Birds of the Boston Public Garden, a study in migration

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BIRDS OF THE
BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN

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THE SILVER MAPLE

BIRDS OF THE
BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN

^ i>ttt5p in Jilisratian

BY

HORACE WINSLOW WRIGHT

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY

BRADFORD TORREY

AND

ILLUSTRATIONS

BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY

1909

COPYRIGHT, 1909, BY HORACE WINSLOW WRIGHT
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Published May jqoq

341065

BOSTON COLLEGE UBRAKf,
CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.

TO MY SISTER

WHOSE AWAKENING TO THE INTEREST AND
PLEASURE OF BIRD OBSERVATION

WAS EARLIER THAN MY OWN

THIS LITTLE VOLUME OF RESULTS

IS AFFECTIONATELY

INSCRIBED

" And above, in the light
Of the star-lit night,
Swift birds of passage wing their flight
Through the dewy atmosphere."

Longfellow

Birds of Passage

PREFACE

My little book, I think, will readily speak
for itself, and, therefore, seems to need no
prefatory word from the author. But it
is pleasant to express to the reader how in-
teresting and delightful has been the work,
in the nature of pastime, done in our Public
Garden during the past nine seasons, and
how agreeable has been the task of arrang-
ing and analyzing the notes made there.
In the work I have been encouraged and
aided by many friends. Occasionally the
garden-circuit has been made with eager
young ornithologists who, alert and sharp-
eyed, have given added spirit to the morn-
ing's observation. At some other times the
companionship has been with those who
were earnestly bent on gathering almost
their first knowledge of birds and have
joined their steps with mine to see and be-
come acquainted with a few of the more
common visitants. Again, I have had the

X PREFACE

comradeship of friends well schooled in the
field of ornithology, who have been wit-
nesses with me of some rarer migrant war-
bler or sparrow. All of this companionship
has been a pleasant aid and is gratefully
recalled.

Those who have assisted me while I have
been preparing the manuscript of this vol-
ume must have my gratitude expressed to
them by name. To Messrs. Francis H.
Allen and William Brewster and Dr.
Charles W. Townsend I am indebted for
valuable suggestions. Mr. Glover M. Allen,
secretary of the Boston Society of Natural
History, has guided me through certain dif-
ficulties of nomenclature and performed for
me the further service of examining the
chronicled records of other observers. Mr.
F. H. Allen, Mr. Eugene E. Caduc, Miss Is-
abel P. George, Mr. John H. Hardy, Jr., Dr.
Manning K. Rand, Mr. Bradford Torrey,
and Dr. C. W. Townsend have contributed
names of species to the list, which otherwise
it would have lacked, nine names in all.
These fellow observers, and Messrs. G. M.

PREFACE xi

Allen, Maurice C. Blake, H. A. Purdie, F.
P. Spalding, and others have furnished
additional information concerning certain
species already listed, which is duly cred-
ited to them respectively in the notes on
those species. I am also indebted to the
*' Ornithologist and Oologist,'* to Mr. Wil-
liam Brewster's *' Birds of the Cambridge
Region," to Dr. Townsend's " Birds of
Essex County," to Mr. Bradford Torrey's
essay " On Boston Common," and to Mr.
Justin Winsor's ** Memorial History of
Boston" for quotations which have been in-
corporated in the text.

In making my acknowledgments I can-
not omit the name of one other who was
much my companion in the earliest years of
observation, who was also the first to sug-
gest to me the writing of this book, and by
whose loyal, inspiring friendship the flame
was kept alive by which the end has been
attained, Mr. Guy Emerson of Cambridge.

To my friend Mr. Bradford Torrey I am
peculiarly indebted for his generous ** Intro-
ductory Note" and for the pleasure of hav-

xii PREFACE

ing his name associated with my own in
this entire story of migration through the
Garden and the Common, the bird-Hfe of
which he so delightfully set forth twenty-
five years ago in his book of essays entitled
** Birds in the Bush." I count myself happy
in the association of our names as past and
present students of ornithology within this
public domain.

The illustrations which are presented in
this volume are from photographs obtained
in the month of May by my esteemed
young friend Mr. Gordon Boit Wellman.
The subjects were selected as illustrative
of the composition of the Garden, but with
more especial reference to scenes connected
with the visits of some of the rarer individ-
ual birds or of collective flocks.

My obligations are also acknowledged
to the Department of Public Grounds for
information furnished and courtesies ex-
tended by its superintendent and his sub-
ordinates, and to members of the police
force, who have often mentioned to me
something of interest pertaining to the

PREFACE xiii

bird-life within the Garden and have al-
ways been civilly responsive in my com-
munication with them.

Finally it may be said that should the
records herein set forth lead others to ob-
tain future records and continue the study
of migratory life within the Garden, a
fuller knowledge of its facts and a broader
basis for deductions than the author^s nine
years' experience affords will result. The
pursuit will be all pleasure and the result so
much gain.

Horace W. Wright.

Boston, January 25, 1909.

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

When Mr. Wright did me the honor to
propose that my name should be associated
with his book, my thoughts naturally re-
verted to the days, now long past, when
I too lived in Boston and, as the newest
of beginners in bird study, — not half so
fashionable an amusement then as it has
since happily become, — perambulated the
Common and the Public Garden morning
after morning in quest of knowledge. How
pleasant those mornings were! And what
wonders upon wonders I discovered ! I was
young then, though I had already lived
nearly half the years allotted to man in that
unfortunate old Hebrew verse the incessant
iteration of which has made so many good
people old before their time. And a happy
thing it is to be young — young and igno-
rant. For when a man is young the world
also is young ; and when a man, ignorant as
I was in those bright days, begins to be or-

xvi INTRODUCTORY NOTE

nithologically inclined, it is very much as if
all the birds had just been created, or, at
the very least, had just been let out of the
ark. So I found it. Like the Lord's mercies,
they were new every morning and fresh
every evening. Such an additional pleasure
as it was, too, to meet all those lovely
strangers so near home, and in what, to my
benighted apprehension, was so unpromis-
ing a place. Nobody had ever told me that
a city park is one of the likeliest of all
places in which to look for nocturnal birds
of passage ; that the nightly glare of a great
city has something like the well-known fas-
cination of a lighthouse for such travelers,
especially in foggy weather. It was twenty
years afterward that a friend of mine in-
quired of one of our most distinguished or-
nithologists where he should go in May to
obtain sight of certain rare warblers that
had hitherto eluded his ken, and was an-
swered, much to his surprise, I think,
though an undistinguished friend had al-
ready given him precisely the same advice,
*^Go to Central Park, New York."

INTRODUCTORY NOTE xvii

Well, the Boston Garden has no doubt
grown more populous of recent years, as the
city lamps have increased in number and
brightness. So I shall try to believe that it
may not be entirely due to Mr. Wright's
superior acuteness that his Garden list is so
much longer than mine ever was. I had my
fun, at all events, and if he has had. more,
why, so much the better. That he is a
sharp-eyed and competent observer, quick
to see but slow to conclude, having (what is
by no means the commonest thing in the
world) a wholesome appreciation of the dif-
ference between guesswork and certainty,
— of so much I am sure, having been more
than once with him in the field. Some-
times, noting his habits of thought and
speech, I have been reminded of the apos-
tolic admonition, "Let your moderation
be known unto all men " : a salutary admo-
nition, surely, for all scientific observers,
and especially for those of us who bring
home no ''specimens" with which to es-
tablish our testimony. I am glad that Mr.
Wright's patient studies are to be published.

xviii INTRODUCTORY NOTE

They well deserve to be. And may they set
many another man upon the same delight-
ful quest that he has so profitably followed.
It was the j oiliest of chronic invalids who
said : —

" The world is so full of a number of things,
I 'm sure we should all be as happy as kings " ;

which is well enough, of course, in its old-
fashioned way, though I suppose it is al-
lowable in these days to doubt whether the
average king, for all the glories of his birth
and state, is so very much to be envied.
** Even in a palace life may be lived well."
Yes, and even on a throne a man may per-
adventure be happy; but how much hap-
pier, did he but know it, in the saddle of a
pet hobby horse, ambling at his ease, morn-
ing after morning, over the pleasant malls
of a quiet city garden.

Bradford Torrey.

Santa Barbara, California,
January 7, 1909.

ILLUSTRATIONS

The Silver Maple (Acer saccharinum), which a
Blackburaian Warbler occupied during a four
days' visit Frontispiece

The European White Birch {Betula alba), and
the cove of the pond round which visiting Sand-
pipers have walked . 60

The White Willow {Salix alba), in which many
Warblers congregate and sing and where the
Cuckoo sat silent and inactive 68

The Island, which attracts the Crackles and
Robins and calls to its protection many a migrant
bird 94

The Basin and The Weeping Beech, where the
Cape May Warbler sought and secured its bath. ,
Under the weeping beech the Lincoln's Sparrow
sometimes hides 150

The Old Willow Group, in which many of the
rarer Warblers have been seen and beneath which
the Oven-bird often walks 168

XX ILLUSTRATIONS

The Retreat of the Yellow-breasted Chat
when shyly eluding visitors ; where also late Her-
mit Thrushes in the autumn linger fearlessly . . . 1 76

Tece European Beech {Fagus sylvatica)^ in and
beneath which the Thrushes seek seclusion, and
through which the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher rest-
lessly flitted 196

BIRDS OF THE
BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN

BIRDS OF THE
BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN

The "Memorial History of Boston,"
edited by Justin Winsor, contains, in the
chapter entitled ** The Horticulture of Bos-
ton and Vicinity," by Marshall Pinckney
Wilder, the following account of the origin
of the Public Garden: **The origin of this
[Public Garden] may be traced to the de-
sire of a few citizens who were interested
in horticultural improvements and rural
embellishments, but more especially in the
establishment of a Botanic or a Public Gar-
den, similar to those of the cities of the Old
World. Among these gentlemen was Mr.
Horace Gray, to whose great enterprise and
indomitable perseverance we are, perhaps,
more than to any other man, indebted for
the original idea. . . . Mr. Gray, in 1839,
with a few associates, obtained from the
city a lease of this marginal area for a Bo-
tanic Garden, upon which a greenhouse had

4 BIRDS OF THE

been built, while the grounds were partially
laid out with a variety of ornamental trees
and plants. A company was organized, of
which Mr. Gray was chairman, and went
zealously to work. A very large circus-
building situated just back of the corner,
west of Beacon and Charles streets, was
converted into an immense conservatory
for plants and birds. This had four gal-
leries, to each of which plants were assigned
according to a proper classification. It be-
came a place of great attraction for the
public until the building and the entire
collection were destroyed by fire. The ad-
jacent grounds were filled up and the gar-
den was enlarged by the city, with the
provision that it was never to be built on.
In 1859 these grounds became our Public
Garden, and in i860 it was remodeled by
laying out and planting on a definite and
proper plan."

It would appear, therefore, that the in-
ception of the Public Garden dates from
1839, when a portion of its lands began to
be cultivated for public use and enjoyment

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 5

under intelligent care, and that its estab-
lishment in the entirety of its present area
under the name of the Public Garden
was effected in 1859, when Hon. Frederic
Walker Lincoln, Jr., was mayor of the
city.

The area of the Public Garden is twenty-
four acres. The area of the Common which
adjoins it, separated only by a public street,
is forty-eight acres. This combined domain
has come to be quite within the heart of
the city through its expansion westward
during the last fifty years. Busy streets
surround it on all sides, and substantial
office buildings and stores, churches and
theatres, hotels, club-houses, and residences
line these streets, the State House crowning
the highest point of Beacon Street. A mile
eastward is the harbor-front.

For two or three miles westward the
Back Bay district stretches to the town
of Brookline. This region within the last
half-century has been filled in, laid out in
streets and avenues, and become largely
built up into a new section of the city. Thus

6 BIRDS OF THE

the Common and the Public Garden have
become an isolated park-area in the midst
of the city, separated from wild lands and
country estates. As such it serves as an
aviary for birds in their migrations.

No human power controls this aviary as
a natural temporary cage to such birds as
elect to occupy it for rest and desired delay
in their onward flight. To such, moreover,
no inducements present themselves to move
out from it, for there is no inviting and suit-
able contiguous territory for them to move
into. So, until they are inspired to proceed
farther, the migrant birds which alight in
this domain, a veritable oasis amid a des-
ert of roofs, remain; with little exception
remain throughout the day following the
night of their flight, and to a considerable
extent remain over a second day or several
days, and occasionally a week or more.

While the Common must be regarded as
contributing a large part, a two-thirds part
indeed, to this island of rest amid human
habitations and bustling activities, it has
not been found that it attracts very many

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 7

of the migrant birds to its grounds. The
central portion, consisting of the Frog Pond
and Monument Hill and their fringes of
level land, receives most of the birds which
visit the Common. But constituted, as it is,
entirely of large and tall trees and lawns
broken only by footpaths, being without
shrubbery and low growth, it attracts few
birds in respect both to number and di-
versity of species as compared with the
Public Garden. For this reason the Garden
has been the especial field of observation,
while the Common has been more casually
visited.

The Public Garden is surrounded by elms
and maples mostly of large size, which line
the streets bounding it : American elms on
Beacon and Boylston streets, English elms
on ArHngton Street, and maples on Charles
Street. These trees contribute to make the
inclosure retired and seclude it from the
brick and stone buildings and the streets
with their busy traffic which border it. For
although upon two sides trolley-cars are
constantly running, and on the Boylston

8 BIRDS OF THE

Street side is the opening of the subway
with all the noise and stir accompanying
the incessant entrance and exit of cars, yet
these conditions prove not to be serious
disadvantages in the situation.

