iceland and the British Isles, instead of passing
from Greenland to Labrador and thence southward along western
side of the ocean.

An American Bittern, Botaurus lentiginosus (Montagu), was
shot in Dorsetshire in 1804. Nine years later Montagu published
the first scientific description of the species. Since then over forty
records of its occurrence in the British Isles are known. With
the exception of a single March record, 25 March 1878, all the
40 odd dates lie between October and February. Doubtless num¬
bers perish for one that reaches the other side but it is certainly
strange, that in spite of its numerous visits to Britain, there are
no continental records. There are, however, one or more records
for Greenland, Iceland, Guernsey, the Azores and Canary Islands.

While the Red-breasted Merganser is described as a “Resident,
Winter Visitant and Passage Migrant” in Britain, our Hooded
Merganser, is strictly American and over there an Accidental
Visitant. Mergus cucullatus L. has given the British but four
authentic records of occurrence though there are perhaps a dozen
more or less unsatisfactory accounts of its presence there. The
winter months, December and January seem to be the time to
look for this species across the water. There are no records for
the Continent.

Again, while there is a race of the White-winged Scoter on
the eastern side of the Atlantic, the Surf Scoter, GEdemia per-
spicillata (L. ), is a bird of the new world, normally, and is of
only accidental occurrence in the British Islands and along the
European coast, according to the Saunders-Clarke Manual. So
numerous, however, are the specimens and sight records that I
would be inclined to term it a Casual rather than strictly an
“Accidental Visitant.” The majority of records are for October,
November and December but the species has been taken as early
as 6 September and as late as 11 March and there is one June
date.

The eastern race of the Harlequin Duck, Histrionicus h.
histrionicus (L.) breeds, among other places, in Iceland so it is
not greatly to be wondered at that it is found to be a “Rare,

36

Bulletin of the

1930

Aberrant Visitant” to the British Isle, and a rare casual to the
western European countries, including northern Italy. Scotland
seems to be the locus of most of the British records.

On the other hand, the little Buffel-head, Glaucionetta al-
beola (L. ) is known to have occurred but three times in Green¬
land, not at all in Iceland and but three times in Great Britain.
Nor are there any continental records. An adult male was taken
in the winter of 1830, another in the winter of 1864-5 and a
female on 17 January 1920. There are other reports of its occur¬
rence which are considered doubtful.

The American Wigeon, Mareca americana, (Gmelin), has
returned a few of its European relative’s visits to this hemis¬
phere and has been identified on a few occasions. Unfortunate¬
ly, while the identifications are undoubtly correct they have been
made of birds which had certainly escaped from captivity in some
cases, and probably so in others. In the winter of 1837-8 a bird
was found in a London market and a young male was taken in
February 1895, while an adult male was secured in the outer
Hebrides 3 January 1907.

The Blue- winged Teal, Querquedula discors (L.) has strayed
to the British Isles four known times and a few to the Continent.
Three females and a male comprise the records from 1858 to 1919.
For the American Green-winged Teal, Querquedula crecca caro-
linensis (Gmelin) there are even fewer records, an adult male
shot in November 1851, another in November 1879 and a third
bird, the sex of which is not recorded, dates back to 1840.
These two species are not of arctic distribution in summer though
the latter may breed occasionally within the Arctic Circle, and
their occurrence across the Atlantic is thus the more remarkable.

This brings us to the two Snow Geese.* The status of the
two species in Britain, strangely enough is about the same as it
is in this County. More specimens of the Lesser Snow Goose
have been secured there, even as they have here. For the Great¬
er Snow Goose there are but two records from the British Isles.
In October 1886 the first bird was secured and in ‘‘October 1920
a skein of about five appeared and remained until 20 March 1921.
From this flock two were shot and one specimen was preserved in

* I have omitted purposely the technical names and all reference by the Manual to the
relationship genarally accepted preceding Kennard’s specific separation.

Essex County Ornithological Club

3 1

the Scottish Royal Museum.’ ’ This species is not known to have
visited the European mainland. The Lesser species has sent at
least thirty birds to Britain and additional birds to continental
countries. There have been seen also quite a number of Snow
Geese, presumably this form. October to May are the months of
occurrence, the former seeming to be the most favored month.
Possibly birds from eastern Siberia, instead of North America,
may have made some of the recorded visits.

Thus far we have dealt only with so-called water birds, and
the remaining seven are all land birds. It is, of course to be ex¬
pected that the waders and swimmers would be more likely to
span the intervening watery wastes than birds which normally
haunt dry land, so the discrepancy in the number of species in
the two groups is quite understandable.

The American Peregrine Falcon, Falco peregrinus anatum
Bonap. is, obviously, our none too familiar Duck Hawk. It has
occurred twice in England, 31 October 1891 and 28 September
1910, young birds in both instances.

The gyrfalcons, as we call them, present something of a
problem on account of nomenclature. The Greenland Falcon,
Falco rusticolus candicans Gmelin seems to be our White Gyrfal-
con, Falco islandus Briinnich. The Iceland Falcon, Falco rusti¬
colus islandus Briinn. seems not to be an American bird at all
and the Gyr-Falcon, Falco r. rusticolus L. appears to be our Gray
Gyrfalcon and is circumpolar, as is the Greenland Falcon men¬
tioned above, so none of the three fall within the group we are
considering. In the Appendix to the Manual is mentioned the
Labrador Falcon, Falco rusticolus obsoletus Gmelin. “An imma¬
ture female was captured on the Island of Stronsay, Pentland
Firth, on 25 July 1926— New to European avifauna.” This, I
suppose, is our Black Gyrfalcon, gratuitously, even if appropri¬
ately, rechristened. This is a North American bird and it there¬
fore furnishes another instance for our record.

Astur gentilis atricapillus (Wils.) the American Goshawk
has occurred in three known instances in the British Isles, the
last capture being on 24 February 1919. The Goshawk is circum¬
polar and there are several Old World forms but the three rec¬
ords refer to the New World or American race.

38

Bulletin of the

1930

Similarly the Hawk-Owl is circumpolar, but the American
Hawk-Owl, Surnia ulula caparocli (Muller), which is perhaps a
little more northern in range than the Goshawk, has four times
found its way across the Atlantic and appeared in England and
Scotland. The first, in 1830 was found exhausted on the Corn¬
wall coast, the second was shot in August 1847, a most remarkable
date unless be assume the bird may have been there some months.
The third was taken in December 1863 and the fourth in November
1868. Is has been suggested that these birds had received aid
from vessels bound for Bristol and The Clyde. Strangely enough
the European Hawk-owl is quite as accidental in Britain as the
American form.

Our next bird is the Black-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus erythrop-
thalmus (Wils.) An example of this American bird was shot
near Belfast in late September 1871. The species has also been
taken in the Azores and Italy.

The Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Coccyzus a. americanus (L. ) has
occurred across the water much more frequently. Ireland seems
to satisfy the Cuckoos and the first of the Yellow-bills was taken
in the autumn of 1825 in County Cork, while the second was
secured in Dublin in 1832. Eleven more are recorded from the
British Islands but there are only two authentic records from
continental Europe. One can speculate without avail on why the
more southern of these birds has successfully crossed the Atlantic
so much more frequently and speculate too, on how either crossed
at all.

Lastly we come to a bird the English call the American
Water-Pipit, Anthus spinoletta rubescens (Tunstall). It is con¬
sidered only sub-specifically distinct from the Water-Pipit of
Europe, which was descibed to science by Linnaeus some 13 years
earlier than our Anthus rubescens (Tunstall). There is but one
record for the British Isles, a bird taken 30 September 1910
at St. Kilda. From elsewhere in Europe there are but two rec¬
ords, both from Heligoland, November 1851 and, strangely, May
1858. It is more than possible our Pipit may have escaped de¬
tection for the British Isles harbor as regular visitors the Tree
Pipit, the Meadow Pipit, Richard’s Pipit, the Rock Pipit and
Scandanavian Rock Pipit, _plus the accidentals, Petchora Pipit,

Essex County Ornithological Club

39

Red-throated Pipit, Tawny Pipit and the Water-Pipit of Europe,
and these all seem to resemble one another, including the Amer¬
ican Water-pipit, more or less closely.

In conclusion it may be interesting to know that the avifauna
of the Biritsh Isles, an area only twice the size of New England
and lying fully 10 degrees further north, is known to number
approximately 500 forms. As thirty-seven birds are discussed in
this paper it means that between 7% and 8% of the British avi¬
fauna are accidentals from the New World. So it would seem
that our human flyers are right in considering the eastward
crossing of the ocean much easier than the westward, for our
local avifauna is less than 3% European, nor are the recorded in¬
stances of stragglers from Europe nearly as numerous as I have
found for strays over there. Furthermore the percentage com¬
parison is even more pronounced when it is considered that about
40% of the British avifauna of close to 500 forms, is of acciden¬
tal occurrence. While our recorded New England fauna seems
to be increasing rapidly it has not yet reached the proportion of
30% accidentals.

40

Bulletin of the

1930

SOME OCEAN BIRDS
Francis H. Allen

In crossing to England and back last summer I spent a large
proportion of the daylight hours on deck either looking for or
looking at the birds of the ocean — mostly looking for them ! Few
kinds of sea-birds venture very far from shore as a rule, and on
our way out no birds but petrels and shearwaters were seen after
we got fairly away from Boston Harbor, early in the evening
of July 2nd, till the 9th, when several Gannets and a few Her¬
ring Gulls were encountered perhaps two hundred miles from the
coast of Ireland. On the way back the Gannets, or at any rate
one or two of them, were seen off the Irish coast as far as four
hundred miles or more, while even Herring Gulls and Great
Black-backs were seen well out of sight of land. On approach¬
ing, the coast of Newfoundland we encountered five Kittiwakes,
one Great Skua and two Long-tailed Jaegers on August 27th, when
our position at noon was in latitude 53° 35' and longitude 39°
30', or about five hundred miles from land. Then on the follow¬
ing day when we were perhaps a hundred miles from land, I began
to see alcidae in small numbers. Those that were identified were
all Razor-billed Auks, about twenty of them.

But the birds of the ocean for those who cross it between
this country and England are the Storm Petrels, Shearwaters
and Fulmars. These restless wanderers flapping and gliding
continually over the surface, just clearing the waves, seem like
the very spirits of the “vasty deep,” almost a part of the sea it¬
self. It is hard to imagine them ashore, and it was only by an
effort of the mind that I could connect the sea-going petrels with
those gentle bits of sooty down that I had drawn out of their
burrows on islands off the coast of Maine.

The Storm Petrels are hard to identify from the deck of an
ocean liner. Even when your bird is near the ship and almost
directly below you, it is a long way off, and they do not often
come so near.

The possibilities in our North Atlantic waters are three
species— Wilson’s Petrel, Leach’s Petrel and the British Storm
(or Stormy) Petrel. I suspect that I saw all three, but the only

Essex County Ornithological Club

41

species of which I felt reasonably sure was Leach’s, though Wil¬
son’s should have proved commoner. Some I suspected from their
size and flight to be of the British species, but size is very de¬
ceptive when one is on a big ship, because the birds, on account
of the height of the deck, are invariably much farther away than
they appear to be. This illusion in respect to the size of birds
seen near the ship and below, I found to be very persistent in
my case. Herring Gulls so seen appeared no larger than Bona¬
parte’s Gulls, and only when they rose to the level of where I stood
did they assume their proper size. The petrels keep pretty close¬
ly to the wake of the ship— differing markedly from the shear¬
waters in this respect — crossing and recrossing the white water in
the hope, I suppose, though generally a vain one, of finding some
edible morsel either thrown overboard or cast up by the propellers.