Within its bounds the Garden contains
many trees which have attained large
growth, including American, EngHsh, and
Dutch elms, white, weeping, and laurel-
leaved willows, cottonwoods, silver, syca-
more, sugar, red, and Norway maples,
American, European, purple-leaved, and
weeping beeches, white and Lombardy pop-
lars, lindens, horse-chestnuts, white, purple-
leaved, and cut-leaved weeping birches,
double-flowered hawthorns, tulip - trees,
gingko trees, Kentucky coffee-trees, a red
mulberry, a honey locust, a koelreuteria, a
sophora, a catalpa, a European larch, and
still others. Weeping elms and mountain-
ashes, double-flowered cherries and peaches,
Chinese and Parkman crabs, redbuds,
magnolias in variety, spindle- trees, Siberian
pea-trees, weeping sophoras, and many
others too numerous to mention constitute

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 9

the smaller tree-growth of the grounds.
The trees large and small number about a
thousand. Shrubs are growing in consid-
erable variety, such as common, white, and
Persian lilacs, syringas, viburnums, wei-
gelias, forsythias, dogwoods, honeysuckles,
acacias, Japanese quinces, snowberries, and
rhododendrons. Several groups of dwarf
evergreens are clustered at points near to
the gateways; beds of hardy roses and
azaleas here and there break the continuity
of the lawns ; and much of the iron fencing
which incloses the grounds supports run-
ning vines. Beds of tulips, hyacinths, and
narcissi at the opening of the spring have
place in the borders of the lawns through-
out. Together with this combination of
tree, shrub, vine, and flowering bulb and
plant in great variety, a pond covering an
area of nearly four acres, located in the
centre of the grounds, and a spread of green
turf throughout offer an attractive resting-
place to the migrant birds.

The birds which come therein are little
disturbed. It may be that the presence of

lo BIRDS OF THE

many visitors, when the early hours of the
day have passed, urges them sometimes
into somewhat more of retirement and re-
quires of those that feed upon the ground
more alertness and change of location ; but
the house sparrows seem to interfere little
with the comfort of these migrant birds,
although once in a while it happens that
there is a severe chase of a warbler or other
small bird, if it shall have offended by song
or in some other way and roused the jeal-
ousy or the temper of these permanent resi-
dents.

From danger from human agencies and
from their natural enemies of the wild they
are free. Even cats from the surrounding
dwellings come little within the inclosure
and seem to offer but slight menace to the
safety of the visitants. These often show
very little shyness and in many instances
change their location only slightly during
their visit. A quiet approach and generally
cautious movements on the part of the
observer usually result in successful obser-
vation; and oftentimes the visitants are

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN ii

very unconcerned, even when quite close
approach to them is made, and show no
fear.

It was not until May of 1900 that the
author of this Httle compendium of obser-
vation turned his steps toward the Public
Garden to see what migrant bird-life there
might be within. Two years previous he
had taken up the pastime of becoming ac-
quainted with the birds, and during that
time he had sought the suburbs and the
country by almost daily excursions from
the city, and had made use of the very full
advantages in summer of residence among
the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
It was known to him that Mr. Bradford
Torrey had gathered into the initial chap-
ter of his delightful little book entitled
** Birds in the Bush," published fifteen years
earlier, the results of his several years' ob-
servation on the Common and in the Gar-
den reaching back into the seventies; but
it had been assumed that such results be-
longed to bygone days on account of the
growth of the city, and it had not been

12 BIRDS OF THE

suggested to him as an evolving ornitholo-
gist that he might find what he was seeking,
even the rarer warblers and thrushes and
finches, at his very door, so to speak, or
within five minutes' walk, in the centrally
located Public Garden. But it happened
on the ninth day of the said May that, hav-
ing been driven back from a quiet town on
the Sudbury River — singularly favored in
the richness of its bird-life through its di-
versity of natural attractions — by a sud-
den change of weather which had replaced
an early morning warmth of seventy de-
grees and a temperature ascending still
higher in the early forenoon with a cold
drizzle from the northeast, he sought in
the afternoon the Public Garden for possi-
biHties, inasmuch as the morning had indi-
cated a full tide of migration during the
previous night, and he felt disinclined to
lose a day's opportunity, if haply he might
find it in the Garden.

Therefore great and happy was his sur-
prise to find that the place was well occu-
pied with migrants and that birds were

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 13

present which he might search for widely in
the country and not find. A Httle brown
creeper introduced him to the company of
the afternoon and was the first bird of the
hosts which since then have marshaled
themselves before him. The rarer birds
seen on this first visit were a Lincoln's
sparrow and a yellow-breasted chat.
There were present four or five olive-backed
thrushes, a northern water- thrush, a brown
thrasher, a ruby-crowned kinglet, an oven-
bird, a female towhee, a catbird, more than
a dozen white-throated sparrows, and nine
other species of birds, making the number
identified twenty species.

So fruitful in spite of the weather was
this first visit that it was naturally deter-
mined to make daily visits. Thus the prac-
tice of making careful observation and
taking the census of the birds present each
day was begun. The observations and re-
cords have now covered nine years. Each
subsequent year's observations have begun
with the opening of the season in March
and continued to almost or quite the end of

14 BIRDS OF THE

May, when absence from the city for the
summer has terminated the records for the
season, but not until the spring migration
had almost ended and there would be little
more to record, yet failing to obtain the
June records, such as they might be. Not
half a dozen days in the eight seasons sub-
sequent to the year of beginning have the
visit and the record been omitted after the
season had opened. The observations have
been systematically carried on with a grow-
ing interest and a realization that the ma-
terial gathered was supplying valuable
data in relation to several aspects of bird-
migration.

Usually two complete rounds of the Gar-
den have been made each morning in order
that the full census of the day might be
obtained. The second enumeration of flocks
and recording of individuals has commonly
confirmed the first, or if not, such modifi-
cations in numbers have been made as the
second round indicated to be a truer record.
Naturally facility in accomplishing this
with an approximation to accuracy was

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 15

gradually gained. The records are, there-
fore, to be regarded as the result of system
and thoroughness. Yet the author would
not be understood as desiring the reader to
think that no visitant within the Garden
has escaped his notice and that he has an
absolutely complete record of all of the mi-
grant bird-life therein during the term of
the nine years. In the days of May often
two hours, sometimes nearly three hours,
have been employed before the breakfast-
hour, arrival in the Garden dating from
five or five-thirty o'clock. The freshness
and beauty of the early morning have given
added charm and zest to the pursuit defi-
nitely in mind.

Daily visits to the Garden have been
resumed upon returning to the city on or
before the middle of October and have been
extended to the end of the season in No-
vember, with casual visits after the migra-
tion-flights had ended. No winter residents
have been found in the Garden, with the
single exception of the chickadee, a pair
of which twice have spent the winter there.

i6 BIRDS OF THE

And visitants in the winter are very infre-
quent and only accidental.

The summer and earlier autumn move-
ments of migration have not come under
observation, therefore. This is a deficiency
which the author sincerely regrets, but
which the ordering of his year has left un-
suppHed.

Nearly all of the visits have been made in
the early morning. Bird-observers are well
aware that this is the most favorable time
of day at all seasons and in all places.
Especially is it of advantage to reach a
central city park like the Public Garden
at an early hour and make a careful round
before it is much astir with human life and
when the activity therein is mostly that of
the birds themselves. Moreover, at such an
hour the noise of the city does not much
obtrude itself, and the air is comparatively
quiet for the songs and the calls of the birds
to be heard.

It is also true that at this time the house
sparrows are less numerous and active, for
they are more distributed and engaged in

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 17

feeding and are less noisy and bent upon
mischief. Later in the day, as the season
advances, when throngs of people come
thither to enjoy the opening blossoms, the
display of flowering bulbs and the expand-
ing leafage, it becomes less easy to move
about freely, and the birds are more likely
to be elusive as they shyly evade passers-
by.

Still, sometimes visits have been made in
the forenoon and in the afternoon with good
results. Especially has this been the case
when the previous night has brought one of
the larger migration-flights, and a second
and even a third visit has been made, to
obtain fuller assurance that the census of
the day had been adequately taken. In
some such instances a few birds have been
noted in the subsequent visits which were
not seen in the early morning, or may not
have been present then, although it is a
general truth that the birds come in the
night and do not drop along through the
hours of the day, and consequently that all
are likely to be present in the morning

i8 BIRDS OF THE

which will be within the Garden on that
day.

In evidence of night migration is the
repeated fact that, when at the close of the
day a survey of the grounds has revealed
the bird-life which is present, the round
the next morning at the opening of the day
shows the presence of birds not present the
evening previous, — sometimes a host, but,
whether many or few, it is clear that they
have come in the night and are beginning
the day in this new sojourning-place. More-
over, the chips and tseets of passing small
birds may be heard on quiet evenings in
migration time by sensitive listeners. And
keepers of lighthouses testify to the flights
of birds by night, being witnesses of their
striking against the lighted lanterns.

Sometimes there is a very varied and
large collection of migrants in the Garden
when the country is not found to be so well
occupied. This suggests that the bright
lights of the city attract the birds in their
onward flight by night and induce many to
stop, thus securing to an area like the Gar-

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 19

den with its attractions of varied growth
and water under the lights a larger share
of migrants than a similar acreage in the
country is wont to receive.

It has been already remarked that there
is no contiguous territory for the visitants
to move into. So, once in the Garden, they
with few exceptions remain throughout the
day, thus securing to visitors later in the
day fair chances to find them and observe
them. Some birds choose to stay two, three,
or more days.

Some species, for instance, the bluebird,
the cedar waxwing, and the sandpiper, make
a hasty visit after the day is well opened,
flying in for a brief call, it may be, and ris-
ing on wing and going on again. It is well
known that the bluebird migrates in this
way by day. The short calls which occa-
sional sandpipers and flocks of cedar wax-
wings and some flocks of robins make
indicate that the same is also true of these
species.

The period of migration covered by the
species which are in the habit of visiting

20 BIRDS OF THE

the Garden is shown under the discission
of the species in the annotated Hst which
follows. A long period of migration is es-
pecially characteristic of some of the species
which belong to the sparrow family. No
one of these nests in the Garden or on the
Common, yet it will be seen that there are
not a few very late arriving individuals be-
longing to species which appear in March
and early April, indicating that some in-
dividuals of those species which early reach
their nesting haunts delay their coming very
much for vsome reason and arrive with the
warblers and other later migrants in mid-
May.

In regard to the long-extended migration
of certain species, there is reason for think-
ing that the earliest arriving birds, belonging
to species which nest in Massachusetts as
well as in northern New England and far-
ther north, are summer resident birds, and
that the later arriving visitants are birds
which will proceed beyond the confines of
the State to breed. Thus the very late
savanna sparrows, song sparrows, swamp

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 21

sparrows, and other sparrow visitants with-
in the Garden, which come, as they do year
by year, in the larger migratory flights with
the warblers and thrushes in the middle and
even later portion of May, are likely to be
on their way with these more northern-nest-
ing birds to points far beyond, while in the
case of a few very early arriving birds, as
hermit thrushes, for example, it is thought
that they may very likely be the summer
resident birds of the State. This in its en-
tirety is Mr. William Brewster^s view. This
view explains, perhaps, the fact of the very
long-drawn-out period of migration which
the records indicate is common in the case
of the above-named sparrows and occurs
in the case of the hermit thrush also, but
with this difference, that with the latter
species the few visitants are the early birds
and with the former the few visitants are
the late birds.

But not only does it appear that the ear-
lier arriving visitants in the Garden may
be summer resident birds of the State and
the later arriving birds be migrants on their

22 BIRDS OF THE

way farther north ; the records indicate also
that in general the summer resident birds
have arrived in their haunts in the suburbs
and neighboring country some days earlier
than any individuals of the respective spe-
cies have shown themselves in the Garden.
Thus, if we make use of the dates of usual
arrival of species in this neighborhood, as
given in Mr. Brewster's ** Birds of the Cam-
bridge Region," we find, for example, that
in the case of twenty common resident
species, selected for comparison, the first
individuals in the series of years have ar-
rived in the Garden from three to eight
days later than in the surrounding country
and that the range of first arrival of each
of these species in the nine years has been
from three to nineteen days later. The
twenty examples will be given : kingbird ar-
rives from four to fifteen days later ; phoebe
from four to twelve days later ; least fly-
catcher from eight to fifteen days ; vesper
sparrow from five to eighteen days ; chip-
ping sparrow from six to seventeen days ;
towhee from eight to fifteen days ; scarlet

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 23

tanager from four to twelve days ; red-eyed
vireo from five to thirteen days ; warbling
vireo from four to nineteen days ; black and
white warbler from five to seventeen days ;
Nashville warbler from seven to nine days ;
yellow warbler from six to nine days ; chest-
nut-sided warbler from four to nine days;
black-throated green warbler from six to
eighteen days; oven-bird from three to
eight days; Maryland yellow-throat from
four to nine days ; American redstart from
four to ten days ; catbird from six to eight
days ; brown thrasher from five to ten days ;
bluebird from eight to fifteen days. The
testimony of the Garden seems, therefore,
to substantiate very strongly Mr. Brew-
ster's belief that in general the earliest
arriving birds are summer residents and
that the later arriving birds are migrants
bound farther north.