Like the petrels the Greater Shearwaters keep company with
the ship day after day in mid-ocean but unlike them they fly for
the most part more or less in front of the ship, crossing and re¬
crossing the bows instead of the stern. They seldom approach
very near. Indeed, they keep so far away, as a rule, that it seems
impossible that they depend on the ship to help them in any way
in their quest for food. It is not easy to account for this habit
of the shearwaters of keeping company with large vessels. It
may be that the ship simply serves them as a sort of landmark—
if one may use so paradoxical a term for a moving object so far
from any land ! Perhaps the habit is a development of the herd
instinct and they get a vague feeling of companionship from the
proximity of something solid and alive in the waste of water.
Or again, perhaps the ship serves as a rallying point for the birds,
which sight it from far away and fly to it because they know — -
or Nature knows for them — that others of their kind are likely
to be there, too. This last hypothesis also falls back upon the
herd instinct, but upon the instinct in its primary form of simple
gregariousness. I do not know whether all shearwaters have this
habit. I saw less of the Sooty Shearwaters on this trip and made
no observations of them on this point, but the Manx Shearwaters,
which I encountered in considerable numbers in St. George’s
Channel between Ireland and England on July 10th, followed this
custom of their Greater cousins.

42

Bulletin of the

1930

The Fulmars were new birds to me and correspondingly in¬
teresting. I saw them only on the homeward passage, for July,

I believe, is rather is too early to find them, in any numbers,
between Boston and Queenstown, but the northerly course of the
Montreal-bound ship in August took us well into their waters.
We met them first on August 25th at 5.40 P. M. in latitude 52°
30' or thereabouts. There were a half a dozen of them and the
next day ten or a dozen were following the ship. On the follow¬
ing day the number had increased to fifty or a hundred but on
the 28th it had fallen and varied from one or two to fifteen or so.
That was the last I saw of them because that night we entered the
Straits of Belle Isle and left the ocean wanderers behind us.

The Fulmars, as I saw them, fly mostly in the wake of the
ship instead of off the bows as do the shearwaters but they fly
out and round the ship much more than Storm Petrels do. Their
flight is much like the shearwaters, with wings held stiff and
fully spread, but they appear to flap more between periods of
gliding and they often fly higher. Many of those I saw came
much nearer the ship than either the shearwaters or the Storm
Petrels and, seen near at hand, their dovelike white heads are
very pleasing. Unlike their relatives they alight and sit on the
water frequently. Sometimes, when sitting, they appear to be
dabbing at the surface but I could not satisfy myself that they
were picking up food at such times. I never saw them stoop for
food as they flew. Two of the Fulmars seen on the 27th were
in the dark phase, one darker than the other. Some writers call
the Fulmar’s a graceful flight but it did not seem so to me. It is
too stiff and mechanical.

No account of the birds seen from a ship passing through
the Gulf Stream would be quite complete without some mention
of those pseudo-birds the flying fish ! Though I had heard enough
about them to be prepared for them, they really fooled me for a.
while and 1 wondered if the small birds I saw some distance off,
taking short flights from wave to wave, could possibly be phala-
ropes behaving so differently from any phalaropes I had ever seen
before. It finally dawned on me that I was meeting my first fly¬
ing fish. I hey really do look very much like birds when seen at
a distance. I was not fortunate enough to see any near at hand.

Essex County Ornithological Club

43

A summer passage along the trade lanes of the North Atlan¬
tic seldom yields any great ornithological thrills, I suspect, but
I did get something of the kind from seeing my first Great Skua
and my first Long-tailed Jaegers as well as from seeing the Ful¬
mars — all on the return trip, — while, going over, it was fun
enough to sit up on the boat deck and look out on the intense
blue of the summer sea, with always the hope that something
interesting might happen along. And then the gulls and alcidae
and Manx Shearwaters of the Irish Coast and St. George’s Chan¬
nel kept me busy enough after we awoke at Queenstown in the
early morning of July 10th.

44

Bulletin of the

1930

THE AVIFAUNAS OF THE COUNTIES OF NORFOLK
ENGLAND, AND ESSEX, MASSACHUSETTS COMPARED

Charles W. Townsend

Nearly all the members of our Essex County Ornithological
Club are of English ancestry, and the forebears of many of us
came from the eastern counties — East Anglia — early in the sev¬
enteenth century to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The names
of many of our counties and towns are the same as those in East
Anglia : Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Boston, Lynn, Ipswich, Haver¬
hill and others. I have chosen for comparison with our Essex
the county of Norfolk in England instead of Essex, which lies
but a short distance to the south, separated from Norfolk by
Suffolk, because there has this year been published “A History
of the Birds of Norfolk’ ’ by B. B. Riviere, because its shore line
of beaches, sand dunes and salt marshes resembles that of the
northern part of our county, and also because I have visited
Norfolk and have had excellent opportunities to study its birds.

The lenglh of the coast of Norfolk is 90 miles, of our Essex

coast about 100 miles, but the area of Norfolk is about four

times as great, being 2,044 square miles while our county has an

area of only 497 square miles. The character of the shore line

is more diversified in our Esesx than in Norfolk. While the

northern part is similar to that of Norfolk, in the southern part

there are rocky shores with here and there a small sandy beach,

a number of harbors and the rocky promontory of Cape Ann.

The entire shore line of Norfolk, stretching from Great Yarmouth

to The Wash, consists of a series of sand and shingle beaches

backed by sand dunes as with us, and by numerous estuaries and

“saltings,” as salt marshes are generally called there. The sand

dunes, aided by artificial dykes, keep out the salt water, and the

accumulating fresh water is pumped out by wind and steam mills.

The coast in both counties has undergone a slow subsidence

since the last glacial period. In this coastal region in England

%

are the famous Norfolk Broads, large sheets of shallow water in
a fiat alluvial plain near or even below sea level, through which
sluggish streams meander.

Besides the Broadland there are in Norfolk about 255 square

Essex County Ornithological Club

45

miles of arid sandy soil called the Breckland. There is the Fen-
land of black peat, the whole of which, according to Riviere, “is
below the level of high tide, and is preserved from flooding only
by its intricate system of drainage.” Agriculture is highly de¬
veloped in Norfolk, and regions in the Fens and even in the poor
soils are being made less attractive to birds by clearing the land
and drainage. Extensive forestation is practiced in places, but
there are few natural woodlands and no hilly country. Fortu-
ately bird protection and the setting aside of reservations have
become very active policies in Norfolk of late years, and there
are now four reservations with at total area of 2,927 acres where
the birds are protected at all times. In our own county there are
seven reservations with at total area off 1,485 acres soon to be
increased to about 2,000 acres.

The population of Norfolk is about 505,000. There are three
cities of over 20,000, the largest, Norwich, having a population
of about 120,000. In our Essex, of one quarter the area, the
population is almost exactly the same, but most of it is confined
to towns, there being six cities of over 20,000 in population, the
largest, Lynn, having 100,000. Although both counties have
been glaciated, ours shows more striking evidence of it in num¬
erous drumlins, two reaching a height of 400 feet above the sea,
and by the presence of kames and eskers, moraines and glacial
boulders, as well as by numerous swamps and ponds. There is
also much wild and wooded land as well as land under cultivation.

The list of Norfolk birds contains 342 forms which have been
definitely admitted, while our Essex number is almost exactly
the same, namely 344. The number of nesting birds in each
county is also nearly the same, counting those that have been
known to nest in the last twenty-five years, being 122 in the
English and 120 in the American. Both total lists contain a
great many migrants, but, as in both cases these include some
that stay to breed, it is difficult to count the exact number.

In Norfolk, eight birds have been recorded that have not
been found elsewhere in England, namely: Citril-Finch, Yellow¬
breasted Bunting, Pallas’s Warbler, Capped Petrel, Siberian Pec¬
toral Sandpiper, Yellow-legged Herring Gull, Evermann’s War¬
bler and the Continental Blue Tit. In Essex, the Sheld Duck,
Pink-footed Goose and Black-headed Gull are the only species that

46

Bulletin of the

1930

have not been taken elsewhere in the United States or Canada.

Six American species have been taken in Norfolk, while five
British wanderers have been collected in Essex. The six are :
Buff -breasted, Baird’s and Pectoral Sandpipers, Dowitcher —
called in England, Red-breasted Sandpiper — Surf Scoter and
Buffle-head, while our [five are Black-headed Gull, Sheld Duck,
Pink-footed Goose, Curlew Sandpiper and Ruff.

The number of accidental species is larger in Norfolk where
81 are listed, while in Essex 69 are entered as accidental. As
both counties are seashore regions it is natural that both should
include a large number of water birds which I have grouped in
the manner generally pursued here. Norfolk has 154, Essex, 136
water birds. •

Many notes, papers and books have been published which
contain references to these two counties. Riviere says in his
preface to the Birds of Norfolk, “There is no English county the
history of the birds of which has been so continuously recorded
from early times as that of Norfolk. Begun by Sir Thomas Browne
in the seventeenth century, the record of Norfolk ornithology has
since been carried on in almost unbroken sequence by successive
generations of Norfolk naturalists.” Riviere gives in his bibli¬
ography 83 references from 1826 to 1929, but says that “the
ornithological literature of Norfolk up to 1918 has been dealt
with fully in the Geographical Bibliography of British Ornitho¬
logy by Messrs. W. H. Mullens, H. K. Swann and F. C. R. Jour-
dain (1919-1920)” and speaks of its “considerable bulk.” I
have not yet been able to consult this work and do not doubt that
the whole bibliography exceeds in volume and in perfect sequence
that of our Essex County. In my “Birds of Essex County, Mas¬
sachusetts,” published in 1905, and in the “Supplement,” 1920,
I collected 219 references. Since this latter date there have been
many references published to the avifauna of Essex County be¬
sides ten numbers of our Bulletin. In the seventeenth century
there are eight references to the birds of this county, the first by
Captain John Smith, who, in coasting Cape Ann in 1616, records
the birds he saw. Higginson in 1630, Wood in 1634 and Josselyn
in 1672 and again in 1675 have all a good deal to say about the
birds, listing them and giving quaint accounts of their appear¬
ance and habits.

Essex County Ornithological Club

47

THE POST-BREEDING NORTHERN MIGRATION
OF NORTH AMERICAN HERONS
Charles W. Townsend

In the Northern Hemisphere all except strictly resident birds
migrate north to their breeding grounds in the spring and return
south in the autumn. This is a familiar fact. In the case of
some of the herons in North America, besides this regular migra¬
tion, there is also a supplementary migration north after the
breeding season with a return flight to the south. The supple¬
mentary or reverse migration, if so it may be called, is made up
almost entirely of young birds of the year, although a few adults
occasionally take part in it, and a few adults also wander north
before the breeding season.

This reverse migration is easily detected in herons that nor¬
mally breed not farther north than the Carolinas, such as the
Egret, the Snowy Egret and the Little Blue Heron,1 when these
birds are seen in summer in New Jersey, New York and the New
England States, but in the case of herons that breed farther
north, such as the Black-crowned Night Heron, which nests as
far north as Quebec and Manitoba, the reverse migration can be
detected only by banding.

The data on 144 recoveries of Black-crowned Night Herons2
banded in eastern Massachusetts show that of the 61 recoveries
in August and September following the banding of the nestlings,
48, or nearly 79 per cent were recovered north of their nesting
place, while only 13, or about 21 per cent were recovered south
of it. The most distant point was reached, on August 26, in
the Province of Quebec, over 500 miles almost due north of the
point where the bird was hatched. The contrast between these
data and those of juvenal Common Terns hatched in the same local¬
ity, is very striking. Here the returns show the regulation post¬
breeding southward migration with but slight northward dispersal.

With the greater protection given of late years to all breed¬
ing herons in the United States and Canada, especially to breed¬
ing colonies, and with the stopping of the sale of their plumes,

1 A note in the Auk for October, 1930, pp. 555, 556, by C. J. Pennock records the nesting
of 100 pairs of Little Blue Herons in lower Deleware in 1930.

2 John B. May, “Recoveries of Black-crowned Night Herons banded in Massachusetts,”
Bulletin of N. E. Bird-banding Asso., V, pp. 7-16.