The summer absence of the author leaves
in some measure of uncertainty the matter
of what species nest in the Garden and on
the Common. The regular nesting of three
summer resident species has been an estab-

24 BIRDS OF THE

lished fact year by year, evident in May,
namely, the bronzed grackle, the Baltimore
oriole, and the robin. It may be that the
red-eyed vireo or the warbling vireo, the
redstart or the least flycatcher has been
sometimes represented by a pair of breeding
birds. Mr. Torrey speaks of some of these
species as being summer resident birds on
the Common twenty-five or thirty years
ago. A vireo's nest on the Common, well
preserved in the late fall, three or four
years ago indicated that a pair either of red-
eyed or warbling vireos had nested there,
and the singing of a redstart on the Com-
mon during June in a recent summer,
upon the testimony of a friend, points to
the nesting of a pair of that species there.
Information has also been received that
in the summer of 1907 a pair of flickers
nested on the Common and reared a brood
of young, and also that two flickers were
occasionally seen there throughout the sum-
mer of 1908. The careful elimination of
dead branches from the trees and the clos-
ing up of all holes resulting from decay.

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 25

done in the furtherance of good growth and
longevity, constitute these grounds, how-
ever, not a favorable place for nesting by
our resident woodpeckers. Nests of breed-
ing species other than the robin, thegrackle,
and the oriole have rarely been seen in the
Garden when the leaves fall in autumn. So
the nesting of other than the three species
named would seem to be incidental and
very infrequent.

There are usually one or two exception-
ally large flights of migrant birds, compre-
hensive in the number of species joined to-
gether, to the Garden each season. These
are coincident with a pronounced warm
wave coming in the middle of the month of
May. In this part of the month, on a warm
morning following a night of high tempera-
ture, a number of newly arrived birds will
be noted at once upon entering the grounds.
As advance is made, the promise of many
migrants is found to be fulfilled, and inter-
est in identification reaches an eager pitch.
If, as sometimes happens, a sudden change
of weather comes, and easterly conditions,

26 BIRDS OF THE

with or without rain, accompanied by much
lower temperatures, succeed within a few
hours, the host of migrants remains with
nearly unbroken ranks until the untoward
conditions have passed and clear skies and
a rising temperature induce a further flight
northward. They are notable days when
there is such a combination of conditions,
for the number of migrants and the diver-
sity of species are likely to be large, and the
delay may continue for three or four days.
It has not been found that the migrant
birds arrive every night, and that, therefore,
the birds of yesterday are replaced with
other birds of to-day, limiting as a rule the
stay of the visitants to a single day. The
indications all point to the opposite idea,
namely, that there are occasional large mi-
gratory flights ; that birds coming in these
large movements remain to a considerable
extent to a second day, and some of them
during several days; that a species may
have no representatives present after sev-
eral or many individuals have come and
passed ; that then a new representation ar-

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 27

rives in another general migratory flight.
The arrivals of birds of any species are
thus periodical rather than regular nightly
during the migration-period of the species.
Location and number of birds constitut-
ing the flocks present, both of which data
prove in very many instances to be quite
fixed factors, experience has shown, serve
as bases for concluding that the rule is
periodicity of arrival and not daily regu-
larity.

It has been found, also, that in an aviary
such as the Public Garden provides the
birds may be discovered and identified suc-
cessfully under rainy conditions, when an
umbrella is required to save the observer
from a drenching and keep the field-glasses
clear for use. Such a day was May 19, 1900.
During the whole forenoon, when workmen
were obliged to leave their work on account
of the steady fall of rain and only those
who needed to pass through the Garden
moved on its paths, the hunt was success-
fully pursued. Thirty species of migrant
birds were recorded, while the number of

28 BIRDS OF THE

individuals was fifty-six, including thirty-
three warblers of sixteen different species.
The list may be of interest as furnishing
precisely the names of the birds which were
present and their respective numbers as
recorded on this rainy day: one chimney
swift, one wood pewee, one least flycatcher,
two white-throated sparrows, one Lincoln's
sparrow, one swamp sparrow, one male
scarlet tanager, one barn swallow, one red-
eyed vireo, two warbling vireos, one black
and white warbler, one golden-winged war-
bler, three northern parula warblers, two
yellow warblers, one male black-throated
blue warbler, one magnolia warbler, one
chestnut-sided warbler, five black-poll war-
blers, one male Blackburnian warbler, one
oven-bird, four northern water- thrushes,
five Maryland yellow-throats, one yellow-
breasted chat, two Wilson's warblers, two
Canadian warblers, two redstarts, one cat-
bird, two Wilson's thrushes, two gray-
cheeked thrushes, and six olive-backed
thrushes.

Four days later, in sunshine and warmth.

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 29

on the ebb of the tide of migration for the
season, twenty-two species of migrant birds
were recorded and forty-nine individuals
were enrolled, including thirty-two warblers
of fifteen different species. Again the defi-
nite list may be of interest as showing the
migrants in another wave of migration:
four chimney swifts, one Lincoln's sparrow,
one swamp sparrow, four male and one
female scarlet tanagers, two warbling vir-
eos, one northern parula warbler, two yel-
low warblers, one female black-throated
blue warbler, four magnolia warblers, two
chestnut-sided warblers, one male bay-
breasted warbler, five black-poll warblers,
one male Blackburnian warbler, one prai-
rie warbler, one northern water-thrush, six
Maryland yellow-throats, one yellow-
breasted chat, two Wilson's warblers, two
Canadian warblers, two redstarts, one cat-
bird, and three gray-cheeked thrushes.
Some of these birds had remained from the
nineteenth day, but many were new ar-
rivals.
The seasons of 1901, 1902, and 1903 fur-

30 BIRDS OF THE

nished no daily records as large as those
given above, thereby indicating the year
1900 to have been one of the exceptional
years in respect to the number of migrant
birds passing through the Garden.

Some other notable days in the last five
years have furnished comprehensive lists.
These follow.

On May 20, 1904, the record day of the
season, twenty- three species of migrant birds
were present and forty-seven individuals
were enrolled, including thirty-three war-
blers of twelve different species. The list
was : one swift, one purple finch, two white-
throated sparrows, one song sparrow, one
Lincoln's sparrow, two swamp sparrows,
one female towhee, one female black and
white warbler, one Nashville warbler, one
northern parula warbler, four myrtle war-
blers, three magnolia warblers, two black-
poll warblers, two black-throated green
warblers, two oven-birds, three northern
water-thrushes, seven Maryland yellow-
throats, six Wilson's warblers, one Canadian
warbler, one catbird, one brown thrasher,

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 31

two Wilson's thrushes, and one olive-backed
thrush.

In 1905 the most memorable day fell on
May 16, when thirty-eight species of mi-
grant birds were recorded and ninety indi-
viduals were enrolled, including thirty-
seven warblers of eighteen different species.
The list was: one swift, two kingbirds,
one wood pewee, one least flycatcher,
two white-crowned sparrows, four white-
throated sparrows, one field sparrow, one
swamp sparrow, one male rose-breasted
grosbeak, two scarlet tanagers, male and
female, four cliff swallows, fifteen barn
swallows, one bank swallow, one red-eyed
vireo, one yellow-throated vireo, one blue-
headed vireo, three black and white war-
blers, one Nashville warbler, one Tennessee
warbler, two northern parula warblers,
three yellow warblers, one male black-
throated blue warbler, three myrtle war-
blers, two magnolia warblers, one chest-
nut-sided warbler, two black-poll warblers,
one black-throated green warbler, three
oven-birds, three northern water-thrushes,

32 BIRDS OF THE

four Maryland yellow-throats, one yellow-
breasted chat, two Wilson's warblers, three
Canadian warblers, one redstart, four cat-
birds, three Wilson's thrushes, six olive-
backed thrushes, and one female bluebird.
The following day, whereas some of the
other birds had passed on, the warblers
remained with slight variations in numbers.
Both of the days were clouded, with easterly
winds and a temperature of forty-eight de-
grees.

In 1906 the maximum record was made
on May 19, a comparatively small maxi-
mum of forty migrant birds of twenty-two
species, of which twenty-nine birds were
warblers of fifteen different species. The
list was: one northern flicker, one swift,
three female white-throated sparrows, one
rose-breasted grosbeak, two male scarlet
tanagers, two warbling vireos, three north-
ern parula warblers, one yellow warbler,
one male black-throated blue warbler,
three myrtle warblers, three magnolia war-
blers, one female chestnut-sided warbler,
two black-poll warblers, one male Black-

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 33

burnian warbler, one male black-throated
green warbler, three oven-birds, one north-
ern water- thrush, one female Maryland
yellow-throat, two Wilson's warblers, two
Canadian warblers, four redstarts, and one
olive-backed thrush.

In 1907 a large migration-flight occurred
on May 14, when twenty-eight species
were recorded and seventy-six individuals
were enrolled, including twenty-four war-
blers of ten different species. The list was :
one northern flicker, four chimney swifts,
one least flycatcher, one blue jay, one bob-
olink, one red- winged blackbird, one purple
finch, one savanna sparrow, thirteen white-
throated sparrows, two field sparrows, four
swamp sparrows, six towhees, two black
and white warblers, one Nashville warbler,
two northern parula warblers, five yellow
warblers, one myrtle warbler, one magnolia
warbler, one chestnut-sided warbler, five
oven-birds, five Maryland yellow-throats,
one redstart, three catbirds, six brown
thrashers, one house wren, one wood thrush,
three Wilson's thrushes, and two hermit

34 BIRDS OF THE

thrushes. The list indicates the lateness of
arrival of some sparrows and the presence
of a blue jay which was changing its loca-
tion in the middle of May. The very unus-
ual visitants a house wren and a bobolink
had been drawn into this company, and a
red-winged blackbird had joined it. Two
belated hermit thrushes were moving on
toward their summer homes at the same
time with a wood thrush.

But on May 19 of the same year all
previous records were broken in respect to
the number of migrants, when one hundred
and twenty-two migrant birds of thirty-
three different species were recorded, and
of these, seventy-four birds were warblers
of sixteen different species, namely, three
black and white, male and female, one Nash-
ville, thirteen parula, male and female, two
male yellow, one male black-throated blue,
seven myrtle, male and female, ten mag-
nolia, male and female, six chestnut- sided,
male and female, one male black-poll, one
male Blackburnian, four black-throated
green, one oven-bird, three northern wa-

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 35

ter-thrushes, six male Maryland yellow-
throats, ten Wilson's, male and female, and
five redstarts. The other species present
were a yellow-billed cuckoo in song, four
swifts, a kingbird, a wood pewee, a least
flycatcher, a blue jay, two purple finches,
eleven white-throated sparrows, a Lincoln's
sparrow, two female towhees, a scarlet
tanager in song, a red-eyed vireo, a blue-
headed vireo, thirteen catbirds, five brown
thrashers, a Wilson's thrush, and an olive-
backed thrush. It will be seen that again a
blue jay was present, while none had been
noted in the four intervening days. This
day was very warm, with light westerly
winds, and attained a maximum tempera-
ture of 82^. It followed a fair and warm
day of 70° maximum temperature, with
light southwesterly winds, conditions most
favorable for a large flight of migratory
birds.

The following day, the twentieth, be-
came rainy, with somewhat lower temper-
ature. Some of the birds of the preceding
day had gone, but others had arrived. On

36 BIRDS OF THE

the succeeding days, May 21, 22, and 23,
the records were also quite large, these
being fair days, with a maximum tem-
perature of about 60° and westerly winds
and a minimum temperature of about 42°,
conditions calculated to hold the visitants
back from hastening farther north. On May
21 sixty migrants were recorded, of which
forty-one were warblers. On May 22 fifty-
seven migrants were recorded, of which
thirty-nine were warblers. On May 23
forty- three migrants were recorded, of which
twenty-three were warblers. The numbers
of migrants daily thereafter during the
remainder of the month were compara-
tively small. But the year 1907 surpassed
all previous years, except 1905, in the num-
ber of migrant birds which passed through
the Garden.

In 1908 by far the largest migratory
flight came on May 12, when there were
one hundred and thirty-seven migrant
birds in the Garden and fifty others were
recorded on the Common, surpassing the
record-day of 1907. The preceding day and

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 37

night had been warm, with southwesterly-
breezes, the temperature rising to 78° and
falling in the night not below 66°. As soon
as the eyes and ears were opened to the
outer world, it was apparent that the mi-
grant birds were very numerous. The
chips of warblers were heard in Louisburg
Square and among the trees of Mt. Vernon
and Chestnut streets on the way to the
Common, and there sparrows and warblers
were present in unwonted numbers about
Monument Hill and in the trees which clus-
ter near the flagstaff. As is usual, in pass-
ing to the Garden, it proved that there lay
the chief centre of interest by reason of the
many species present. The Hst for the day
was : one least flycatcher, one purple finch,
one pine siskin, nine white-crowned spar-
rows, fifty white-throated sparrows (by es-
timate) , one chipping sparrow, one Lincoln's
sparrow, one swamp sparrow, five towhees,
one rose-breasted grosbeak, and the follow-
ing warblers: two black and white, three
northern parula, two yellow, three black-
throated blue, three myrtle, three magnolia,

38 BIRDS OF THE

one Blackburnian, eight oven-birds, five
northern water-thrushes, seven Maryland
yellow-throats, one yellow-breasted chat,
two Wilson's, and three redstarts; iiine
catbirds, three brown thrashers, two Wil-
son's thrushes, three olive-backed thrushes,
and five hermit thrushes. The collection
aggregated twenty-eight species, of which
thirteen species were warblers embracing
forty-three individuals. It will be seen that
the percentage of warblers in this flight was
small in comparison with what it is in the
case of flights which occur upon days later
in May.

In the days succeeding the twelfth day,
the numbers of migrants were small until
the morning of the twenty-fourth day. In-
deed, upon the two days immediately pre-
ceding the twenty-fourth day, the records
show that no migrant was present in the
Garden. This condition was unprecedented
in this part of May. Therefore the migrants
present on the twenty-fourth day were all
newly arrived birds, without an exception.
They were sixty-four in number and of

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 39

twenty-nine species; forty-five of them
were warblers of sixteen different species.
Again the conditions of weather were fa-
vorable for a notable flight, as they had
been on the occasion twelve days previous.
The list for the day was: one nighthawk,
one hummingbird, two wood pewees, one
yellow-bellied flycatcher, two least flycatch-
ers, one American goldfinch, two red-eyed
vireos, one male scarlet tanager, one Ten-
nessee warbler, one northern parula war-
bler, four yellow warblers, one male black-
throated blue warbler, one female myrtle
warbler, three magnolia warblers, one male
chestnut-sided warbler, four black-poll
warblers, two Blackburnian warblers, male
and female, one male black-throated green
warbler, one oven-bird, six Maryland yel-
low-throats, three northern water-thrushes,
four Wilson's warblers, six Canadian war-
blers, six redstarts, three catbirds, two Wil-
son's thrushes, two gray-cheeked thrushes,
and one olive-backed thrush. It will be
observed that no member of the sparrow
family was present except a roaming gold-

40 BIRDS OF THE

finch and that the warblers constituted over
seventy-one per cent of the flock. Nearly
all of these migrants departed the following
night, and then the numbers of visitants
present were comparatively small to the end
of the month.

These nine lists have been given in the
thought that they may serve for compari-
son in succeeding years by observers who
may be making up the census of the mi-
grant birds in these larger migratory flights
which occur year by year. They will serve
also to show whether in the years to come
the flights are larger or smaller or average
about the same in a longer series of years.
It is of interest that the figures show that
in the last two years the largest flights in
the series of nine years have occurred.

In presenting exact daily records it must
not be supposed that the compiler thinks
that he has been able to record every mi-
grant which day by day may have visited
the Garden. But his enrollment has pro-
ceeded with system and been done with a
view to its being thorough and as nearly

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 41

accurate as carefulness and concentration
of purpose could attain.

The years may be compared as to the
number of species recorded in each spring
migration. In 1900, observation not begin-
ning until May 9, fifty species were re-
corded; in 190 1, fifty- two species; in 1902,
sixty-one species ; in 1903, sixty-one species ;
in 1904, fifty-five species; in 1905, eighty
species ; in 1906, sixty- two species ; in 1907,
seventy-four species; and in 1908, eighty
species.

The seasons, may also be compared in
respect to the aumber of individual birds
which sought rest in the Garden. The
figures for comparison are obtained from
the sum of the daily censuses, and do not
take into consideration the fact that many
of the visitants remain to a second day and
some for several days. The seasons may be
regarded as averaging alike in this respect.
If we take the fifteen days of May between
the ninth and the twenty-third days, both
inclusive, which was the entire period of
observation in 1900, we obtain these aggre-

42 BIRDS OF THE

gates: in 1900, 528 migrants; in 1901, 161
migrants; in 1902, 347 migrants; in 1903,
176 migrants; in 1904, 164 migrants; in
1905, 601 migrants; in 1906, 255 migrants;
in 1907, 668 migrants; in 1908, 360 mi-
grants.

If the whole month of May be regarded,
or indeed the entire spring season, the years
remain relatively the same. These figures
indicate a considerable difference in the
seasons and show that 1900, 1905, and 1907
were seasons when the migrating birds were
numerous in the Garden, while in the sea-
sons of 1 90 1, 1903, and 1904 the birds were
few, and that the seasons of 1902, 1906, and
1908 were intermediate between conditions
of abundance and scarcity. These varia-
tions may be due to weather conditions
and other natural causes, such as might be
expected to have their influence in deter-
mining the exact pathway of the birds and
their choice of the Garden as a resting-spot.
Or the variations may be due in some de-
gree to destruction of bird-life by storms
or other hostile agencies, which have deci-

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 43

mated their numbers during their winter
sojourn in the south or on their way north-
ward. But if such be the case, it is very
reassuring to find that a year of abun-
dance again follows a year or two of scant
numbers, as the figures show, and that two
of the last four years have been seasons
of greatest abundance. If it be inquired
whether this does not indicate that the mi-
grating birds have been making fuller use
of the Garden as a way station, it will have
to be answered that the year 1900 was a
year of almost as great abundance as the
years 1905 and 1907 and may in reality
have been fully the equal of these more
recent years, since it must be borne in mind
that the powers of observation of the re-
corder have become more keen by training,
and the search made day by day has been
more exhaustive than in that first year of
observation. So there is some basis for
an impression that the season of 1900 may
have equaled any subsequent season in
respect to the use the migrant birds made
of the Garden. How many years previous

44 BIRDS OF THE

to the year 1900 the Garden may have been
an important way station can only be con-
jectured, as the area was filled in and laid
out as a Public Garden only fifty years ago,
the land being reclaimed from the flats of
the Charles River, and the growth of the
trees and its development into the attrac-
tive garden that it is have been slowly go-
ing forward in the intervening years.

Mr. Torrey in the seventies and eighties
of the last century found many migrant birds
present and recorded the names of sixty-
five North American birds which he had
seen on the Common and in the Garden.
Of their numbers in his years of observation
he says in his essay **0n Boston Common" :
**Now it is only a straggler or two; now
a considerable flock of some one species;
and now a miscellaneous collection of per-
haps a dozen sorts." Again : ''During every
migration large numbers of warblers visit
us" ; and he names twelve species, adding,
**No doubt the list is far from complete,
as, of course, I have not used either glass
or gun; and without one or the other of

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 45

these aids the observer must be content to
let many of these small, treetop haunting
birds pass unidentified."

But however it may have been in the
past, it is a pleasant thought to bird-lovers
that now, as the most recent years indicate,
the migrating birds are fully availing of
the grateful advantages of the Garden for
a pause in their long northward journeys,
and are affording ample present opportu-
nity to all who will to see them, to hear them
sing, and in a measure to become acquainted
with them, as far as this may be realized
away from their actual nesting-places,
where only the family life brings out all
their specific characteristics and inspires
whole-hearted song.

As regards the dates of the larger migra-
tion-flights in May, the records show that
one occurred on the first day in 1907; on
the third day in 1905 ; on the seventh day
in 1 90 1 and 1905 ; on the ninth day in 1900
and 1902 ; on the tenth day in 1907 and
1908; on the twelfth day in 1901, 1905, and
1908 ; on the thirteenth day in 1900, 1906,

46 BIRDS OF THE

and 1907 ; on the fourteenth day in 1907 ;
on the fifteenth day in 1900 and 1905 ; on
the sixteenth day in 1905 and 1906 ; on the
seventeenth day in 1902, 1905, and 1908;
on the eighteenth day in 1900 and 1907;
on the nineteenth day in 1906 and 1907;
on the twentieth day in 1903 and 1904;
on the twenty-second day in 1901, 1902,
and 1903 ; on the twenty- third day in 1900 ;
on the twenty-fourth day in 1908, a nota-
ble flight into the Garden, following upon
an entire absence of migrants the two pre-
vious days and the presence of but three
migrants in the two days next preceding;
on the twenty-fifth day in 1904 and 1906;
on the twenty-eighth day in 1907.

On the twelfth day of May in 1908 the
largest number of visitants was present in
the Garden which had been noted in the
series of years; one hundred and thirty-
seven (twenty-eight species) were recorded.
On the Common the same day fifty more
were numbered. The next largest record
was on May 19, 1907, when one hundred
and twenty-two migrant birds (thirty-three

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 47

species) were recorded. The third largest
record was of ninety migrants (thirty-
eight species) present on May 16, 1905.
The fourth largest record was of eighty-
one migrants (fifteen species, there being
forty-five white- throated sparrows present)
on May 3, 1905. The fifth largest record
was of seventy-six migrants (twenty-eight
species) on May 14, 1907. The sixth largest
record was of sixty-four migrants (twenty-
nine species) on May 24, 1908.

In the eight seasons, namely, 1901-1908,
the first migrant or migrants have appeared
respectively on the following dates : in 1901,
on March 24, song sparrow and robin ; in
1902, on March 13, flicker, junco, song spar-
row, hermit thrush, and robin ; in 1903 on
March 6, song sparrow, a single bird; in
1904, on March 24, bronzed grackle, junco,
song sparrow, and robin ; in 1905, on March
18, flicker, bronzed grackle, song sparrow,
and robin; in 1906, on March 11, bronzed
grackle, two birds; in 1907, on March 17,
junco and song sparrow ; in 1908, on March

48 BIRDS OF THE

12, bronzed grackle, song sparrow, and robin.
It will appear that the song sparrow was
the first or among the first migrants in all
of these years except 1906, when, after the
arrival of the grackles, daily low tempera-
tures and snowstorms held back the open-
ing of the season to March 28, on which
day a song sparrow and a robin joined the
two grackles which were already present.

Some attention has been given to the
subject whether the latest migrants are
usually females, the male birds having
preceded them. There is no clear evidence
that such is the case. Often the last in-
dividuals of a species present have been
singing males. Not infrequently the last
bird or birds have been females. Some-
times the latest record of the species for
the season shows that both male and female
birds were present and departed together.
It is generally the case, however, particu-
larly in respect to the warblers, that full-
plumaged male birds precede the more
dull-colored female birds in time of arrival
by a day or two or more. And if a warbler

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 49

of any species be seen on an especially early
date, it is almost without exception a male
bird which has pushed ahead and perhaps
broken the local record.

In the annotated list which follows it
will be found that occasional reference is
made to the continuance of stay of individ-
uals in the Garden. In the case of the
rarer migrants this can be determined with
little liability of error; as, when a Cape
May warbler is present during four days,
it is reasonably certain that it is one and
the same bird, if the bird present each day
differs in no discernible particular from the
bird first seen. Usually in these cases ad-
ditional credibility to the testimony is fur-
nished by the fact that quite commonly
migrants remain in the section of the
grounds where they were discovered or to
which they soon by choice move, or, if
departing therefrom, show a strong dispo-
sition to return to it and spend much of
their time within it, feeling wonted therein,
much as when they have chosen a spot on
their breeding-grounds for their nest and

50 BIRDS OF THE

circulate rather closely about its immediate
vicinity.

The notes given under the various species
in the list which follows will show how fre-
quently this has been true in instances of
extended stay. The instances which are not
specially mentioned are very numerous. A
few examples may be cited here. A Black-
burnian warbler almost confined himself to
one silver maple during a four days' stay.
A Cape May warbler was found usually in
the same quarter of the Garden during a
foiir days' stay. An oven-bird walked back
and forth near a section of the Arlington
Street fence during a seven days* stay. A
tailless brown thrasher, which finally de-
parted with other thrashers, had occupied
the same section during a seven days' stay.
A late-coming, dull-colored hermit thrush
was daily seen in May within one small
area during a nine days' stay. Other ex-
amples might be given of the attachment
of visitants to a very limited area during
even an extended stay. The law very widely
applies, and general conformity to it on the

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 51

part of visiting birds assists an observer
very much in determining whether a migrant
be a new arrival or a bird he has already
observed and recorded, and as to the length
of stay of visitants.

To such an extent is attachment to a
limited area manifested, that visiting birds
may be quite confidently looked for in the
section where they have already been seen,
with small chance of disappointment, if the
bird still be present and not have taken its
departure. In consequence of this attach-
ment to a location, even in migration, an
observer may state to another person who
was absent at the time where he saw a cer-
tain bird of especial interest, and observer
number two is quite certain to find the
object of his desire where it was described
to be, and this, it may be, hours afterward,
or even on the next day.

With reference to the singing of the mi-
grant birds within the Garden, it may be
said that in the notes which follow upon
the respective species it is recorded whether
the male birds have been heard in song or

52 BIRDS OF THE

not. But it may be stated that generally
they are in song, and that a good sugges-
tion, if not a full realization, of what the
song of each species is may be obtained. To
be sure, it must usually be heard under the
disadvantages of noise, and the spirit of the
singer may not be as intense as when he is
on his nesting-ground ; but knowledge and
pleasure untold may be derived by availing
of the opportunities afforded, and in calm-
ness of mind becoming attuned to the happy
life and the sweet expressions of it which
are at hand.

One feature of the spring and summer
bird-life within the Garden is the presence
of a half-dozen European swans upon the
pond. These have been introduced in re-
cent years. In late autumn these swans are
removed to winter quarters. Another fea-
ture which has manifested itself also quite
recently is the permanent residence within
the Garden of a considerable flock of
pigeons, which have adopted a Kentucky
coffee-tree standing by the fern-grown
rockery as headquarters. These pigeons

BOSTON PUBLIC GARDEN 53

roost upon the branches of the tree and
have become so tame that they alight upon
the shoulders and arms of visitors who
come to feed them and scarcely remove
themselves out of the way of passers-by.
On the Common a similar flock lives just
within the grounds near the Park Street
subway station and affords much pleasure
and interest to visitors who bring them
food and linger to enjoy their beauty and
confiding tameness.

The annotated list which follows this in-
troductory chapter includes the names of
species which have been observed in the
years 1900- 1908, and of six additional spe-
cies seen by other observers in earlier years,
namely, American golden-eye, American
woodcock, barred owl, saw-whet owl, belted
kingfisher, and winter wren (the last in
the Granary Burying-Ground) . No at-
tempt has been made to gather older re-
cords, although many observations must
have been made, perhaps casually, by per-
sons who, always moving through out-of-
doors with their eyes and ears open to

54 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

nature, have been witnesses of interesting
occurrences. The list contains the names of
one hundred and sixteen North American
birds, arranged in the order adopted by the
American Ornithologists' Union and under
the nomenclature most recently revised by
its committee, and it concludes with the
names of two introduced species and two
species of the Eastern hemisphere repre-
sented by individual birds which had un-
doubtedly escaped from captivity.