48

Bulletin of the

1930

herons have increased to such an extent that the regular post¬
breeding migration to the north of southern bred herons is well
recognized, and their occurrence in the north is now looked on,
not as accidental, as formerly, but as the result of a regular sum¬
mer migration. The splendid white American Egret is a con¬
spicuous object in northern meadows and marshes bordering
glacial drumlins and eskers, while the Little Blue Heron in its
white plumage is easily recognized as a Little Blue Heron and
also as a juvenile bird, for it is snowy white only at this age.

Between 1920 and 1928 the numbers of Little Blue Herons
seen each summer in Essex County, Massachusetts, have varied
from two to a dozen. In 1929 there was a notable invasion and
as many as 53 of these white birds were seen at one time at West
Newbury in August, while some 300 Little Blue Herons, in all,
were reported to our State Ornithologist as having been seen in
Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Nearly all of these
were noted between the twentieth of July and the end of August,
all in juvenal plumage. There is an early date of June 23 and a
late date of October 20, both adult birds in the blue plumage.
In the summer of 1930 there occurred also a very large northern
migration of white herons, some of them flying as far to the
northwest as Wisconsin.

In the regions of the Potomac and Susquehanna Rivers, trib¬
utaries to Chesapeake Bay, and at Cape May, New Jersey, Little
* Blue Herons are often common, sometimes abundant, in July
and August. On August 31, 1929, there were found to be 25
Egrets, 400 Little Blue Herons in the white plumage, and 124 in
the adult blue plumage at Cape May.3

The Snowy Egret and the Yellow-crowned Night Heron
rarely, and the Louisiana and the Great Blue Herons extremely
rarely indulge in this unseasonable northern migration, while, as
far as I can discover, the two Bitterns, the Great White and the
Green Herons and the Reddish Egret are not known to act in this
way at all. Banding these birds on a large scale might, however,
show that this reverse migration does sometimes occur.

One must distinguish this apparently voluntary migration
from that caused involuntarily by gales, as in the case of a pair

3 Witner Stone, “A White Heron roost at Cape May, N. J.” The Auk, 1929, vol. 46,

Essex County Ornithological Club

49

of Yellow-crowned Night Herons that were blown north to Ips¬
wich, Massachusetts,4 in a late March and early April storm of
great violence in 1928, a storm that also wafted northward such
SDuthern birds as Little Blue Herons, Glossy Ibises and Turkey
Vultures.

One naturally asks whether the reverse migration is ever
seen in other birds than herons. Carolina Wrens, Cardinals and
Mockingbirds occasionally wander north after the breeding sea¬
son. In 1908 there was a large invasion of Carolina Wrens5 into
New England, due possibly to a very favorable breeding season.
But the post-breeding migrations of the three species just named
differ from those of the herons in that while these three stay on
through the winter if they are able to survive, the herons return
south the same summer. Their post-breeding northward migra¬
tion seems to be unique. In the case of the Greenland Wheatear
which sometimes breeds in Labrador, the bird must needs begin
its migration by flying north to Greenland before flying south to
Europe and Africa.

The cause and origin of this post-breeding northern migra¬
tion is a matter for speculation. The usual causes given for the
spring and autumn migrations fail us entirely. In fact they
directly oppose the migration we are considering. A cooling
climate in the north and waning light there after mid-summer
support theories for southern migation and oppose a post-breed¬
ing northern migation. There is no sexual urge, no urge to
claim territory for breeiing in this post-breeding time, and there
is no guidance of young by adults on their northerly mid-summer
migration. Waning food supply in the north is generally ac¬
cepted as one explanation for the regular southern migration
which often begins in mid-summer, but this would be unfavor¬
able for a northern migration in the same season. The fact that
nearly 79 per cent of the recoveries during the summer of juve-
nal Black-crowned Night Herons occurred to the north and only
21 per cent to the south of the breeding grounds suggests that
there may be something more than an explosive dispersal in all
directions from breeding grounds in search of food, although, of

4 Charles W. Townsend, “Breeding of the Yellow-crowned Night Heron at Ipswich,
Massachusetts,” Bulletin Essex County Ornithological Club, 1929, pp. 27-30.

5 Charles W. Townsend, “A Carolina Wren Invasion of New England,” The Auk, 1909,
vol. 26, pp. 263-269.

50

Bulletin of the

1930

course, migration to the east on account of the Atlantic ocean is
excluded. As the greatest bulk of our Heron population is in
the south, is it not possible that these birds find more food in
the north and northwest than in the south? But if the greater
northward migration of late years is due to the increased num¬
bers caused by protection, why is it that the early ornithologists
did not observe this migration? In their day the southern heron¬
ries had not been depleted by plume-hunters. The only answer
to this would be that in those times predatory birds and mam¬
mals kept the balance so that there was no need to disperse to
the north. This urge to dispersal in search of food may perhaps
be intensified in seasons of drought in the South, as has occurred
in the summer of 1929 and of 1930. It would seem as if the
urge was felt chiefly or only by the young, or that the adults,
wishing to remain, drove the young far afield.

This paper in a slightly different form was read before the International Ornithological
Congress at Amsterdam on June 4, 1930, and before the American Ornithologists’ Union at
Salem, Mass., on October 22, 1930.

Essex County Ornithological Club

51

“HAWKS IS HAWKS,” BUT SOME ARE MOUSE TRAPS

John B. May

Director, Division of Ornithology,

Massachusetts Department of Agriculture.

“Pigs is Pigs” was the title of a very amusing story of the
railroad officials who declared that guinea pigs came under the
same tariff as pork on the hoof. Similar ignorance is shown by
those who declare their belief that “Eels is snakes and I know it,
or “Hawks is hawks and I’m again ’em.” The time has come
when there is very little excuse for the antagonism shown by the
average man against hawks and owls as a group, for the majority
of the members of this group are decidedly beneficial birds and
they pay many times over for their occasional depredation, by
their destruction of injurious rodents or other pests.

Take for example, the Red-shouldered Hawk, fast becoming
a rare bird in much of New England, so that it is a red letter day
for the nature lover when he hears the wild call of this bird and
watches its graceful soaring flight high overhead against the
background of blue sky and fleecy yvhite clouds. “Hen Hawk”
it is still called, but with how little justification the examination
of the crops and stomachs of these birds will show very clearly.
As long ago as 1890 Dr. B. H. Warren, of Pennsylvania, exam¬
ined some 57 stomachs and found the remains of only two small
birds, while 43 mice were identified. In 1893 Dr. A. K. Fisher
reported on 220 stomachs : fifteen contained remains of poultry
or small birds, and 142 remains of mammals. E. A. Smythe in
1912 reported that birds from Virginia had “frogs and salaman¬
ders, and insect remains — principally grasshoppers — in their stom¬
achs.” G. M. Sutton in 1929 reported “no remains of songbird
or game” in 30 stomachs which he examined in Pennsylvania,
and L. A. Luttringer, Jr., in 1930, reported on others from the
same state, which revealed traces of one fowl and of 22 rodents.
Dr. DeWitt Miller examined 32 stomachs, mostly from near New
York, and found remains of one game bird, two Screech Owls
and 16 mammals. Similar data are available from Ontario, Flor¬
ida, California, and elsewhere, regarding the food of the Red-
shoulder and its various geographic races, and they agree in

52

Bulletin of the

1930

placing the damage done to poultry, game birds and song birds
as extremely small in comparison to the advantage resulting from
the presence of this efficient destroyer of rodent pests. And the
scientists’ examinations of stomach contents check admirably
with the field observations of many competent bird watchers and
with the results of visits to nesting places while young birds are
being reared.

A very similar story is told by the study of the Red-tailed
Hawk, although this larger bird is a little more prone to visit
chicken yards. Dr. Warren examined 173 stomachs: 142 held
mammals remains: 32, remain of birds or poultry. Dr. Fisher
examined 562 stomachs: 409 contained mammals; 105 poultry or
birds. Sutton reported on 67 stomachs: twc contained birds, the
others mice, snakes, insects, etc. Luttringer found 31 rodents
and two birds; DeWitt Miller 40 mammals and 7 birds; B. H.
Bailey found 35 mammals and 10 birds or poultry in hawks from
Iowa ; P. L. Errington found rodents in 124 stomachs and birds
or poultry in 17 from Wisconsin. The Biological Survey reported
that stomachs from the state of Washington showed the food of
the Red-tail to be 83% ground squirrels, 6% rabbits and 4%
meadow mice, the balance, about 7% being snakes. And so the
story goes, when the scientific investigator turns his attention to
the matter.

Public opinion changes very slowly and the prejudice of ages
is hard to counteract. In Massachusetts protection has been given
by law for a number of years to the Osprey, Sparrow Hawk,
Broad-winged Hawk and to “small owls” and in 1930 the beau¬
tiful Snowy Owl was at last recognized as worthy of protection.
We believe that the Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks and
the Barred Owl should be added to the protected list, because of
their generally highly beneficial feeding habits, and we also
believe that the rare Duck Hawk should be included in this pro¬
tected list. From the prosaic view point of the economic orni¬
thologist, we admit that nothing can be said in favor of this last
bird when considering its food habits alone, but we believe that
other points are worthy of consideration. In the last analysis,
sentiment may be more important than mere money.

The Duck Hawk is so rare that its feedng habits have no

Essex County Ornithological Club

53

importance in Massachusetts, even in migration. Its breeding
sites are high cliffs which are used year after year and it is a
very safe estimate that there are less than fifteen pairs of Duck
Hawks breeding today in the three southern New England states.
If these three wealthy states cannot support a population of fif¬
teen pairs of Duck Hawks, it is too bad, but I believe that they
can and should support them, for the esthetic value of these
beautiful birds, the inspiration of their swift and graceful flight,
the thrill that comes as we watch them in their courageous on¬
slaught upon swiftly flying birds, often the Hawk’s equal in
size, and the sound of their wild cries as they dart about the
towering cliffs which protect their aeries. They are true sports¬
men in their hunting, pursuing and capturing their prey in
straight flight and so very seldom molesting poultry or other
ground-feeding birds. They are undoubtedly destructive to do¬
mestic pigeons, water fowl and many beneficial small birds but
this is partly compensated for by their destruction of multitudes
of starlings when, as often happens of late years, a Duck Hawk
visits a city like Boston for the winter, raiding the starling
flocks several times a day during its visit.

I have visited several nesting cliffs of the Duck Hawk in the
Connecticut Valley in Massachusetts, Vermont and New Hamp¬
shire, and while the nest ledge was freely littered with feathers
of birds, the woods and fields below the cliffs were far from de¬
vastated, and small birds were always present in fair numbers.
And when one visits the great salt marshes and the beaches of Essex
County during the water fowl migration or estimates the number
of wintering ducks in our coastal waters, one cannot believe that
the occasional Duck Hawk which accompanies the migration can
have ever made any serious inroads upon the numbers of our
native birds.

As Dr. Phillips and Mr. Lincoln say in their recent book,
“American Waterfowl,” “the Peregrine is such a magnificent
bird, and possesses such perfect mastery of the air, that the spec¬
tacle of one in pursuit of a swift-flying Teal or other duck should
call forth the highest admiration of the observer, rather than a
feeling of resentment coupled with a desire to kill the bird which
is striving to do only that which the hunter himself has planned. ’ ’

54

Bulletin op the

1930

Even though these birds, the Red-tailed, Red-shouldered and
Duck Hawk and the Barred Owl, may not be given the legal pro¬
tection which we feel they should receive, let us individually and
collectively resolve to spare them at all times ourselves and to
spread the knowledge of their true value far and wide whenever
it is possible to do so. It is high time that the sportsman, the
naturalist and the nature lover united their forces to save these
interesting birds, fast diminishing before the ceaseless persecu¬
tion and unreasoning prejudice of our rapidly growing population.

i

Essex County Ornithological Club

55

PURSUIT AND CAPTURE BY BIRDS OF PREY
Charles W . Townsend

Man shares with many of the lower animals a zest for the
hunting and killing of game. This instinct, inherited from our
long line of savage ancestors, almost always'present in childhood
and youth, is retained by many throughout life. There are some,
and fortunately an increasing number at the present time, whose
love of nature and its creatures is so great that this primitive
instinct is entirely suppressed and far more satisfaction is ob¬
tained by them from watching wild ducks, for example, than
from killing them. Shaler says, perhaps rather severely, in his
autobiography: “When men retain the ancient cruel sport which
leads them to slay with pleasure, the reasonable conclusion seems
to be that they have failed to grow to the stature of civilized
man.”