ANNOTATED LIST

OF THE

BIRDS OF THE BOSTON
PUBLIC GARDEN

AND INCIDENTALLY OF THE COMMON

IN MIGRATION
1900-1908

I. Herring Gull

Larus argentatus

Herring Gulls, not as migrants, but as
winter residents, are occasionally seen pass-
ing over northwestward to the Charles
River Basin and inland ponds, sometimes a
single bird and sometimes a dozen or twenty
birds. Very infrequently one or two have
been seen in the early morning flying in the
opposite direction. On April 25, 1906,
thirty were seen for a time to circle over the
Garden. Usually the occasional passages
over continue well into the month of May.
This was especially the case in 1905, when
the last bird noted passed over northward
in the morning of May 23.

In the autumn, year by year, Herring
Gulls have also been seen, not daily, but
occasionally, as in the spring. The earliest
fall records are of one in flight on October
13, 1905, and of one on October 14, 1908.

S8 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

2. American Golden-eye

Clangula clangula americana

In the "Ornithologist and Oologist,"
1891, voL xvi, p. 174, is the following note:
"David Hunt, Jr., reports that a Golden-
eyed Duck was in the pond at the Public
Garden, Boston, Mass., at 6 p. m. of Sat-
urday, November 31st [1891]. On ap-
proach he rose and flew toward the river.
The identification was positive, as he ap-
proached within fifty yards.*'

The species is an abundant winter resi-
dent on the Charles River Basin.

3. Canada Goose

Branta canadensis

In the early morning of October 22, 1907,
a flock of eight Canada Geese passed over
the Garden at a comparatively low eleva-
tion in a southward direction, flying in the
characteristic wedge-shaped form. They
were not calling.

No other record of the species has been
obtained.

AMERICAN WOODCOCK 59

4. Black-crowned Night Heron

Nycticorax nycticorax ncBvius

Two Night Herons upon two occasions,
May 20, 1903, and May 18, 1907, flew into
the Garden and about the pond for a few
minutes and were gone. The species, there-
fore, is only a casual visitor. The visits re-
corded were in the very early morning, and
on one of the occasions the weather was
cloudy.

5. American Woodcock

Philohela minor

Mr. Bradford Torrey furnishes this gra-
phic account of a Woodcock which he saw
in some year previous to 1900.

"I once saw a Woodcock flying down
Beacon Street, just in front of the second-
story windows. It was on a Sunday morning.
He was under full steam and turned into a
place or street shortly before getting down
to Charles Street. *T was a queer sight.
He was close to the houses, as I remem-
ber it, over the sidewalk, and, I should

6o BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

think, must have felt as queer as he
looked."

In his essay "On Boston Common" Mr.
Torrey mentions once finding the body of
a Woodcock which had evidently met its
death against an electric wire.

No recent records have been obtained.

6. Solitary Sandpiper

Helodromas solitarius

On May 3, 1905, and again on May 23,
1907, a Solitary Sandpiper has come into
the Garden on the wing, lit upon the stone
curbing of the pond, and after taking two
or three successive flights over the water
has departed, having made only a few
minutes' stay. These very brief visits sug-
gest that such birds may come into the
Garden more often than they have been
recorded and pass out unobserved after,
it may be, only a moment's delay.

Dr. Charles W. Townsend furnishes me
with an autumn record of a Solitary Sand-
piper in the Garden, namely, on Septem-
ber 27, 1905.

THE EUROPEAN WHITE BIRCH

SPOTTED SANDPIPER 6i

7. Spotted Sandpiper

Actitis macularia

In five of the nine seasons of observa-
tion the Spotted Sandpiper has been re-
corded; in four of these seasons a single
bird only has been seen. But in 1907 there
were three successive visits of the species;
one of a bird on May 9, which remained a
half-hour, following the curbing round the
pond and taking flight to another portion
only when disturbed ; another of a bird on
May 13; and the third visit was of two
birds on May 25, which made a more pro-
longed stay and showed little disposition
to leave.

On other occasions the departure of the
visitant has followed so closely upon its
entrance that there has been opportunity
to view it only two or three times in its
flights over the water and clearly identify
it before it was gone.

The records show the period of migra-
tion of the Spotted Sandpiper through the
Garden to be from May 9 to 25.

62 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
8. Bob-white

Colinus virginianus

Dr. Charles W. Townsend furnishes this
interesting record: " I saw a female of this
species in the Public Garden near the
Everett statue on June i6th, 1906. The
bird was wild and flew to the protection of
some bushes when approached."

As the Garden is separated from the
parks of the Rack Bay district and beyond
by at least a mile of Commonwealth
Avenue, it is surprising that this bird
found its way to the heart of the city.

9. Sharp-shinned Hawk

Accipiter velox

A Sharp-shinned Hawk was seen flying
over the Garden on May 13, 1907.

Doubtless similar opportunities of re-
cording a hawk of one of the more common
species have occurred from time to time
and have been missed, because the observ-
er's attention has been concentrated within
the Garden.

BROAD-WINGED HAWK 63

In furtherance of this idea I may state
what Mr. Francis H. Allen communicates
to me. He writes that when he saw the
barred owl on the Common, November 5,
1888, there was a small hawk in the next
tree to it, which he thought was a Sharp-
shinned Hawk, but that he did not identify
it positively. He further states: "I have
also seen a probable goshawk, one or two
small falcons, and some buteos, none of
which were positively identified as to
species."

10. Broad-winged Hawk

Buleo platypterus

On the morning of April 24, 1905, the
grackles were noisily scolding in a group
of trees beside the pond, and upon investi-
gation the cause was found to be the pre-
sence of a Broad-winged Hawk, perched in
an elm about fifty feet from the ground and
entirely indifferent to their cries and my
near presence. At length, after a satisfying
scrutiny of the bird, I dislodged it by per-
sistent hand-clapping; but it flew only a

64 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

short distance to another perch. The same
thing was repeated, and still the bird did
not fly from the Garden. The characteristic
traits of this species of hawk were well
brought out, therefore, by its manifestation
of sluggishness and an absence of suspicious
fear, also by its short flights. It prolonged
its stay beyond my own.

II. American Sparrow Hawk

Falco sparverius

On one occasion only, in the early morn-
ing of May 9, 1908, has a Sparrow Hawk
been seen within the Garden. It was found
perching high in the tall gingko tree which
stands near the Ether Monument, and it
did not take wing for perhaps ten minutes,
when it flew off over the line of Common-
wealth Avenue in the direction of the Fens,
where it has been found to be a usual bird
during the winter season.

SAW-WHET OWL 65

12. Barred Owl

Strix varia

Mr. Francis H. Allen furnishes a record
of a Barred Owl. The bird, he states, was
seen on the Tremont Street mall of the
Common, November 5, 1888.

Mr. Bradford Torrey's interesting ac-
count of an owl on the Common in his essay
"On Boston Common" records the pre-
sence of another owl on a cloudy November
afternoon, probably in one of the years just
preceding 1883, whether a Barred Owl or
not is not stated.

13. Saw- WHET Owl

Glaux acadicus

Mr. John H. Hardy, Jr., writes me that
in the fall of 1892, probably in the month
of November, he saw an Acadian, or Saw-
whet, Owl in one of the elms on Beacon
Street near the corner of Charles Street.
Mr. Hardy says : " A crowd was watching a
boy climb the tree to get the bird, and really
the fellow almost succeeded, but the owl
gave him a cold stare and flew away."

66 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
14. Screech Owl

Otus asio

About three o'clock in the afternoon of
December 30, 1908, Mr. Eugene E. Caduc
sent me word that there was a small owl on
the Common near to Joy Street, and very
kindly kept the bird in view until I could
reach the spot and designate its name. It
proved to be a Screech Owl of the gray
phase. It occupied a horizontal bough of a
linden tree which stands by the footpath
from Spruce Street to Winter Street. The
afternoon was evenly clouded, and against
the gray sky the form of the little owl with
ears erect was clearly silhouetted. It did
not move in the space of an hour's time,
except once or twice to turn the head a
little sidewise. One could see the chilly
breezes blow its feathers, and it stood ap-
parently contented and happy, giving no
attention to a little group of persons who
stood wondering beneath it or to passers-by
who looked upon it with an interest which
the rarity of the occurrence awakened.

YELLOW-BILLED CUCKOO 67

After I had departed Mr. Caduc and his
friend Mr. Potter remained and saw it
take two short flights in the direction of the
Union Clubhouse and then a longer flight
down towards the Frog Pond. The dark-
ness of evening had then fallen upon the
Common.

Mr. William Brewster in his "Birds of
the Cambridge Region" says: "Even that
densely populated part of Boston known as
the Back Bay district is now occasionally
invaded by these daring and adaptive little
owls ; Dr. Arthur P. Chadbourne tells me
that he heard one wailing in the trees on
Marlborough Street during the evening of
January 31, 1902, and late in December,
1903, my assistant, Mr. R. A. Gilbert, saw
another which had just been caught on the
doorstep of a house on Commonwealth
Avenue.'*

15. Yellow-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus americanus

The song of this species of cuckoo came
several times distinctly to the ear in the

68 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

forenoon of May 19, 1907, a day which sur-
passed all other days but one in the series of
years in respect to the number of migrant
birds within the Garden inclosure. The
temperature was 80°, following a warm
night, and the migration movement had
been very large. With sixteen species of
warblers, numbering seventy-four recorded
individuals, had come many catbirds, some
late purple finches, and even a blue jay.
The Cuckoo appears to have been drawn
irresistibly into this mixed company. It
must be regarded as a rare bird in the
Garden. This is the only record which has
been obtained.

16. Black-billed Cuckoo

Coccyzus erythrophthalmus

One record, and one reaord only, of this
species of cuckoo has been obtained by me.
On May 30, 1908, a Black-billed Cuckoo
was seen sitting quietly on a bough of the
large white willow which stands at the
northwest corner of the pond. At first the
bird sat crosswise of the bough, later hori-

BELTED KINGFISHER 69

zontally along it. I saw it eat a near cater-
pillar, but otherwise it was inactive. It
was also silent. But the close approach
which I was able to make revealed it to be
a black-billed bird.

Mr. E. E. Caduc informs me that he saw
a Black-billed Cuckoo daily in the Garden
between June 8 and 17 of the same year,
that it was always seen in one of two or
three maples near the northeast corner of
the pond, that he searched carefully for a
possible mate, thinking that a nesting of the
species might be going forward, but that he
found none, and that the bird was not seen
after June 17, although he continued his
daily visits up to July 3. The bird, he says,
not infrequently gave its call.

17. Belted Kingfisher

Ceryle alcyon

Mr. Francis H. Allen states that he saw
a Kingfisher flying over the Granary Bury-
ing-Ground, and probably also visible from
the Common, on September 21, 1896.

Mr. Bradford Torrey records that twice

70 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

in the fall he found a Kingfisher about the
Frog Pond. *'Once the fellow sprung his
watchman's rattle." These occurrences
were previous to the year 1883.

Dr. Charles W. Townsend writes me that
he has in his collection the skin of a female
Kingfisher which was found dead on Marl-
borough Street near Clarendon Street on
October 5, 1907, the bird apparently hav-
ing been killed by striking the house.

18. Hairy Woodpecker

Dryobates. villosus

In two spring seasons a Hairy Wood-
pecker, a male bird each time, has made a
lengthened stay in the Garden, occasionally
passing over to the Common and being
noted there when not seen in the Garden.
The first visit was of a bird which appeared
March 27, 1904, and remained until April
18 ; the second visit was of a bird which re-
mained from March 19 to 28, 1905. Both
birds at times gave their long rattle calls.

Two autumn and winter records have
also been obtained, one of a bird in the

DOWNY WOODPECKER 71

middle of November, 1903, which remained
about a week, and one in late December,
1904, on the Common. This was probably
the bird which Mr. F. H. Allen informs me
he saw on January 3, 1905. In both of these
instances also the birds were males.

19. Downy Woodpecker

Dryobates pubescens medianus

One visit of a Downy Woodpecker to the
Garden covered three days, April 4 to 6,
1903 ; another visit five days, April 3 to 7,
1906 ; a third visit was of a female bird on
April 21, 1906. In 1908, a Downy Wood-
pecker appeared in the Garden on March 14
and another on March 20. The rattle call
was often heard in these several instances,
which constitute all the spring appearances
of the species.

In October the visits of the Downy have
been more prolonged and somewhat more
frequent, and the stay of one bird extended
to November 17, in 1907, when it was seen
on the Common. The species is not a
regular visitant to the Garden.

72 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
20. Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

Sphyrapicus varius

There have been four spring visits of the
Sapsucker in the Garden. The arrival of
the species on the first three occasions was
each time on April 24 or 25 ; namely, two
birds were noted in 1903 for a single day;
two male birds were seen in 1905, one re-
maining to the third day ; and a female bird
was seen on April 25 and 26 in 1906. In
1908 a male bird appeared on April 17 and
was not seen the next day.

In October, 1908, two Sapsuckers were
seen in the Garden on the eighth day, one
remaining to the next day ; and another, a
male bird, appeared on the nineteenth and
was seen again the day following.

The Sapsucker, therefore, proves to be
as frequent a visitor to the Garden in
the spring as the downy woodpecker, but
visitants remain a shorter time. The only
autumn records are those of 1908.