Those birds, however, whose very existence depends on the
pursuit and capture of other birds and mammals and whose long
evolution has made them past-masters in this vocation, cannot
be expected to change their point of view and are not to be con¬
demned on this account. If they are found killing poultry they
are generally shot by the injured farmer, but if they kill other
birds, even the sacred game birds, it is well to remember that
they are most successful in destroying the weaker ones and thus
improving the race. Epidemics among birds, especially game
birds, are thus nipped in the bud by hawks, who destroy the sick
ones and prevent the spreading of the disease. It Is, of course,
well known to ornithologists that nearly all birds of prey, be¬
sides being of value in this way, are friends of agriculturists by
their destruction of rodent pests and that many raptorial birds
confine themselves to rodents and almost never kill other birds.

The aesthetic value of birds of prey need not be mentioned
to the bird watcher, for he seldom has so great a thrill as when
he catches sight of a soaring hawk or eagle, a thrill intensified
by the pleasant intellectual stimulus needed to identify the species.
I shall always remember the picture drawn by the iate Edward
S. Morse of the reaction of two Japanese cabinet makers, on a
walking trip in their native country, on observing a splendid

56

Bulletin of the

1930

hawk on a bare tree. Immediately they pulled out their drawing
pads and began" sketching the bird, instead of trying to shoot it
as would have been the instinct in western barbarians.

But the greatest and most exciting thrill is experienced by
a bird watcher on the rare occasions when he is present while
the bird of prey makes his kill, a thrill that is a mixture of pity
for the victim and admiration for the skill of the hunter. I
have had a number of such experiences and it seems worth while
to detail some of them here.

The Marsh Hawk is a familiar sight in Essex County as it
gracefully swings low over the hills, carefully quartering the
ground in its search for mice upon which it pounces with great
speed. Sometimes it accomplishes this quick descent by tipping
on one side and spilling the wind from its wings and sometimes
by raising both wings at a sharp angle. Although small rodents
are the chief of its quest, there is no doubt that it occasionally
takes a bird and in some regions, and with some individuals, birds
seem to be preferred. It is evident that Marsh Hawks, quarter¬
ing over salt marshes or wet, reedy bogs, are more likely to find
birds than mice. In the summer of 1917, on many occasions, I
saw a Marsh Hawk circle above my “ forest’ ’ at Ipswich and dive
down into it amid a great outcry of Grackles, Robins and Red¬
winged Blackbirds and I have found Grackle and Robin feathers
pointing to a massacre but was never present at the death.

The Accipiters — Sharp-shinned and Cooper’s Hawks — are
noted for their silent and skulking flight, not far from the ground,
through thickets and along hedge rows, alternately flapping their
short wings and gliding silently with long tails partly spread.
Their victims are generally seized or “trussed” on the ground,
although they are also taken on the wing soon after flushing, and
I have found the hawk eating its victim on the ground or carry¬
ing it off. I was watching some juncos and sparrows in a thicket
when a Sharp-shinned Hawk flashed in, seizing a sparrow on the
ground, picked at it several times making the feathers fly and
then flew off holding his victim in his talons behind, under the
tail. On another occasion a female Sharp-shinned Hawk flew
heavily across the road in front of me with a loudly squealing
burden held in its talons. This it dropped, as it flew through

Essex County Ornithological Club

57

willows, and a much dishevelled Starling feebly flopped up into
the branches. I had not been quick enough to see the hawk strike
and seize the Starling on the ground.

The Cooper’s Hawk, like the Sharp-shin, is bold in the pres¬
ence of man. I have known one, in pursuit of a chicken, to fly
into a barn where it was killed with a whip by a farmer. An¬
other had trussed and nearly eaten a Robin on the ground near
my house and did not fly until I had approached within ten feet.

Buteos — Red -tailed, Red - shouldered and Broad - winged
Hawks, as well as the closely related Rough-legged Hawk— are
all expert rodent hunters, very rarely taking birds. It is a trav¬
esty, sad and fatal to the hawks, to call them Chicken Hawks.
Soaring at a considerable height over fields, with head turned
this way, then that, in keen scrutiny of the ground far below,
the hawk may suddenly set its wings half closed and drop its legs
downward and descend with great speed on its prey. Often
enough, it may check its descent before it has reached the ground
and rise and soaring, stretch its legs again under the tail. My
notes contain the fullest accounts of this action in the Rough¬
legged Hawk. This large and splendid hawk, both in summer on
its breeding ground in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as in
winter in this region, is frequently to be seen taking advantage
of up-currents of air on the edge of a cliff and poising motion¬
less like a kite, gravitation functioning as a kite string. When
the wind is irregular the bird swings about just as a kite acts
under similar circumstances. If the wind lets up for a moment
it is obliged to maintain its position by flapping its wings and it
often hovers in this way over a flat field that is devoid of up-
currents. Sometimes it skims close to the ground like a Marsh
Hawk but usually at a height of from twenty to forty yards,
although I have often seen it turning the head and apparently
scanning the ground closely from a height as great as seventy or a
hundred yards. Suddenly the great bird partly closes its wings,
lowers its feathered tarsi and drops like a plummet on its victim,
often unsuccessfully and only to open its wings and glide upward
before it has reached the ground. On one occasion, after hover¬
ing a moment, from a height of about thirty yards one dropped
to the ground immediately to spring into the air with a meadow

58

Bulletin of the

1930

mouse in its talons. On another occasion a bird poised motion¬
less above and over the edge of a cliff, suddenly descended with
great speed into the bushes half way down the cliff to emerge
with a cotton-tail rabbit in its talons. Both of these events oc¬
curred at Ipswich.

The victms of our noble national bird, the Bald Eagle, have
been in my experience almost always dead and ancient fish. I
have seen them at the feast and have discovered their tracks
about partially consumed fish on beaches. I have also seen the
classical flight of the Eagle in its successful efforts to steal a re¬
cently caught fish from its rightful owner, the Osprey. Thus on
one occasion an Osprey, after securing its prey, whistling loudly
and repeatedly, was chased by a Bald Eagle in a straightaway
direction. The Osprey, on the point of being overtaken, turned
suddenly, twisted and dodged successfully and again with a con¬
siderable start made off again only to be pursued by the Eagle.
These tactics were repeated several times until the harassed Os¬
prey gave up in despair and dropped its fish with a splash in the
water. The Eagle descended with outstretched wings and feet
but did not touch the water. The fish must have either sunk or
swam away. In many cases, if the pursuit is at a sufficient alti¬
tude, the Esgle is able to catch the fish in the air. Although
under these circumstances the Osprey appears to fear the Bald
Eagle and yields to it, I have seen the former dart down and
vent its anger on an Eagle when the latter was sitting, peacefully
and at a disadvantage, on a sand bar. The attack was made
twice, whereupon the Eagle rose and flew quietly away.

The Duck Hawk, our Peregrine Falcon, is spectacular in the
capture of its prey and like a good sportsman it prefers to kill
its victim on the wing, sometimes clutching it with its talons,
sometimes striking it down. It has been said that in the latter
case the falcon strikes with clenched fist but one must have keen
eyesight to decide this point, as the whole thing is over in the
twinkling of an eye. The former method was illustrated in my
presence at the Paul J. Rainey Wild Life Sanctuary in Louisiana.
Here, an unfortunate Lesser Scaup came to its end by one who re¬
garded not the sacred laws of the Sanctuary, but only the ancient
laws of the chase. I was standing on the bank of a canal when

Essex County Ornithological Club

59

two of these ducks passed me with great speed, flying along the
canal about thirty feet above its surface. A female Duck Hawk
followed in swift pursuit, overtook the laggard within forty
yards of me, struck and seized it in its talons. With my glasses,
happily brought quickly into action, I could see every detail.
The flight of the hawk continued and the duck, after a very brief
struggle, hung limp and lifeless. Turning gradually in its course
the falcon flew with its burden three or four hundred yards over
the marsh and dropped among the grasses out of sight. Three
Marsh Hawks, that previously had been quartering the ground,
flew over the spot where the falcon had alighted, chasing each
other about like curious and playful boys, and darting down from
time to time towards the feasting falcon. Soon a male Duck
Hawk, easily distinguished by his size, smaller than the female,
appeared on the scene and was set upon by the mischievous Marsh
Hawks, who darted down at him from above but his attention
was called off by three ducks and he disappeared after them.
The Marsh Hawks returned to quartering and the lady Duck
Hawk was left to feast in peace.

Another experience of mine, this time close to my house,
illustrates the second method of capture. I was watching a flock
of Pectoral Sandpipers in the marsh when a Duck Hawk suddenly
appeared and dashed into the startled flock which had jumped
and were flying in all directions. The hawk turned, flew back
and picked up a bird that it had struck down, and, without
alighting, carried it off in its talons. The act of striking was
executed with such speed that, although it took place within
thirty yards of me, I failed to see it and did not realize what
had happened until the falcon checked its impetuous career by
banking and returned and picked up its victim.

The Pigeon Hawk is very fond of birds but sometimes is
satisfied with inferior game. I have watched one fly in irregu¬
lar circles within six feet of the ground, somewhat in the man¬
ner of a Marsh Hawk, and occasionally drop and alight for a
moment. It appeared to be in pursuit of grasshoppers or crick¬
ets and it stayed on the ground only long enough to consume
such trifles and there was nothing to be seen in its talons as it
flew off.

60

Bulletin of the

1930

On another occasion, with Mr. Stubbs and Mr. Emilio, I was
watching, at Plum Island, a flock of twenty-one Semipalmated
Sandpipers and a few Sanderlings, when they suddenly rose and
flew off from the beach, close to the water, pursued by a falcon.
Suddenly the falcon shot up for about ten feet into the air, bank¬
ing with its wings and tail widely spread, then darted down
with a splash into the water, submerging its outstretched legs,
its belly and part of one wing. Rising with a sandpiper in its
talons, it flew to an old stump washed up on the shore where it
proceeded to tear out the breast and wing feathers of its victim.
This is what we saw but it is evident that it had struck down
the sandpiper in flight so quickly that our eyes failed to follow,
and had immediately turned to pick it up. The victim was a
Semipalmated Sandpiper and the falcon a Pigeon Hawk.

Our little Sparrow Hawk is the death of countless grass¬
hoppers and mice, but very rarely indeed of small birds. It may
often be seen hovering over a field at a height of a few feet to
one of fifty feet or more, head to the wind, sometimes poising
like a boy’s kite if the wind is strong and there is an up-current.
From this height it searches the field with its keen eyes and
drops like a plummet on its prey. This it may quickly devour
on the spot or may carry it off in its talons to be eaten at its
leisure in some more convenient place. I have seen a Sparrow
Hawk bring its feet forward while in flight after a successful
pounce on a grasshopper and transfer its booty to its bill. On
another occasion I startled one of these little falcons and it flew
off close to the ground, carrying behind in its talons a large
meadow mouse. This was evidently a heavy burden and the fal¬
con alighted every fifty yards or so and a last deposited the
mouse in the low crotch of an apple tree and made off. It is
unnecessary to add that there are many slips between the cup
and the lip, and many of the drops of the Sparrow Hawk end in
disappointment and in graceful curves upwards before the ground
is reached.

Nearly all are familiar with the hovering of the Osprey or
Fish Hawk high in the air over a body of water, its spectacular
drop with a splash and its emergence with a fish in its talons. As
the Osprey flys away the fish is always carried below in the birds’

Essex County Ornithological Club

61

talons in the most favorable position, that is, with the head
pointed forwards. I had often wondered how this came about,
for when the Osprey plunges into the water why should not the
fish in attempting to escape, sometimes be caught tail first? Now
this very thing once happened under my eyes and the fish's tail,
coming first, awkwardly curved about, would have impeded pro¬
gress through the air if it had continued in this position. But
even as the Osprey was rising it seemed to be adjusting the fish,
as was indeed the case, for as it flew away the fish was held as
stiff and straight as a weather-vane and the head was foremost.

It is well known that Ospreys sometimes tackle too large a
fish and are drawn under water if they are unable to disentangle
themselves. On one occasion I saw an Osprey sitting on the
shore of a tidal pond. I was able to approach within a short
stone's throw of the bird before he arose, and then I saw that his
progress was impeded by a huge eel he carried in his talons.
The eel was so heavy that he was unable to lift it into the air
and its tail dragged on the stones and in the water. Finally
the Osprey dropped the fish in despair and flew away.

At Sagamore Pond near my house at Ipswich there are many
bright red goldfish of considerable size. I have often watched
Ospreys plunging into the pond ”and emerging with these bril¬
liantly colored fish in their talons — a spectacular sight.

62

Bulletin of the

1930

ANNOTATED LIST OF BIRDS OBSERVED BY THE ESSEX

COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB DURING 1930

Arthur P. Stubbs, Recorder

Field work by the Club membership during Nineteen-thirty
has been well up to the mark of past years if not a bit in advance.
The section of the County lying south of the Merrimac River has
been fairly well covered. Several species of birds have been re¬
corded for the first time in Essex County and others have been
found at new stations.

The spring migration departed, at times, sufficiently far
from the normal schedule to give us numerous new extreme dates
of occurrence for the County and the numbers of species and of
individuals have been well up to average. The heat of late sum¬
mer and the dryness of early fall appeared to hasten the post¬
breeding migration of small land birds and the mild weather of
fall possibly slowed the movement of northern ducks to and
through Essex County.

Weather conditions have been favorable, as a whole, for both
breeding and migrant species, although mild weather to the
northward seems to have prevented several cold weather species
from coming south to our region.

The following summary of weather conditions, compiled from
weather reports in the local press is presented for comparison.

Nineteen-thirty may be considered a dry year, precipitation,
up to May first, was four inches below normal, May was about
normal in rain fall, June considerably below normal, July, mainly
because of thunder showers, was normal, August slightly below
the mark, while September was said to have been the dryest for
fifteen years. October was above normal in precipitation and
November about normal. December was below normal but with
much cloudy weather.

The temperature of January was above normal with light
snowfall and considerable rain. Skies were cloudy for half the
month. There were summer days and Arctic cold during February,
snow on ten days, rain on six. Highest temperature, 62 degrees;
lowest 6 degrees below zero, with early April temperatures pre¬
vailing the entire time from the 19th to 26th. March temperature

Essex County Ornithological Club

63

was normal while that of April was slightly below. During the
early part of May the thermometer once registered 90 degrees
and there were several pronounced heat waves which brought tre¬
mendous flights of birds, but the month closed with the mercury
at the frost line. This was followed by the warmest June in his¬
tory. During July, heat waves and showers marked the high¬
lights and August was hotter than normal while September was
several degrees above normal and very dry. October was below
normal in temperature with a heavy rainfall. November began
below normal but warmed toward the middle of the month with
a decided touch of winter at the end. The average temperature
of December was above normal but there was much cloudy
weather and on December 23, a damp snow, which clung to the
trees and later froze, produced a remarkably beautiful white
Christmas. It snowed again on*the 27th and the landscape was
white for the rest of the year.

Snowfall for the year was as follows : January 9 inches, Feb¬
ruary llg inches, March and April only traces, October traces,
November a little over an inch and December 9 inches.

Average daily temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit : January
26.37, February 28.48, March 32.32, April 38.62, May 53.69,
June 65.88, July 65.81, August 64.36, September 61.08, October
45.76, November 37.24, December 27.20.

Surplus heat for the year was nearly 1,000 degrees, and the •
deficiency in precipitation nearly five inches.

A.O.U.

No.

2. HolboelTs Grebe. May 7; October 22. Very common dur¬

ing the first period but comparatively rare during the
later.

3. Horned Grebe. April 26 ; July 20, October 24. Rather

uncommon during the first period but common during
the later. This and the preceding species seem to have
resumed their comparative status of a few years ago
since their return from their breeding grounds. Re¬
garding the July date see page 81.

6. Pied-billed Grebe. March 25 to November 30. Although
no nests of this species were found, the presence of

64

Bulletin of the

1930

young birds at Danvers on July 2, and several general
statements from wardens and others as to having seen
young birds at about the same date within the County,
seem strong evidence that this species bred here in some
numbers this year. Very common during late summer
and early fall.

7. Loon. May 21 ; August 18. Present in large numbers off
Plum Island, September 11.

11. Red-throated Loon. May 13; November 2. Uncommon
species during both periods.

13. Puffiin. Only one record, December 7. Identified by Griscom.

#

27. Black Guillemot. January 16 and February 9 ; December 21.
Unusually few reported for the year.

31. Briinnich’s Murre. January 13 and 27. Two records; iden¬
tified by Townsend.

34. Dovekie. February 22 ; October 25, December 10. Uncom¬
mon both periods. On the very early fall date E. E.
Goodale picked up a live bird on Ipswich Beach, during
a severe storm and reported the matter to Dr. C. W.
Townsend.

37. Parasitic Jaeger. September 5. Townsend. More birds
are usually reported.

40. Kittiwake. January 19 ; November 11. Not uncommon off
shore.

42. Glaucous Gull. April 23 ; December 7. Uncommon species.

43. Iceland Gull. May 2 ; November 14. Uncommon species.

47. Great Black-backed Gull. May 7 ; August 28. Present in
average numbers.

51. Herring Gull. Present in varying numbers. Breeds on a
few small islands south of Cape Ann.

54. Ring-billed Gull. March 28 to May 21 ; July 16 to Novem¬
ber 11. Only during the last two years have we obtained
spring dates of this bird.

European Black-headed Gull. January 26 and 27. Collec¬
ted on latter date. Primal record. Emilio and Griscom.
An account was published in the 1929 Bulletin.

58. Laughing Gull. May 2 to September 14. Variably com¬
mon summer visitant, not continually present.

Essex County Ornithological Club

65

60. Bonaparte’s Gull. Observed each month of the year, ex¬
cepting April, July and October. Variably common
species.

64. Caspian Tern. September 5, Townsend ; September 14, Gris-
com and Walcott. Very rare species.

70. Common Tern. May 13 to September 30. November 11.

Very common visitor ; uncommon breeder. On the No¬
vember date Emilio and Griscom found an injured bird
at Newburyport.

71. Arctic Tern. August 31 to September 11. Few reported

this year.

72. Roseate Tern. May 13 to June 4 ; July 2 to September 14,

Common summer visitor, not yet found breeding.

117. Gannet. April 14 to April 20 ; September 24 to November
11 ; December 5. Fairly numerous during the south¬
ward migration. The December date is of a single
bird in immature plumage, seen at Ipswich by Emilio
and C. P. Preston.

119. Cormorant. April 23; September 28, November 14. Fair¬

ly numerous during "the second period. On the April
date, Emilio and Stubbs saw forty or more birds on
South Gooseberry Island, and on September 28 they
identified an immature, at Nahant.

120. Double-crested Cormorant. July 16 to October 21. Present

in usual numbers during the fall migation.

129. American Merganser. February 15 to April 20 ; Novem¬

ber 23 to December 14. Common locally especially in
spring.

130. Red-breasted Merganser. May 30; September 11. Un¬

usually few appeared from the north in the fall.

131. Hooded Merganser. March 2 ; October 2 to November 19.

Very uncommon migrant. The very early March date
was of a drake seen by Emilio and Stubbs in Wenham
Lake.

132. Mallard. March 29 to April 20 ; September 4 to Novem¬

ber 2. Very uncommon migrant. The very early Sep¬
tember date was reported by Dr. Phillips.

66

Bulletin of the

1930

133. Red-legged Black Duck. May 13 ; September 30. Very
common winter visitor. Griscom reported the May 13

birds.

133a. Black Duck. It is very probable, but not definitely proven,
that this sub-species is with us in numbers throughout
the year and it breeds rather commonly in or near
swamps.

135. Gadwall. November 11 to December 14. A lone female
at Suntaug was identified by Griscom and seen also by
others between above dates.

137. Baldpate. April 9 to 20 ; September 14 to November 11.
Uncommon migrant.

139. Green-winged Teal. March 29 to May 7 ; September 14 to

November 11. A lone bird was seen in the Ipswich
River December 24 by Emilio and C. P. Preston. Fair¬
ly common migrant.

140. Blue-winged Teal. March 13 to May 7 ; September 3 to

30. Not so common as above. The very early spring
date was reported by Babson and the late one of May 7,
by Emilio and Griscom.

142. Shoveller. September 14 to 25. Rare migrant.

143. Pintail. March 28 to May 18; September 14 to Novem¬

ber 2. Uncommon migrant usually, but there were
about 40 in the Artichoke at one time during Septem¬
ber. Babson reported the May 18 birds.

144. Wood Duck. March 23 to November 9. More common

than for many years. Some comparatively large flocks
reported.

146. Redhead. November 2 to 23. Rare migrant,

147. Canvas-back. November 11 to 23. Rare species.

148. Scaup. April 20 ; September 24. Less common wintering

species, due to changes in Lynn Harbor.

149. Lesser Scaup. March 29 ; October 17 to November 2. Lo¬

cally common migrant. Some possibly winter.

150. Ring-neck Duck. March 28 and 29 ; November 2. Spring

dates have been extremely rare. Three drakes and a
duck were seen by Emilio and Townsend *in the Arti¬
choke River, March 28.

Essex County Ornithological Club

67

151. American Golden-eye. May 30 ; November 9. Very com¬

mon wintering species.

152. Barrow’s Golden-eye. March 16 ; December 14. Rare win¬

tering species, — two males, and perhaps a dozen females
appeared at Lynn, December 14.

153. Buffie-head. May 30; October 21. Locally common win¬

tering species. The very late date of May 30 was of a
lone female at Clark’s Pond, Ipswich, seen by Emilio,
Griscom and Lawson.

154. Old-squaw. May 30; October 24. Common wintering

species.

160. Eider. February 15 ; November 2. Rare winterng species.

Off the Salvadges at Rockport is the only winter station
we know.

163. American Scoter. May 13 ; October 8. Uncommon win¬
tering species.

165. White-winged Scoter. June 4 ; July 2 to 16, September

11. Very common during migrations, less so during
ing winter. Regarding the July birds see page 81.

166. Surf Scoter. May 30; September 11. Common during

migration, uncommon in winter.

167. Ruddy Duck. March 29; November 11, December 21, a

single bird at Milk Island, off Cape Ann, identified by
Griscom. Uncommon migrant this year.

172. Canada Goose. April 20; October 12. One bird wintered
in Lynn Harbor. Great flight on December 4.

173a. Brant. January 31, February 2, March 20 and 22 ; No¬
vember 11 to December 5. Uncommon migrant in
Essex County, occurring usually during easterly storms.
The January and February dates reported by Townsend,
• — a single bird in Castle Neck River.

190. Bittern. April 13 to October 12, December 7. Present

in average numbers ; the late date by Wilkinson, at
Rowley.

191. Least Bittern. May 31, Parker River, George E. Benson.
Rare summer resident.

Great Blue Heron. Bird killed at Lynn in January, April

194.

68

Bulletin of the

1930

9 to June 4 ; July 17 to December 18. Common migrant
and occasional in winter.