NORTHERN FLICKER 73

21. Northern Flicker

Colaptes auratus luteus

The Flicker, or Yellow-Hammer, is a
regular visitor to the Garden, and usually
several birds come each season. There have
been comparatively few March records of
the species. Many of the occurrences are
of a single bird. Once, however, in 1906,
on April 14, three birds were seen and again
seen the day following. Several times a
visit has been prolonged ten or twelve days,
especially in the case of visitors in April.
Not infrequently the strong, lusty song has
been heard, and the sharp call also. In the
case of a bird which remained to May 23,
in 1906, the song came one morning from
the roof of the Sears residence on Arling-
ton Street. The visitors often pass over to
the Common and back again. Occasionally
they drop to the ground and feed, but are
generally upon the larger trees and often
fly to the willows on the island.

In evidence of the nesting of Flickers
on the Common, Dr. Manning K. Rand

74 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

writes me that in the spring of 1907 he saw
two or three young birds going through a
sort of dance together on a grass-plot at
the left of the Joy Street path from Beacon
Street. Dr. Rand says: "I do not know
where they nested. They were young birds
because they were not fully feathered and
still had some of the down on their heads
sticking through the feathers." Mr. Chester
S. Day, I am informed, in the same season
observed an old bird coming out of a nest-
hole in the same section of the Common.
Mr. E. E. Caduc informs me that he saw
a Flicker on the grass in the Garden on
July 2, 1908, and that two Flickers were
seen on the Common at intervals during
the summer of that year.

Quite regularly in October and Novem-
ber Flickers are again present. The stay
of the autumn birds is often quite ex-
tended. One was seen occasionally on the
Common in 1907 into late December. This
bird was seen in the Garden on December
16 by Mr. Glover M. Allen. In 1908, Mr.
Caduc informs me that he saw four Flickers

NIGHTHAWK 75

together on the Common in the vicinity of
the burying-ground on December 4 to 6.
I saw pne on Monument Hill in the morn-
ing of December 30 of that year, and the
bird was seen by Mr. Caduc on January
4 and 5, 1909.

22. NiGHTHAWK

Chordeiles virginianus

One or two Nighthawks are heard regu-
larly each season calling from the sky over
Beacon Hill or the Back Bay. The call has
sometimes been heard and the bird seen
overhead in the early morning, while at-
tention was being given to the songsters
within the Garden. The middle of May is
the usual time for the appearance of the
species.

In 1908 a Nighthawk was heard over
Beacon Hill in the evening of May 24, and
the next morning between three and three
forty-five o'clock was constantly calling.
The following morning, May 26, one was
heard up to four-thirty o'clock, and in the
early afternoon of that day, two o'clock,

76 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

was in the sky over the houses, elevated not
very high above them, and calHng at regu-
lar intervals. This was a very warni day
of 84° temperature in the shade at the time,
and the sun shone hot in a clear sky. The
calls were given also in the quiet of the
evening. Two birds were heard in the even-
ing of May 30.

Nighthawks are known to have regu-
larly nested on the flat graveled roofs of
buildings in the Back Bay district in re-
cent years.

23. Chimney Swift

ChcBtura pelagica

By the middle of May from one or two
to ten or twelve Chimney Swifts may be
seen scurrying overhead in their rapid
flights, appearing and disappearing and re-
appearing, uttering their hurried twitter-
ing notes in greeting of the day.

The earliest record is of a bird on May i,
1907; in 1902 one was seen on May 6.
But usually the appearance of the species
dates from May 13 or 14, when com-

RUBY-THROATED HUMMINGBIRD 77

monly half a dozen Swifts may be seen
and heard.

In the morning of May 26, 1908, thirty
Swifts were counted in the air over the
Garden, and on June i a half-dozen were
still about.

24. Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Trochilus colubris

I have found the Hummingbird a very
infrequent visitant to the Garden. Indeed,
in two seasons only have I records of the
species, namely, 1905 and 1908. In the
former year on May 13 and again on May
18 a single bird was observed in flight, and
on May 21a female bird was seen perching.
In 1908, on May 24, a Hummingbird
visited the Garden.

Friends have two or three times men-
tioned seeing a Hummingbird in other
years, but later in the season than my ob-
servations had extended.

78 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
25. Kingbird

Tyrannus tyrannus

The Kingbird has been recorded in seven
of the nine seasons. The species has usually
first appeared between May 15 and 18, re-
presented by a single bird, and commonly
this bird has remained but one day, some-
times two days. Then a second migration
has occurred five or six days later, on May
20 to 25, usually a single bird appearing
and for one day only. But on May 20,
1907, the unusual occurrence of five King-
birds present together, and in one tree,
was recorded. None remained to the next
day. The earliest appearance of the species
was on May 9, 1906, one bird. Mr. Caduc
informs me that he saw two Kingbirds on
the Common, May 31, 1908. They did not
remain. The song has been heard.

26. Phcebe

Sayornis phcebe

The Phoebe is an infrequent visitor to
the Garden. The species has been recorded

WOOD PEWEE 79

in the spring in four seasons only ; namely,
one bird on April 17, 1902 ; three birds on
April 5 and 6, 1903 ; one bird on March 29,
1905; and three successive visitants in
1908, one on March 29 and 30, one on April
6, and one on April 21 to 23. On the occa-
sion of the three birds in the Garden, in
1903, there were two others on the Com-
mon. The migration period of the Phoebe
has extended, therefore, from March 29
(twice) to April 23. The birds have in-
variably been silent.

Twice in the autumn the species has been
recorded : in the Garden one bird on Octo-
ber 20, 1901 ; on the Common one bird on
October 13, 1907.

27. Wood Pewee

Myiochanes virens

One or two Wood Pewees have usually
been recorded in the Garden each season.
The earliest appearance of the species was
on May 16, in 1905. The latest date of
arrival was of a bird on May 26, 1906. The
visitant has always been in song and, ex-

8o BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

cept on one occasion, has remained but one
day. The exception was a Pewee in 1900,
which remained five days, and sang each
day, from May 18 to 22, and then disap-
peared. In 1908 two Wood Pewees visited
the Garden on May 24, one in song and the
other not. They were not subsequently
seen or heard.

28. Yellow-bellied Flycatcher

Empidonax flaviventris

In two seasons only has a Yellow-bellied
Flycatcher been recorded, namely, in 1905
and 1908. In the former season two birds
appeared on May 18, and while one dis-
appeared at once, the other, presumably
the same bird, remained five days. Again,
on May 27 of the same year a bird of this
species was seen.

In 1908 one visited the Garden on May
24, for that day only. In these several in-
stances the birds were silent.

LEAST FLYCATCHER 8i

29. Least Flycatcher

Empidonax minimus

Every year of observation the Least Fly-
catcher, or Chebec, has been present in the
Garden. There have been nineteen occur-
rences of the species in the nine years. In
1906 there was but one visitant. In 1907
there were three records. The eadiest ap-
pearance of the species was on April 29,
1908, one bird. The usual time of arrival is
between May 12 and 15. A second wave
of migration has brought others each sea-
son between May 17 and 20.

In several instances the stay of a visitant
has covered nearly or quite a week. In
1902 a bird was present from May 17 to
23, seven days. In 1907 one was present
from May 19 to 24, six days. In 1908 two
birds were singing high up in the tops of
the tall trees on May 24. None in any
season has remained later than the last-
mentioned date. The species is usually in
song.

82 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
30. Blue Jay

Cyanocitta cristata

The Blue Jay on comparatively late mi-
gration dates has quite regularly made its
appearance in the Garden, giving its loud
** jay" cries. It has appeared in the larger
migration movements, and generally in the
middle of May and later rather than in
April. I have records of but two April
appearances, namely, in the middle of the
month; while a Jay has come with the
warblers, flycatchers, and later sparrows
several seasons on the date May 14, and
at other times between May 18 and 26, a
single bird in every instance. Mr. E. E.
Caduc informs me that occasionally in the
month of June, 1908, the cry of a Jay came
to his ear while he was in the Garden.

There have been three October records
of a Jay present, in 1905, 1906, and 1908.

I know of the presence of the Blue Jay
in the Garden only at these migration
seasons, and then only transitorily, a bird
seldom being noted a second day.

AMERICAN CROW 83

31. American Crow

Corvus brachyrhynchos

The presence and call of the Crow at in-
tervals in all of the three months of the
spring migration have regularly been noted.
Some seasons a single bird has appeared
for one day only. In other seasons a Crow
or a pair has been noted intermittently for
a considerable period. In April, 1907, two
were repeatedly seen during the first half of
the month, and one during the second half ;
but there was no May record of either.

In May, 1900, as noted by Mr. WilHam
Brewster in his ** Birds of the Cambridge
Region," a pair of Crows nested in the
rear of a house on Beacon Street, near the
Somerset Club. Mr. H. A. Purdie fur-
nishes the following account of the nest-
ing: "The nest was built in an old, tall
weeping willow which stands in the stable-
yard, and was placed high on one of the
larger limbs. Here three young were reared.
Two of them were taken from the nest and
given to a person in a suburb, who kept

84 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

them as pets a while and then gave them
their liberty. The third nestling fell to the
ground and was cared for at the Puritan
Club on Spruce Street. The nest, or a por-
tion of it, remained in position for a long
time, showing it was well constructed. The
old birds were occasionally heard cawing
and seen flying over the Common, Louis-
burg Square, and its vicinity. Presumably
they obtained some of their food at low tide
on the flats back of Brimmer and Charles
streets." During the month of May one
or the other of this pair was often seen or
heard by me about the Garden. In 1904,
and again in 1905, one and sometimes two
Crows were seen quite up to the end of
May, but the nesting-site was not deter-
mined.

In the autumn, also, one or sometimes
two Crows have been seen, usually flying
in from the westward, and sometimes pass-
ing over and at other times alighting and
perching within the Garden. In the latter
part of October, 1905, the repetitions of a
Crow's coming day by day soon after sun-

BOBOLINK 85

rise indicated that they might be the ex-
cursions of the same bird, probably from
the Fens or Brookhne. Again, in October,
1908, there were similarly repeated visits,
often of two Crows which came from the
same direction and continued their excur-
sions to the Garden in this way up to No-
vember 7, often alighting and calling.

Mr. E. E. Caduc on December 26 of that
year saw one Crow silently perching in the
Garden and another on the Common.

The Crow, therefore, appears as a mi-
grant in or over the Garden, as an excur-
sionist from the larger parks and suburban
towns, and once has been present as a breed-
ing species in the immediate neighborhood
of the Common.

32. Bobolink

Dolichonyx oryzivorus

It was not until the year 1907 that a
Bobolink was seen within the Garden.
Then in the early morning of May 14, soon
after my entrance, the joyous song of this
species came to my ear, and the songster

86 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

was seen in flight over the brilliant tulip-
beds of the centre path, — seen none too
soon, for he was quickly gone.

But again, on the morning of May 20,
the experience was repeated, except that
the singer remained to take several flights
and move about upon the grass. Both
visits, however, were fleeting, and both oc-
curred upon days of migration-flights, when
large numbers of migrant birds had ar-
rived.

Mr. Bradford Torrey states in his essay
"On Boston Common": *'I once heard a
Bobolink sing in our Garden (the only one
I ever saw there)." Of this bird he writes
me, **The Bobolink was not far from the
Washington monument, and I remember
still how surprised and delighted I was to
see him."

33. COWBIRD

Molothrus ater

No Cowbird had been noted within the
area of the Garden or the Common until
the season of 1908. On March 29 of that

COWBIRD 87

year Mr. Glover M. Allen writes me that
he saw a Cowbird in the Garden near the
pond.

In the early morning of April 7 of the
same year I heard the characteristic cow-
bird whistle from a tree on the Common.
It was the day which brought the first ves-
per sparrow, the first swamp sparrow, and
the first hermit thrush of the season to the
grounds and contributed to the number of
song and fox sparrows which were present.
The whistles were heard but a few times,
when the bird took wing and flew away.

In the winter of 1904-05 a male Cowbird
roosted nightly with the house sparrows
in the King's Chapel Burying-Ground,
where, as all Bostonians know, the sparrows
congregate in vast numbers to spend the
night in the few trees standing therein,
measurably protected by the walls which
rise around it. Mr. F. P. Spalding in the
engineering department at the City Hall
discovered the bird on November 16, a date
which would indicate that it was a '' left-
over." I saw it upon November 25 and De-

88 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

cember 2, 1904, and January 10, February i,
March i and 24, and April 3, 1905. The bird
daily went forth with the sparrows, as they
scattered in the morning to their feeding-
grounds, some no doubt going quite a dis-
tance from City Hall, but it was never seen
again until at the sunset hour with the re-
assembling of the host he again reappeared
and took a perch for the night. Mr. Spal-
ding states that its arrival among the spar-
rows was frequently made known by the
very loud chirping of the sparrows that had
previously arrived, and one was safe in say-
ing, ** The bird has come," and upon look-
ing out of the window it would be seen
among the largest bunch of sparrows. His
final disappearance, which probably was on
April 4, occurred at the time in the spring
when migrants of his own species were ar-
riving in the country fields and pastures,
and doubtless he found companions of his
own kind to join and reentered into the
joys of Hfe with them.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD 89

34. Red-winged Blackbird

Agelaius phceniceus

Upon no day has more than a single Red-
winged Blackbird been recorded within the
Garden; but usually there have been sev-
eral successive visits of a bird during each
season. The earliest appearances of the
species have been on March 26, 1907, and
on March 30, 1908. There have been but
five April records. Most of the visits have
been in May, and all, excepting in one in-
stance, have been made by a male bird
which has flown in, it may be, from the Fens,
and, after taking a lofty perch upon one of
the trees standing by the pond, has sung
freely for a brief time and then retired
again. I have not found a bird remaining
during any considerable portion of a day or
even while I completed my morning round.
It may be, therefore, that these May ap-
pearances of a Red-wing are commonly
morning excursions from a chosen neigh-
boring haunt ; for sometimes upon four or
five mornings in succession such brief visits

90 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

have been paid, presumably by the same
bird. The visitors in almost every instance
sing and thus appeal rather to the ear than
to the eye of the observer ; for they do not
fly through or about the Garden, but, com-
ing through the upper air, alight in a tree-
top and there attract attention by their
singing. They go in the same manner, ris-
ing well into the air and flying off over the
house-roofs in the direction of the Fens.
I have but one record of a female Red-
wing in the Garden, namely, on May 2,
1902.