196. Egret. July 5 to September 24. Uncommon post-breed¬
ing visitor. The unusually early date was reported by
Beckford.

200. Little Blue Heron. July 17 to September 14. Fairly

large post-breeding flight. The July date was reported
by the Prestons and is a new early figure for the County.

201. Green Heron. May 2 to September 11. Present in aver¬

age numbers.

202. Black-crowned Night Heron. Several wintered, 1929-30

and some present again winter 1930-31. Common sum¬
mer resident, April 20 to October 12.

212. Virginia Rail. May 2 to August 31. Locally common.

214. Sora. May 2 to October 26. Locally common.

215. Yellow Rail. May 4, Lynnfield. Identified by Griscom.

219. Florida Gallinule. May 13 to June 26, at Beaver Brook,
Danvers, September 24 to 30, Artichoke and Indian Riv¬
ers, West Newbury. Probably nested at these localities.

221. Coot. September 24 to November 9. This year an un¬

common migrant.

222. Red Phalarope. One bird was seen at Wenham Lake on

October 22 by Peterson and other A. O. U. members and
reported to Griscom. December 1, Ipswich, a sight
record made under fairly satisfactory conditions by
Townsend.

223. Northern Phalarope. August 23, Clark’s Pond, Ipswich,

Charles P. Preston.

228. Woodcock. February 20 to November 2. About usual
numbers. The extraordinary date of February 20 was
reported by Wilkinson of a bird seen at Plum Island.

230. Wilson’s Snipe. Several wintered. March 23 to May 18;

August 31 to November 9, and again wintering. About
usual numbers.

231. Dowitcher. May 13 to 21; July 9 to October 11. Fairly

good flight.

232. Long-billed Dowitcher. September 14. Identified by Gris¬

com and Walcott.

Essex County Ornithological Club 69

233. Stilt Sandpiper. August 27, single record. Identified by

Emilio, Preston and Stubbs.

234. Knot. May 13; July 16 to November 2. Uncommon mi¬

grant. Emilio and Griscom report the spring date, and
C. H. Richardson, Jr. the July 16, at Newburyport.

235. Purple Sandpiper. May 30 ; October 21. Spring record by

Emilio and Griscom at Shag Rocks, Nahant. Fall rec¬
ord reported by Baker and others of the A. 0. U. to
Griscom.

239. Pectoral Sandpiper. July 17 to November 2. About aver¬

age flight.

240. White-rumped Sandpiper. May 13 to 23 ; August 27 to

October 26. About average flight. The May 13 birds
seen by Emilio, Griscom and Lawson.

242. Least Sandpiper. May 7 to June 4 ; July 16 to September
24. Present in normal numbers.

243a. Red-backed Sandpiper. January 27, Ipswich, Townsend.

May 13 to 21; October 8 to December 21. Present in
normal numbers.

246. Semipalmated Sandpiper. May 7 to June 4 ; July 9 to

November 2, Griscom and Walcott. Good flight.

247. Western Sandpiper. September 14, identified by Griscom

and Walcott.

248. Sanderling. May 14 to 30 ; August 23 to December 2.

Average flight.

254. Greater Yellow-legs. April 11 to June 4 ; July 17 to No¬

vember 26. Good flight.

255. Yellow-legs. July 7 to October 27. Normal flight.

256. Solitary Sandpiper. May 4 to 17; August 17 to September

17. Migrated in about usual numbers.

258. Willet. September 8, Plum Island, Wilkinson. (Also seen
on the 7th by C. E. Clarke and G. L. Perry).

261. Upland Plover. April 29 to August 31. More bred this
year in the County than in very many years.

263. Spotted Sandpiper. May 2 to October 12. Common sum¬
mer resident.

265. Hudsonian Curlew. July 8 to September 14. Fairly large
fall migration.

70

Bulletin op the

1930

270. Black-bellied Plover. May 3 to 13 ; July 17 to November
20. Good flights spring and fall.

272. Golden Plover. September 7 to November 2. More re¬

ported than usual.

273. Killdeer. March 23 to November 15. Breeding species,

becoming common.

274. Semipalmated Plover. May 14 to June 4 ; July 17 to Octo¬

ber 26. Present in usual numbers.

277. Piping Plover. April 8 to August 18. Nest with eggs
found on Plum Island May 21.

283a. Ruddy Turnstone. May 30; July 6 to September 14. Un¬
common migrant this year. The very early date of July
6 was reported by Babson from Newburyport birds.

289. Bob White. Reported from several localities at various
dates, and probably increasing in numbers.

300. Ruffed Grouse. Apparently had a good season.

Ring-necked Pheasant. Holding its own.

316. Mourning Dove. March 29 to the end of the year. Pres¬
ent in good numbers.

326. Black Vulture. May 9, Hamilton, Jenkins. Seen at close
range on the ground.

331. Marsh Hawk. Wintered about Ipswich and Cape Ann.

Seen up to December 5. Common breeding species.

332. Sharp-shinned Hawk. Resident species but not very com¬

mon.

333. Cooper’s Hawk. Resident species. A pair nested beside

Perkins’ Row on the Proctor Estate, Topsfield, and birds
were seen about the nest from May 7 until July 30.

334. Goshawk. May 7, identified by Emilio and Griscom ;

October 5.

337. Red-tailed Hawk. September 14, December 7 and 14,
Griscom.

339. Red-shouldered Hawk. Common resident, frequently seen.

343. Broad-winged Hawk. April 19 to September 30. Rather
frequently reported.

347a. Rough-legged Hawk. Wintered along shore from Salis¬
bury to Cape Ann up to April 13 ; November 11.

352. Bald Eagle. Four records for the year, January 27, May

Essex County Ornithological Club

ft

21, August 18, and a specimen taken in Saugus, Novem¬
ber 12, an immature bird, with a crop full of sea-worms
and no chicken feathers.

356a. Duck Hawk. February 8, May 14, May 30 ; September 10.

Uncommon migrant and occasional winter visitor.

357. Pigeon Hawk. April 20 to May 18; September 11 to Oc¬
tober 1. More reported than for several years.

360. Sparrow Hawk. Present and frequently seen. C. P. Pres¬
ton reports one attacking a Meadowlark, probably weak¬
ened by lack of food, in late December.

364. Osprey. April 20 to May 21 ; August 6 to September 30.
Rather common migrant.

367. Short-eared Owl. January 31 to May 7 ; October 21. Com¬
mon winter visitor. The late spring date is from New-
buryport, a bird seen by Emilio and Griscom.

373. Screech Owl. Present and occasionally seen, more fre¬
quently heard.

375. Great Horned Owl. Seen at various dates, principally at

Ipswich.

376. Snowy Owl. November 28, at Ipswich, Townsend, and

during December several others seen.

387. Yellow-billed ’Cuckoo. May 18 to October 5, Moulton.

Very few reported. The fall date is very late and a
new County record.

388. Black-billed Cuckoo. May 10 to September 27. By no

means common.

390. Belted Kingfisher. March 30 to November 9. Strangely
late in arriving in numbers in spite of the spring
weather in February.

393. Hairy Woodpecker. Present in usual numbers.

394c. Downy Woodpecker. Present in usual numbers.

402. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker. May 7; September 28 to Octo¬
ber 4. Fall migration was notable in that many were
seen on September 28 and very few thereafter.

406. Red-headed Woodpecker. July 4, a single bird seen at
Peabody by Osborne.

412a. Northern Flicker. Present in good numbers.

417. Whip-poor-will. May 2 to July 17. Heard frequently

72

Bulletin of the

1930

during early summer. A nest and eggs were found on
May 30 by George E. Benson.

420. Nighthawk. May 21 to June 4. Common for only a short
period.

423. Chimney Swift. May 2 to September 17. Up to average
in numbers.

428. Ruby-throated Hummingbird. May 17 to September 27.

Must yet be considered an uncommon species.

444. Kingbird. May 2 to September 15. Seems to have be¬
come more common in the last few years.

452. Crested Flycatcher. May 13 to August 13. Sparsely dis¬
tributed breeder.

456. Phoebe. March 23 to October 1. Present in normal num¬

bers.

457. Say’s Phoebe. October 13, a single bird collected by

Emilio on Eagle Hill Road Ipswich and now in the Pea¬
body [Museum collection. This is a first record for
Essex County, also the third for New England.

461. Wood Pewee. May 18 to August 17. Hardly up to the
usual status.

466a. Alder Flycatcher. May 30, Lynnfield and July 23, Grove-
land. The latter place is a new station for this species
to the Club observers, but the late J. A. Farley found
the bird in the immediate neighborhood thirty years ago.
467. Least Flycatcher. May 1 to July 30. Another flycatcher
that seems less frequently seen.

474. Horned Lark. April 20 ; October 8. Present in fair
numbers.

474b. Prairie Horned Lark. March 23 to November 11. Becom¬
ing more widespread in its local breeding range.

477. Blue Jay. Present in usual numbers until late fall and
early winter. It has been astonishingly common locally,
during the last two months of the year.

488. Crow. Present in usual numbers.

493. Starling. Now probably our most abundant species.

494. Bobolink. May 10 to September 14. Locally common.

495. Cowbird. About Beckford’s feeding station in Danvers

during February. March 12 to November 11. Present

Essex County Ornithological Club

73

in normal numbers. The March 12 migrants were ex¬
tremely early and recorded by Emilio and Stubbs.

498. Red-winged Blackbird. February 25, March 6 to October
29. Found again in the wild rice along the Merrimac.
This is evidently a regular post-breeding rendezvous of
this species. February 25 date by Wilkinson.

501. Meadowlark. A twelvemonth resident of the County, this
year.

507. Baltimore Oriole. May 7 to September 7. Present in good
numbers.

509. Rusty Blackbird. March 13 to May 17 ; September 28 to
November 12. Common migrant.

511b. Bronzed Grackle. February 26 to November 9, and Decem¬
ber 30. Common breeding resident, a few winter occa¬
sionally. The extremely early migrant was reported by
Wilkinson.

514. Evening Grosbeak. Were present in large numbers about

Topsfield until spring, gradually dwindling in numbers,
the last being noted on May 13. One or two birds are
said to have returned in December to the Conley’s
station.

515. Pine Grosbeak. Present during January and up to Febru¬

ary 25, in some numbers.

517. Purple Finch. Present through the year in variable num¬
bers.

522. White-winged Crossbill. Seen by Lawson in Salem Pas¬
tures on January 1.

529. Goldfinch. Present in variable numbers through the year.

533. Pine Siskin. May 4 ; November 11. Evidently this was

not a Siskin year.

534. Snow Bunting. March 23 ; October 26. Present at Ips-
, wich in good numbers.

536. Lapland Longspur. January 19 and '26, February 15 and
March 12. (April 13, Clarke and Perry). Series of
dates is given to show their presence through the colder
months.

540. Vesper Sparrow. April 6 to October 12. Locally common.

541. Ipswich Sparrow. Wintered near Bass Rocks, Gloucester,

74

Bulletin of the

1930

was seen February 2, at Ipswich ; October 24 and Decem¬
ber 5 at Ipswich. We hope this range of dates indicates
a return of numbers after a few years of scarcity.

542a. Savannah Sparrow. March 10 to October 24. Locally
common from April 11. The early date as of a single
bird seen by Emilio and Townsend.

549. Sharp-tailed Sparrow. June 4 to July 17. This species
needs more thorough field work to obtain a reasonable
set of dates.

549. la. Acadian Sharp-tailed Sparrow. June 4, Emilio. Mi¬
grant, occasionally reported.

554. White-crowned Sparrow. May 6 to 17 ; October 1 to 13.
Fairly good numbers reported for an uncommon bird.

558. White- throated Sparrow. April 6, 15 to May 23; Septem¬

ber 21 to November 2, December 21. Common migrant,
rarely breeds, frequently winters. The April 6 birds
reported by Emilio had probably wintered.