35. Baltimore Oriole

Icterus galbula

The Baltimore Oriole, or Hangbird, is one
of the very few summer residents of the
Garden, never failing to nest upon some of
the slender, hanging boughs of the elms.
The earliest arrival of the species in the
Garden was on May 5, 1905, when two
male birds were singing in the early morn-
ing. The latest arrival was in 1907, namely,
on May 14. The usual time of the Oriole^s

BALTIMORE ORIOLE 91

appearance has been between May 8 and
12, in four of the nine seasons the arrival
having been on May 9. The males precede
the females, although sometimes they are
but a single day in advance.

Two or three pairs have proved to be the
quota each season for the Garden. But in
1908 four nests were constructed. Other
pairs nest on the Common. On one occa-
sion, May II, 1905, seven males and three
females were present together. The extra
males, however, retired, as but three nests
were built. Usually no more are present
upon any day than have come to remain.
The nest-bui!ding follows quickly after the
arrival of the females.

In 1908 a female Oriole started her nest
upon a slender bough of an elm on the Bea-
con Street mall, but she was rudely frus-
trated in her home-making by a pair of
house sparrows, which so assiduously built
upon the half-made nest of the Oriole as a
foundation that she could not proceed with
her more delicate and painstaking weaving
and was forced to select another site.

92 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

One of the nests of 1908 was hung from
the bough of a willow which stands by the
boat-landing. The bough selected was in
the top of the tree. Evidences do not re-
main in the autumn that the several pairs
have built a second nest; for, when the
trees become bare of leaves, only the nests
which had been observed in the process of
construction in May are to be seen.

The species has disappeared in the au-
tumn before the time when my observa-
tions have been resumed. But Mr. Maurice
C. Blake furnishes the record of a female
Oriole present in the Garden on September
8, 1905.

36. Rusty Blackbird

Euphagus carolinus

Usually one Rusty, and that commonly a
male, appears in the Garden each season,
but sometimes two successively. The visit
is very transitory. I have no record of
the continuance of one to the second day.
The birds usually follow round the margin
of the pond, either upon the curbing or

BRONZED CRACKLE 93

below it upon the shore in case of low water.
Occasionally in all instances the character-
istic, explosive whistle of the species has
been heard.

The earliest recorded bird was a male on
March 23, 1907 ; the latest a male bird on
May 13, 1902, and on the same day in 1908.
There have been five visitants in early
April. The only instance of the presence of
two birds together was on April 3, 1908,
both males. A female bird came on May 7,
1901, and one was on the Common April
23, 1902.

37. Bronzed Crackle

Quiscalus quiscula csneus

The Bronzed Crackle, or Crow Blackbird,
was about beginning its occupancy of the
Carden as a summer resident, it would be
surmised, when observations were begun
there in 1900 ; for the presence of two pairs
only is recorded that year and the year fol-
lowing. But Mr. Torrey in his essay, pub-
lished in the ''Atlantic Monthly" of Feb-
ruary, 1883, speaks of a few having taken

94 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

to building their nests in one corner of the
domain at that time. So it would seem as
if the species made no gain in numbers
within the Garden for a period of twenty-
years. In 1902 the number had doubled
that of 1901, but there were then only four
pairs. In 1903 the number had more than
doubled again, and the record shows ten
pairs nesting. In 1904 there were fourteen
nests ; in 1905 eighteen nests ; in 1906 thirty-
two nests. The year 1907 marked a dim-
inution of pairs, as the number of nests
observed was but twenty-five, and in 1908
about the same number was recorded. This
diminution may have been due in part to a
severe pruning of the English hawthorns,
which left them no longer the thick trees
coveted for nesting which they had been.
The consequence was that some pairs re-
sorted to the tops of the tallest deciduous
trees for nesting-sites, and doubtless there
were not favorable places enough for as
many as the numbers of 1906. Some of the
surplus passed over to the Common, for
there was an increase in the number of
pairs which nested there.

i

BRONZED CRACKLE 95

In five years, therefore, from 1902 to
1906, there was a rapid increase of grackles
breeding within the Garden, and such a
check as occurred in 1907 was doubtless
desirable.

The earliest arrival of the species was on
March 11, 1906, when two birds appeared;
but this earliness of date was offset by their
disappearance after six days, owing to a
week of wintry weather, in which the mer-
cury dropped to 1 1° and two snowfalls oc-
curred, depositing fifteen inches of snow.
There was a reappearance of these two
birds, or other two, on March 25, followed
by successive additions until the number
of nesting birds reached sixty-four. The
next earliest arrival was in 1908, when three
birds appeared on March 12. The latest
date of arrival of the species within the
Garden was March 24, in 1904. The usual
time of coming has been between March 16
and 18.'

^ A male Bronzed Crackle, which had returned to the
Garden for the season of 1909, was seen by me on Feb-
ruary 26 in a purple beech which retained on one of its

96 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

By the first of May many nests have been
begun or already contain eggs, and by the
end of the month the young grackles have
left the earliest-built nests. These birds of
beautiful iridescent plumage add much to
the charm and happy life of the Garden,
and their notes, though unmusical, fall
not unpleasantly on the ear of bird-loving
visitors. Their value, also, in destroying
insect life must be beyond easy calcula-
tion.

Among all the grackles which year by
year live in the Garden I have been unable
to identify any individual as a Purple
Grackle, and yet the opportunities have
been ample on account of the tameness of
the birds, which affords an observer the full-
boughs the remains of a grackle's nest of the previous
year. It is interesting to record that Mrs. Charles W.
Townsend, who kindly permits me to chronicle her ob-
servation, saw this grackle on February 23. A few blue-
birds had appeared here and there in the vicinity of Bos-
ton on this date, and a single red-winged blackbird had
also been seen by me on Arlington Heights upon that
day. This first grackle, having come so early, remained
alone for nineteen days. A second came on March 14,
and two days later two others arrived.

BRONZED GRACKLE 97

est chances to scan them and assure himself
of their coloration.

Some grackles are present when obser-
vations have been resumed in October, but
so few, and intermittently, that it is quite
likely that they are birds which did not
nest and were not reared within the Garden,
but migrant birds on their way southward.
In October, 1908, when observation was
resumed on the eighth day, no grackle was
present, and none was noted until the fif-
teenth day. This seems confirmatory of
the assumption that the summer residents
had all gone and that the few records of the
species made after the middle of the month
were of migrant birds. Only once has a con-
siderable flock been seen in the autumn,
namely, twenty-five birds on October 24,
1906; one grackle only had been present
on the previous day. Dr. Charles W. Town-
send furnishes an additional record of a
flock in the autumn, that of six Bronzed
Grackles present and singing on October
15, 1905. The departure of the last birds
has occurred definitely between October

98 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

22 and 24, except in 1906, when the date
was October 26.

38. Pine Grosbeak

Pinicola enucleator leucura

On March 23, 1907, a female or young
male Pine Grosbeak visited the Garden for
a few minutes in the early morning. It was
seen perching on a temporary windbreak
of small spruces which the gardener had
placed for the winter season around a group
of rhododendrons. The whistles of the bird
first attracted my attention. The species
had been common in the suburbs of Boston
throughout the winter. This was the last
Pine Grosbeak which was seen by me that
season. Doubtless it was a migrant north
from some more southern point, accom-
panying an incoming of grackles and
robins.

One other brief visit of a Pine Grosbeak
was on November i, 1903, which time
marked the beginning of a previous visita-
tion of this species to the environs of Boston.

Mr. Francis H. Allen has furnished to

PURPLE FINCH 99

Mr. William Brewster's "Birds of the
Cambridge Region" an additional record,
which is especially interesting on account
of its late date, namely, that of a Pine Gros-
beak in the Granary Burying-Ground on
April 24, 1896. The closeness of this area to
the Common suggests the appropriateness
of including this visitant among those of
the Garden and the Common.

39. Purple Finch

Carpodacus purpureus

There are usually several appearances of
the Purple Finch within the Garden each
season, but at no time has a flock been ob-
served. Nearly all of the records are of a
single bird ; and sometimes the species has
not appeared until May 7 or later. The
earliest record is that of a bird in song on
April 3, 1906. In four of the seasons one
has been present as late as between May 19
and 23. These later birds have been singing
freely, but they have moved on without
delay to more congenial nesting-haunts.

The Purple Finch has also been an au-

loo BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

tumn visitant in October in six of the years,
and in 1904 one was recorded on Novem-
ber 5. Although the species is to some ex-
tent a winter resident about Boston, no
earlier spring or later fall records have been
obtained.

40. White-winged Crossbill

Loxia leucoptera

At the time of the coming from the north
of this erratic species in the autumn of 1908
a single bird was heard as it passed over the
Garden calling in the morning of October
21. And on November 5 two birds sim-
ilarly passed over. In each instance they
were flying westward toward the suburbs
possessing cone-bearing trees. The trees
this season were heavily laden with cones,
upon the seeds of which both species of
Crossbills feed.

41. Redpoll

Acanthis linaria

Three times the Redpoll has entered the
Public Garden record. Mr. Glover M.

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH loi

Allen furnishes the earliest record of the
three, having noted a Redpoll within the
grounds on February 12, 1907. On the sec-
ond occasion a lone bird was seen passing
over northward on April 21, 1907, at the
end of a season in which the species had
been abundant in the suburbs in winter
flocks. On the third occasion three birds
were flying over westward in the morning
of November 22, 1908. In both the later
instances the birds gave their character-
istic calls.

42. American Goldfinch

Astragalinus tristis

The Goldfinch, or Thistle-bird, never has
failed to make several appearances in the
Garden each spring and again in October
and November. The earliest appearances
of the species were on April 10, 1908, when
seven birds were present, some singing, and
on April 11, 1902, when a single bird singing
was noted. There have been but three other
April records, namely, April 22 and 23, in
1902 and 1903 respectively, and April 30,

102 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

1908, in each instance a single bird. In
May the visits have occurred between
May 7 and 30.

A little flock numbering from six to eight
birds has been seen but four times. The
occurrences of a single bird far outnumber
those of two or more birds. Not uncom-
monly the lone Goldfinch has been in song.

Fewer individuals have been recorded
in the autumn, but the species regularly
reappears then and has furnished many
November as well as October records, the
latest birds being a little flock of four pre-
sent on November 22, 1903.

43. Pine Siskin

Spinus pinus

In 1907 and 1908 only has the Pine Siskin,
or Pine Finch, been recorded in the spring
in the Garden. On May 20 of the former
year a single bird was heard calling in flight,
and on May 25 one was seen perching and
singing. In 1908 a Siskin appeared on
May 12, when a very large general migra-
tion-flight manifested itself in the Garden.

VESPER SPARROW 103

In four of the years of my observation
Siskins have been recorded in October. In
1 90 1 two Httle flocks of three and five birds
respectively paid a fleeting visit on Octo-
ber 26 and 27. In 1906 a single bird was
recorded on October 17 and 22. In 1907 a
flock of ten birds lit in a tree-top on Octo-
ber 19, and again on October 21 a flock of
six birds was noted. On October 25 one
bird made its presence known by giving its
characteristic call. And in 1908 the mi-
gration movements of the species were
manifest up to November 12, two birds
appearing on October 10, twenty on Octo-
ber 14, a flock which numbered quite a
hundred passing over on October 18, and
scattered birds thereafter, one occasionally
coming into a tree, feeding and calling.

44. Vesper Sparrow

Pooecetes gramineus

The Vesper Sparrow, or Grass Finch, has
visited the Garden only four times during
the period of my records, in three of the
instances a single bird. The dates are

104 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

April 23, 1903; April 19, 1904; and April
10, 1905. The fourth occasion was the pre-
sence of two birds on April 26, 1907.

On April 22, 1907, four birds were seen
on the Common on the west slope of Monu-
ment Hill. This slope has proved to be a
favorite feeding-place of all of the more
common species of sparrows, and I surmise
that a scanning of this ground in the earlier
years of my observation, 1900- 1905, would
have revealed more instances of the pre-
sence of this species there. It is rather to be
sought there or on the level of the parade
ground below the hill, than in the Garden.
The other records of the Common are a
bird in song on April 8, 1906, and a bird
on April 7, 23, and 26 successively in 1908.

I have no record showing that a bird of
this species has remained over the next
day.

45. Savanna Sparrow

Passerculus sandwichensis savanna

The Savanna Sparrow is a frequent
visitor to the Garden and the Common

SAVANNA SPARROW 105

throughout the period of its spring migra-
tion. It has been seen more often and more
numerously on the Common than in the
Garden ; yet there are many records of its
presence in the Garden. It is almost always
found feeding upon the grass land; but
occasionally has been heard singing from a
tree. It usually appears in the second half
of April, and the migration continues in-
termittently sometimes up to the middle
of May. The earliest arrival was of three
birds on March 31, in 1908. No other ar-
rival-date has been earlier than April 11, in
1904.