559. Tree Sparrow. April 29; October 5, Moulton. Not again

reported until November 2. Present in about average
numbers.

560. Chipping Sparrow. April 27 to October 29. This sparrow

seemed very tardy in arrival this spring but soon filled
its usual quota.

563. Field Sparrow. April 6 to November 9. Locally common.

567. Slate-colored Junco. May 4 ; September 28. Present in
average numbers.

581. Song Sparrow. Resident species, abundant in breeding
season. Uncommon in mid-winter.

583. Lincoln’s Sparrow. May 13 ; September 21. Rare migrant.

584. Swamp Sparrow. January 1. April 13 to November 2,

and again wintering. Locally common summer resid¬
ent. A few winter.

585. Fox Sparrow. January 27. March 2 to April 14 ; October

26 to November 25. Thin numbers in both migrations.
587. Towhee. May 1 to October 26, Emilio and Stubbs, on the
latter date. Present in good numbers.

595. Rose-breasted Grosbeak. May 7 to October 9, Stubbs.
Present in usual numbers.

598.

608.

611.

612.

613.

614.
616.

617.

619.

621.

624.

627.

628.
629.
636.
642.
645.
647.
648a.

Essex County Ornithological Club 75

Indigo Bunting. May 11 to June 26. Uncommon bird
this year, as usual.

Scarlet Tanager. May 11 to September 27. Present in
average numbers.

Purple Martin. May 11, 18 and 30. Rare migrant.

Cliff Swallow. May 2 to July 30. Two breeding stations
were located in Topsfield and one in Danvers.

Barn Swallow. April 19 to September 14. Common
breeding species.

Tree Swallow. April 3 to September 28. Locally common
breeding species.

Bank Swallow. May 7 to August 6. Best known breed¬
ing station was on Valley Road in Topsfield, another
smaller one in West Peabody.

Rough-winged Swallow. May 7, Ipswich and May 17,
Middleton. Very rare visitor.

Cedar Waxwing. April 20 to December 14. Variable res¬
ident species, apparently becoming rare.

Northern Shrike. April 13 ; October 31. Very numerous
during the later period.

Red-eyed Vireo. May 11 to October 2. Hardly up to nor¬
mal in numbers.

Warbling Vireo. May 7 to June 26. Decidedly below
normal in numbers.

Yellow-throated Vireo. May 10 to September 28. Status
similar to preceding species.

Blue-headed Vireo. May 2 to October 1. Not up to the
numbers of a few years ago.

Black and White Warbler. May 1 to October 2. Normal
numbers.

Golden-winged Warbler. May 4 to August 6. Normal
numbers.

Nashville Warbler. May 4 to September 28. Somewhat
common locally.

Tennessee Warbler. May 18, Ipswich River Trip. A
single record.

Northern Parula Warbler. May 2 to 30; September 14 to
Oct. 1. Rather an uncommon migrant on both migrations.

76

Bulletin of the

1930

650.

652.

654.

655.

657.

659.

660.

661.

662.

667.

671.

672.

672a.

673.

674.

675.

Cape May Warbler. May 6 and 13 ; September 20. Rare
migrant species. Morley reported the bird on May 6,
a new early date for the County.

Yellow Warbler. May 2 to August 6. Present in usual
numbers. Unusually early fall departure.

Black-throated Blue Warbler. May 7 to 30 ; September
28. Uncommon migrant.

Myrtle Warbler. Wintered to May 18; August 6 and mi¬
grants from September 3. Probably bred. About usual
numbers in migration.

Magnolia Warbler. May 7 to 30. Uncommon migrant.

Chestnut-sided Warbler. May 4 to August 31. Common
breeding species.

Bay-breasted Warbler. May 11 to 30; September 14. Rare
migrant, though more frequently observed this spring
than usual.

Blackpoll Warbler. May 7 to June 4; September 4 to Oc¬
tober 30. Common migrant. Emilio and Griscom re¬
port the new early date of May 7.

Blackburnian Warbler. May 4 to September 14. May 4
date reported by Griscom, another new early figure.
Only a very few nested here.

Black-throated Green Warbler. May 2 to October 8. Lo¬
cally common breeding species.

Pine Warbler. April 11 to October 13. Locally common
breeding species.

Palm Warbler. May 4 ; September 14 to December 21,
H. W. Kelley. Rare migrant, and very rarely winter¬
ing. The May date by Emilio is the second spring rec¬
ord for the County.

Yellow Palm Warbler. April 13 to May 17; October 13 to
November 5. Rather an uncommon warbler this year,
especially in the fall.

Prairie Warbler. May 7 to June 26. Somewhat common
locally.

Ovenbird. May 7 to Sept. 28. Common woodland species.

Water-Thrush. May 4 to 30; September 14 to 28. Un¬
common migrant.

Essex County Ornithological Club

77

678. Connecticut Warbler. September 14, Griscom and Wal¬
cott. Rare migrant.

681. Maryland Yellow-throat. May 4 to September 24. Com¬
mon breeding species.

683. Yellow-breasted Chat. October 1, in a garden near the
center of the City of Salem, Emilio. Not over four
birds have been reported in the County in ten years.

685. Wilson’s Warbler. May 13 to 30. Uncommon migrant.

686. Canada Warbler. May 11 to September 14. Uncommon

breeding species.

687. Redstart. May 7 to September 28. Common breeding

species.

697. Pipit. May 18 to 23 ; September 30 to November 2. Lo¬
cally common migrant.

703. Mockingbird. February 9, Cape Ann, Griscom. July,

Marblehead, Walcott. Rare visitor.

704. Catbird. May 4 to October 26. Common summer resident.

705. Brown Thrasher. April 29 to October 5, and November

27 et seq. Locally common breeding species. A single
bird is wintering in a small brushy swamp on the Fay
Estate, Lynn (January 17, 1931.)

718. Carolina Wren. January 1, October 12 and November 23,
Fay Estate, Lynn; September 16, Salem.

721. House Wren. May 2 to September 21. Locally common

breeding species.

722. Winter Wren. September 30, October 31, and November

29. Rare bird during recent years.

724. Short-billed Marsh Wren. May 4 to July 9. The early

date reported by Emilio. Locally common species.

725. Long-billed Marsh Wren. May 4 to September 30. Not

so common as above species. May 4 is also a new early
date for this species. Emilio.

726. Brown Creeper. Resident species, but very rarely breed¬

ing. Nested in Hamilton this year.

727. White-breasted Nuthatch. December 19. This record of

C. P. Preston is the only report for the year.

728. Red-breasted Nuthatch. May 11 ; September 4. Very un¬

common bird this year.

78

Bulletin of the

1930

735. Chickadee. Very common resident species, with little
apparent fluctuation in numbers from year to year.

748. Golden-crowned Kinglet. April 28 ; September 24. Some¬

what common winter visitor usually, but decidedly un¬
common in late fall of 1930.

749. Ruby-crowned Kinglet. April 13 to May 18 ; September

28 to October 12. Not abundant in either migration.
751. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. July and part of August, Ames-
bury, Emerson. Birds bred and brought off young.
See page 26.

755. Wood Thrush. May 7 to June 26. Uncommon summer

resident.

756. Veery. May 7 to August 27. Locally common summer

resident.

758a. Olive-backed Thrush. May 21 to June 1; September 28 to
October 1. Uncommon migrant.

759b. Hermit Thrush. January, Walcott; March 9, April 20 to
October 26. Locally common breeding species, and occa¬
sionally seen in winter.

761. Robin. An all the year bird in 1930, though of course
rare and irregular during the winter.

766. Bluebird. February 28 to November 9. Fairly common
species.

Essex County Ornithotogical Club

79

THE STOOP OF A HAWK
Ralph Lawson

I have been told recently of a most interesting observation
made by a man well fitted and well placed to judge the speed of
the stoop of a hawk, probably a Duck Hawk, the story coming
from the observer himself. I know this man well and although
his conclusion may seem very nearly impossible, I am confident
that it is very close to the actual truth.

My friend was in Texas for some months conpleting his
training as a pilot before he went overseas. He was flying a
small pursuit plane, which had a normal speed of about 125 miles
per hour and, while cruising about at a considerable altitude, he
saw a bunch of ducks flying far below and ahead of him. Think¬
ing to gain some experience in diving at a moving object, he
turned the nose of his plane down and opened the throttle of his
engine, thereby gaining speed rapidly. While he was still some
distance from the ducks he glanced at a wingtip of his plane to
see how much vibration his swoop was causing and as he did so,
a hawk shot by him “as though the plane was standing still,”
and struck one of the ducks which fell towards the ground appar¬
ently lifeless. At the time the hawk passed the plane the latter

80

Bulletin of the

1930

was travelling at a speed of nearly 175 miles per hour and my
friend thinks that the hawk was stooping two feet to his one but
of course that is only an estimate as under the conditions no
accurate computation was possible. We do know however that this
particular hawk was moving at a rate of speed much greater than
175 miles per hour and perhaps not far from double that rate,
as the observation was made by a man whose business it was to
make fairly accurate observations while travelling through the
air at high speed and who came through much active service in
France and England without any serious mishaps.

A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER IN PEABODY, MASS.

Arthur A. Osborne

On the afternoon of July 4, 1930, I saw an adult Red-headed
Woodpecker, Melanerpes erythrocephalus (L.) fly across our yard
and disappear between two houses. It was easily indentified as
the sunlight was full upon it, and I have seen this species many
times before. 1 had no opportunity to search the neighborhood
for the bird as I left for vacation the next day.

About the first of September, however, Mr. Phocion J. Ingra¬
ham, of our Club, told me that he had seen a Red-headed Wood¬
pecker in this locality during August and later his brother Harry
told me that he had seen four together and possibly a fifth, also
in August. Neither of the Ingraham brothers knew that I had
also seen one of these birds. It is impossible to state whether
the species actually bred in Peabody or not.

Inasmuch as this species has been recorded in communities
adjacent to Peabody it is very probable that it has been observed
in Peabody territory before this. I can find no published record
of its occurrence here, however, and as some of the Club mem¬
bers with whom I have talked have never seen it within the city
limits during their many years of observation, it seems advisable
to publish a record of this occurrence.

Essex County Ornithological Club

81

SALT WATER DUCKS AND A GREBE IN SUMMER

S. G. Emilio

Mr. Richard J. Eaton, an active member of the Nuttall Orni¬
thological Club writes me as follows: “Apropos scoters and
grebe at Manchester, Mass, in July, 1930, my notes indicate that
there were ten scoters, five of which were White-wings of both
sexes just off Caner’s Rocks on July 4. These birds stayed around
until July 16. I had a very close view on the first date as they
were close to the cliff while I hid behind a rock not over fifty
yards from them. Five of these birds were not White-wings, for
I checked them off as they flapped their wings and saw no white
patches. They had whitish spots in front of and just back of
their eyes. Female and immature Surf Scoters show such spots
or patches near the eyes, and I suppose these five were that
species.

“As for the Horned Grebe, it was an adult in nuptial plum¬
age and it appeared on July 20 at low tide just off the beach and
outside the breakers, diving repeatedly. I saw it only on that
one day.

“I understand that the scoters are occasionally found off
our coast in summer but Mr. Stubbs tells me that summer rec¬
ords of the Horned Grebe are quite rare. One at Nahant Beach,
July 10, 1916, (Stubbs), another at Plum Island, August 16,
1928, (Townsend, Stubbs, Emilio), and a third also at Plum
Island, September 4, 1920, (J. W. Goodridge), seem to be all the
other known occurrences between May 17 and October 1. — ”

A LARGE FLOCK OF STARLINGS
Charles W. Townsend

The first European Starling to be recorded in Essex County
was seen in 1908, and they began to be moderately common in
1916, but are now so numerous and appear in such huge flocks
that it is impossible to count them, and it is very difficult to esti¬
mate their numbers. An opportunity occurred to me, however,-

82

Bulletin of the

1930

on November 17, 1930, to make a fairly satisfactory estimate of
the number in a great flock. Looking out from my house at
eight in the morning, I saw an immense congregation of Star¬
lings streaming rapidly by at the foot of my hill, flying towards
the southwest. The flock was so compact and uniform and longer
than I could see, that I seized the opportunity to try to estimate
its numbers. By glancing at the clock, I found that the flock was
two minutes in passing. Assuming the birds were flying at the
rate of 30 miles an hour, the flock must have been a mile or 1760
yards long. Assuming that the flock, which was roughly cylin¬
drical, would include a block 10 yards high and 10 yards thick,
every yard of the length of the flock would contain 100 cubic
yards. Assuming again that there were three Starlings in each
cubic yard occupied by the flock, the total number of Starlings
would be 528,000 or a little over half a million. The result is
staggering but the assumptions seem to be conservative.

ANOTHER ESSEX COUNTY MARBLED GOWIT

S. G. Emilio

While looking over some old labels I found one reading as
follows :

“Peabody Acad, of Science.

3139. August 22, 1892

Gt. Marbled Godwit shot at Woodbury’s, Ipswich Beach
by Geo. E. Patterson, August 21, 1892.

Sent to Geo. Welch, August 22, 1892.”

The entry in the accession book under No. 3139 reads :

“1892. August 22. George E. Patterson.

Great Marbled Godwit, Woodbury’s Ipswich.”

I can find no trace, however, of the specimen, but I have
been informed that Mr. Welch was often very procrastinating
and negligent about the return of specimens which, as a taxider¬
mist, he had handled, and it seems quite possible this bird was
never again received by this museum.

Essex County Ornithological Club

83

The label was printed on the back of a card of Mr. John H.
Sears, long a curator here, and while I do not know who identi¬
fied the bird there seems no reason to question the identification
of the species, which had been represented in the Essex County
collection of birds at this institution for many years.

Dr. C. W. Townsend in his “Birds of Essex County” does
not mention this specimen and Mr. E. H. Forbush in his “Birds
of Massachusetts” 1926, lists only occurrences of the Marbled
Godwit subsequent to 1900, so it appears that this occurrence has
not been recorded heretofore. There are nine other records for
the County.

84

Bulletin of the

1930

CALENDAR OF THE ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL

CLUB OF MASSACHUSETTS
1930

** ■»

January 13. Regular meeting. Vice President A. P. Morse
in the chair. Fourteen members present. Life of John J. Au¬
dubon briefly described by A. P. Morse. About two hundred
elephant folio Audubon plates, loaned by the Essex Institute, were
shown on easels.

February 10. Regular meeting. Vice President A. P Morse
in the chair. Sixteen members present. The remaining Audu¬
bon plates not shown at the January meeting exhibited by A. P.
Morse and S. G. Emilio.

March 10. Regular meeting. Dr. Charles W. Townsend
in the chair. Seventeen members present. Communication from
Dr. John B. May, State Ornithologist on “Hawks and Owls. ’*
Dr. May made a strong plea for the protection of all useful
species. Field notes and observations.

r

March 24. Regular meeting. Mr. W. B. Porter in the
chair. Eleven members present. Evening devoted to field notes.

April 14. Regular meeting. Vice President A. P. Morse
in the chair. Nineteen members present. Voted to hold the
Ipswich River Bird Trip on May 17-18. Communication from
Mr. James L. Peters, “The Birds of Porto Rico.” Field notes.

April 28. Regular meeting. Vice President A. P. Morse
in the chair. Nine members present. Informal talk by A. P.
Morse on his recent trip to Florida. Migration field notes.

May 12. Regular meeting. Mr. W. B. Porter in the chair.
Fifteen members present. Mr. S. G. Emilio showed tables dem*
onstrating the extraordinary rush of migrants during the heat
wave of May 6th and 7th, during which many new early records
were established. Field and migration notes.

May 26. Regular meeting. Mr. G. E. Benson in the chair.
Fourteen members present. General discussion of records of the
Ipswich River Bird Trip. Field notes.

Essex County Ornithological Club

85

June 10. Regular meeting. Secretary in the chair. Nine¬
teen members present. General resume of the spring migration
and current field notes.

September 8. Regular meeting. Vice President A. P. Morse
in the chair. Fourteen members present. Informal discussion
of the forthcoming A. 0. U. meeting at Salem. Summer obser¬
vations, with reflectoscope plates shown by S. G. Emilio. Some
bird skins from South Africa shcfwn by A. P. Morse.

October 13. Regular meeting. Vice President A. P. Morse
in the chair. Thirteen members present. Dr. C. W. Townsend
told of his recent visit to Holland as a delegate to the Interna¬
tional Ornithological Congress at Amsterdam. Mr. A. P. Morse
told of his recent visit to the Thayer Museum at Lancaster, Mass.
A Say’s Phoebe in the flesh, just collected by Mr. S. G. Emilio,
shown to the members. This was a primal record for the County.

November 10. Regular meeting. Secretary in the chair.
Twelve members present. The nominating committee, appointed
by the chair at the October meeting, made its report. Field notes.

December8. Regular meeting. Vice President in the chair.
Nineteen members present. Officers and Council for 1931 elected.
Treasurer’s report read and accepted. Communication from Dr.
C. W. Townsend, “Birds of Ireland” as observed by him during
July 1930. A “Christmas Census” under the direction of Mr.
Ludlow Griscom was announced for December 21st. Refresh¬
ments.

86

Bulletin of the

1930

LIST OF MEMBERS OF THE
ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB
OF MASSACHUSETTS

Bates, Walter E.
Beckford, Arthur W.
Benson, Frank W.
Benson, George E.
Bosson, Campbell
Bruley, Roger S.
Bushby, Fred W.

Chase, Charles E.
Cogswell, Lawrence W.
Cushing, Milton L.
Doyle, John F.
Emerson, Philip
Emilio, S. Gilbert
Fay, S. Prescott
Felt, George R.
Fletcher, Laurence B.
Floyd, Charles B.
Foster, Maxwell E.
Fowler, Albert B.
Gifford, Morris P.
Griscom, Ludlow
Ingraham, Phocion J.
Jeffrey, Thomas B.
Jenkins, Stephen W.
Jones, Gardner M.
Kelley, Herbert W.
Kelley, Mark E.
Lawson, Ralph
Little, Philip
Lockwood, Dunbar
Long, Harry V.

Fayette Court, Lynn
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
Temple Court, Salem
Box 374, Fitchburg
Lee, Higginson & Co., Boston
90a High Rock Street, Lynn
7 Winter Street, Salem
2 Otis Place, Boston
85 Main Street, Peabody
50 Congress Street, Boston
454 Walcott Street, Auburndale

South Hamilton
111 Locust Street, Danvers
17 Beckford Street, Salem
21 Fayer weather Street, Cambridge
235 Lowell Street, Peabody
4 Lowell Street, Salem Willows
103 Columbus Avenue, Salem Willows

Public Library, Salem
3 Willow Street, Winchester
52 Sutton Street, Peabody
88 Washington Square, Salem
10 Chestnut Street, Salem
205 Richdale Avenue, Cambridge
260 Clarendon Street, Boston

Essex County Ornithological Club

87

Long , William B.

Low, Seth H.

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, Jr.

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, Hon. Robert

6 West Cedar Street, Boston

50 Glendale Road, Quincy

110 Central Street, Peabody

South Main Street, Cohasset

10 Post Office Sq., Boston

Essex, Mass.

46 Maple Street, Lynn

26 Minerva Street, Swampscott

100 Milk Street, Boston

Peabody Museum, Salem

162 Boylston Street, Boston

72 Maple Street, Lynn

12 Temple Court, Salem

7 South Pine Street, Salem

Whipple Hill, Danvers

183 Lowell Street, Peabody
_ ■ • ■

Fayerweather Street, Cambridge

16 Peirce Road, Lynn
77 Mount Vernon Street, Boston
5 Lee Street, Salem
42 Preston Street, Danvers
42 Preston Srteet, Danvers
50 Congress Street, Boston
21 Brookhouse Drive, Clifton
18 Summer Street, Salem
Dearborn Street, Salem
356 Essex 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

88

Bulletin of the

1930

Whitney, Charles F.
Wilkinson, Robert H.
Wolfe, R. Emerson

29 Pine Street, Danvers
Asbury Grove
Depot Rd., Boxford

CORRESPONDING MEMBERS

Babson, Edward 7 Forrester Street, Newburyport

Brown, C. Emerson 34th St. and Girard Ave., Philadelphia
Bryan, G. Warren Stella, Washington

Cousins, Willard C. Hanover, N. H.

Donaldson, Maj. George C. U. S. Army, Cheyenne, Wy.

Doolittle, Albert W. Plaistow, N. H.

Griffin, Bertram S. West Newbury

Ritchie, Sanford Dover-Foxcroft, Maine

Sanders, Richard D. Brokers Exch. Bldg., Norfolk, Va.

Spalding, Frederic P. 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
BULLETIN 1929
BULLETIN 1930

Index of the Bulletins of th
Club of Massachusetts,

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 75 Cents

- Price 75 Cents
Price 50 Cents

Essex County Ornithological

> 19-1928 Price 10 Cents

Field List of the Birds of Essex County, 1931, in preparation

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 FEBRUARY 9, 1931

THE NEWHALL PRINTERS

89

SALEM. MASS

5

— i

; *i

t ■

/_*•' * .- • \-V - '• v5

• ' • y'y

'*si‘ '' *-

.

r - * .i - -

.

. • • - •

* - ; • * s. v ■. .

v.

. • .•*

Vi . • •

' = - i-

. W‘

■ . : : .
‘i • . :.'j

•* •

* a **
.* • *

f ■

•, . "
V>.v* . :•

-• • •-
• . • —

ft .

; . ... *:

•• ■ ...

■ i

f. : \

r ->

.V ‘ -a

. v

/ \ ■_ ■- . irit

. ' fl .

■ \ _ - 'i

;• V. ’ ..•

!

»i- . - t-

•

for * % « *>*' "!

■i. \ . •

- ■ : -n

■- . i«v*

'A v, t'. -. .. -t ■ '

- *W.

" , .• ...

*/ I o • - -• • :

• V---\

r-.i: .

:

" V' '■ .^.

■

; ; .

- . t

VL- . ' • .

v- 5 • 3 *1 - • *

. ... v- ^

f • ’*■

« a ..

• . — * « *

•

•• r; LV*

?, f *, V.

V c- • . . i . - '

i

. ; > --VV' •• t

t

*: ■: - \ '*

■ - - ’ ' . -■ ■ • •

,'j r . - • V

i. ,Vr;-:;r, - •VV' i:,-. ^.Jl.

\

*

>

■r !j . v i: is . a"

*

'

\

' . - - - ■ - ■ -

• A «>-»■*

• o'. • »

t

i

•'r js

*

r*» :?• ' n .

i

.* ■ . --. J :? a 'jh

■

■ ■ - ;

Phillips Library

'

■

afitefikl *A - - • - ••• :v - . ■

", • .. -.-AC. ' “ ; • , i

' * * ■Ji '•»* ' • • "

’i&f*

"• s '

.

■-

■

»V s-i'?.:-. vis *'.&■? ■.♦sgggaaa

.

; . . V-V'-V ■ ; •

L ;■■-'■■■•■■■■■ •

...

. ' *n

r + .r- . .v rv> .

‘ -A * 9 • •-* .• ' *•*> v1* '• •*

• -V - ,V . - . ‘ ... '

- * v *. . » • * * . •

.

■-V*. '■ * -•» *'’■ : • . ~ \ \ ,

• ’ . 4 , ••

. . V -*t'. .*•. . * - -J ..««,*—• • * V

y*-v *

* -* -w-: •’ • • ■ ■

.

...

.

** i \ V- ; . • . . A fc. / - ‘\^ - - •.

.

'

' ■ • >’

kat'

* r

►1