Seven Savanna Sparrows were observed
in the Garden on April 17 and 18, 1904,
four of the same, presumably, remaining to
April 24, thus completing an eight days*
stay. The little flock was seen each morn-
ing. Nine birds were seen feeding together
on the slope of the hill on the Common
upon April 22, 1907, and five days later
seven were present. Unlike the Vesper
Sparrow, the birds of this species appear,
therefore, to linger several days.

io6 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

The late records of the species in the
spring are of a bird on May 13 and 14,
1904, none having been observed in the
intervening time from April 24; of one on
May 12, 1905, none having been seen since
May 4; of two birds on May 10, 1907,
while seven were seen on the Common the
same day, three of them singing ; of two on
May 13 and one on May 14 of this same
year; and of one bird on May 10, 1908.
The dates indicate how late some individ-
uals of a species arrive, most of the indi-
viduals of which have come and passed on
much earlier.

The records of 1904 show the migration
of this species through the Garden to have
covered thirty-four days, namely, from
April 1 1 to May 14 ; those of 1908 show that
the period covered was forty-one days,
namely, from March 31 to May 10.

The only autumn records of the Savanna
Sparrow are of a bird in the Garden on
October 28, and another on October 31, in
1908.

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW 107
46. White-crowned Sparrow

Zonotrichia leucophrys

The White-crowned Sparrow has ap-
peared in five of the nine years : on May 11,
1900; on May 8, 1902; on May 12 to 21,
1905 ; on May 20 to 23, 1907 ; and on May
12 to 18, 1908. In 1900 and 1902 one bird
only came each year. Three were recorded
on May 12, 1905, and two of these, which
were frequently heard in song, remained to
May 21, — unless it be that there was a
succession of birds of this species passing
through, but as just two were recorded
each day of this period, it seems likely that
the same two birds remained ten days,
while the third bird of May 12 passed on.
The year 1905 was exceptional, therefore,
in comparison with the foregoing years, in
the continued presence of this species and
in its being in song.

But in 1908, and again upon the same
date. May 12, as many as nine birds were
seen in the Garden and five others were
observed on the Common. Several were

io8 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

singing. It is likely that more were present
than were seen and counted. The numbers
recorded mark the visitation of White-
crowned Sparrows on that day as most un-
usual. It is possible that conditions tended
to concentrate them within this city park
area, for a walk with careful observation
through Wellesley Hills and Farms the
same day with a companion whose eyes and
ears were searching everywhere like my
own revealed not an individual. Several of
these birds of the I2th remained, while
most of them at once passed on. The rem-
nant gradually diminished until on the 17th
and 1 8 th there was present one bird only.
The singing of the first day was continued
and in generous measure upon the follow-
ing days.

Three autumn records of the White-
crowned Sparrow have been obtained, all
being of a single bird in the plumage of the
female or immature male, namely, on No-
vember I, 1904; on October 28, 1908; and
on November 2, 1908.

An incident which came under observa-

WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW 109

tion relating to the last-mentioned bird was
this. The White-crown was upon the
ground under a dogwood tree and in mov-
ing about had found a small chunk of bread,
at which it was picking, when a House
Sparrow, spying it, darted in from a dis-
tance. The White-crown stood erect, and
with dignity received the sparrow with a
spirited rendering of its song, like a cock
crowing in defiance of his adversary. But
the House Sparrow, with more heed to his
appetite than care for the defiance, and
with a cunning and quickness of motion of
which the dignified White-crown would be
quite incapable, seized the piece of bread
and was gone. The White-crown for an in-
stant seemed nonplussed at the loss of its
meal, but calmly proceeded in its search
for food, doubtless feeling that the little
rascal was indecently greedy and a con-
temptibly sly fellow. Why should it not
feel so?

no BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
47. White-throated Sparrow

Zonotrichia albicollis

The White-throated Sparrow, or Pea-
body-bird, appears in the Garden in late
April. Its arrival has ranged between April
21 and 30. The season of its migration has
extended to May 16 to 26, usually near to
the last-named date. In 1905 the migration
covered the full period between the earliest
and the latest dates, namely, thirty-six
days; in 1903 and 1904, thirty days; in
1906, twenty-seven days; in 1907, twenty-
nine days; and in 1908, twenty-five days.
The largest number of birds recorded upon
any one day was about fifty on May 3, 1905,
and again on May 12, 1908. On the last-
named date there were almost as many
more on the Common. Usually the largest
number of birds present at any one time
has been from eight to fifteen, and it has
been attained either in late April or be-
tween May 7 and 14. The maximum num-
ber for 1907 was as late as May 19 and 20.

Many of the White-throats linger a num-

WHITE-THROATED SPARROW iii

ber of days. But, as a new migration
movement generally overlaps a remnant
from a previous movement, it is not easy to
determine definitely the length of stay of
individuals. An interval sometimes occurs
after the first birds arriving in April have
passed on before the more continuous
movement of coming and passing takes
place, but after this has set in in early May
there have been few days when White-
throats have been entirely absent. The
season of 1903 was an exception, for there
were only four appearances of the species,
each time for a single day only, and but
eight birds in all were recorded, and yet the
time of migration covered was thirty days.
The movements of the seasons of 1905,
1906, 1907, and 1908 were notably larger
than those in the previous five years. The
White-throats often sing in the early morn-
ing their peculiarly peaceful song.

In October the southward migration is
always manifested in the Garden. It con-
tinued in the years 1904, 1906, and 1907 to
November 4 and 5. In 1903 the autumn

112 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

records extended intermittently to No-
vember 9, 15, and 29; in 1908, to Novem-
ber 12. Upon some days in the latter half
of October from half a dozen to a dozen
birds are usually present, few full-plum-
aged males at this time, but occasionally
a handsome fellow. Mr. Maurice C. Blake
furnishes two early autumn records, namely,
one of four birds present in the Garden on
September 24, and the other of two birds
on October 5, in 1904. The White-throats
scratch among the fallen leaves under the
trees, about the roots of the shrubs, and in
the flower-beds among the plants.

White- throated Sparrows, unless dis-
turbed, are usually seeking food upon the
ground, and are often under the protection
of the beeches with low-hanging boughs.
Sometimes they are scattered about upon
the lawns. They are quite likely to be in
little groups. When frightened by a too
near approach, they fly up among the
branches of a near tree, where they may be
traced by their sibilant calls. Here they
await a safe opportunity to drop to the

TREE SPARROW 113

ground again. From the trees the song
when given also comes. Some days in the
spring there is much singing.

Very few White-throats as a rule choose
the Common in preference to the Garden.

Invariably they are masters of the house
sparrows, driving the latter off when they
intrude.

The last birds seen in the spring are
usually females.

48. Tree Sparrow

Spizella monticola

Three times only in the spring has the
Tree Sparrow visited the Garden, and on
each occasion a single bird for one day only.
The dates are March 29, 1905, March 25,
1907, and March 27, 1908. On the first oc-
casion two other birds of the species were
seen on the Common. The bird of 1908 en-
joyed a bath in the waters of the pond as
they touch the shore of the small island.
At the time the water was low on account
of being drawn off, and it sufficiently re-
ceded from the shore to offer advantages.

114 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

The species has never been seen by me
in the Garden as a winter visitant. But
Dr. Charles W. Townsend, in his " Birds of
Essex County," states, — and he has kindly
given me permission to quote him, — "On
January 15, 1904, I was attracted by the
chirping of this bird [Tree Sparrow] at
11.30 P. M. on the PubHc Garden, in Bos-
ton, and saw one hopping about on the
snow near an electric light. It was soon
joined by another, and both flew away
chirping."

49. Chipping Sparrow

Spizella passerina

Only one year has the Chipping Sparrow
been absent from the spring record of the
Garden, namely, in 1904. In 1906, 1907,
and 1908 the species was more often noted
than in the previous six years. The earliest
appearance of a Chippy was on March 29,
1905, when one singing attracted especial
notice, as he was twelve to fourteen days
ahead of the usual time of arrival in this
section. The next earliest appearance of

CHIPPING SPARROW 115

the species in the Garden was on April 14,
1906. In 1907 and 1908 the day of arrival
was April 18. The migration period is ex-
tended, for in 1908 it reached to May 21,
when a bird in song was in the Garden and
another was singing on the Common ; twice
it has reached to May 22, namely, in 1902
and in 1906, on both occasions a bird in song
being noted ; and in 1907 a bird was present
and singing on May 28, not having then
reached its nesting-haunt. In 1905 the mi-
gration covered thirty- three days ; in 1906,
thirty-nine days; in 1907, forty-one days;
and in 1908, thirty-four days.

Two birds, presumably a pair, as one was
much heard in song while the other was not,
remained four days in 1906, namely, from
April 19 to 22, suggesting a possible nest-
ing, but they then disappeared. Com-
monly one bird only has been noted in a
day, but there is one record of a small com-
pany, namely, four birds, on April 27, 1902.
Usually the Chipping Sparrow remains but
one day, as intervals of several days have
occurred between records of its presence.

ii6 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

It was found in 1907 that the species had
a preference for the Common, since ten
Chippies were seen together on the slope
of the hill on May i ; six on May 9 and 10 ;
and seven on May 13 after only one had
been noted on May 12. In 1908 most of
the visitants were on the Common, five be-
ing present on May 10. On the Common,
also, there has been a somewhat stronger
disposition to remain for several days.

There are records in four of the years of
the species in the Garden in October, 1901,
1902, 1907, and 1908, the visits ranging be-
tween October 19 and 30, a single bird in
most instances. Two Chippies were seen on
the Common on October 30, 1907, and five
on October 21, 1908.

50. Field Sparrow

Spizella pusilla

The Field Sparrow, as was the case with
the Chipping Sparrow, was absent from the
Garden in 1904, but has been recorded as
present in all of the other years. In three
of the seasons one bird only was noted,

FIELD SPARROW 117

namely, in 1901, 1903, and 1906. In 1902,
1905, 1907, and 1908 there were several
successive visits of a single bird at inter-
vals of a few days. The earliest appearance
was of a bird in song on the Common,
March 31, 1902; the next earliest time of
arrival was on April 9, 1903, in the Garden.
The latest records have been of a bird on
May 16, 1905; of one on May 13, 1906;
and of two on May 13 and 14, 1907. The
period of migration covered thirty- two
days in 1902 and 1905. Several of the vis-
itants have sung.

The Field Sparrow also was found in 1907
to have a preference for the Common. The
first two records of the season were there
obtained, namely, on April 21 and 26, on
the latter date there being three birds pre-
sent which remained to the following day.
In 1902 one bird continued there in song
during four days, March 31 to April 3,
singing each morning in the vicinity of the
burying-ground.

No autumn records of the species have
been obtained.

ii8 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
51. Slate-colored Junco

Junco hyemalis

As surely as the spring comes, the Junco,
or Snowbird, makes its appearance in the
Garden, generally being present in small
flocks, but not seldom one bird alone.
March 13, 1902, has been the earliest date
of arrival, when four birds were seen. The
first one came on March 15 in 1908; on
March 17 in 1907; and on March 19 in
1903. The time of arrival has been as late
as March 29, when in 1906 a single bird
was recorded. The latest records for the
species have been May 5, 1905, when one
bird was present; May 3, 1908, a female
bird; and May 5, 1908, when one was on
the Common. In the other years the migra-
tion has ceased upon a date between April
22 and 27, except in 1906, when no Junco
appeared after April 14.

In 1907 there was a very notable migra-
tion of J uncos into the Garden on April
10, when the number was estimated to have
been fifty or more. They came in company

SLATE-COLORED JUNCO 119

with fox sparrows. A previous movement
had brought on April 2 nearly as many,
but most of these alighted on the Common.
Also on March 29, 1905, a flock of quite forty
alighted on the Common, almost to the ex-
clusion of the Garden.

The period of migration covered forty-
two days in 1902, thirty-seven days in
1903, forty days in 1905, forty- two days
in 1907, and fifty-two days in 1908. The
silvery, trilling song has sometimes been
heard, but usually only the several calls
which belong to the species.

On the southward migration in the au-
tumn the J unco is quite as much in evidence
in the Garden as in the spring. The species
never fails to appear successively in small
flocks, at times, however, numbering twenty
birds, through the month of October and
sometimes to the middle of November,
one bird being seen on the Common in 1907
on November 17, and one in the Garden in
1908 on November 19. When a single bird
is present, it is not infrequently shyly up
in a tree- top, and makes its presence known

I20 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

by a twittering which is characteristic of
the species. Especially does it give this
when it passes from one tree to another.

Mr. Maurice C. Blake furnishes two
early autumn records, namely, one of three
birds present in the Garden on September
24, and the other of one bird on October 5,
in 1904.

52. Song Sparrow

Melospiza melodia

The Song Sparrow, or Ground Sparrow,
always comes in good numbers at the open-
ing of spring. Usually a little flock is pre-
sent, but there are many occurrences of one
or two birds only in a day; and intervals
occur between successive migration move-
ments when none are present. The species
is one of the earliest to arrive, some birds
coming each year at the same time that
the earliest grackles and robins come. The
ice is scarcely gone from the pond, and
patches of snow still linger, when the cheery
song is first heard upon a mild morning in
early or middle March, which has been

SONG SPARROW 121

ushered in by southerly breezes on the pre-
ceding day. And unhke the grackles and
the robins, which come in small numbers
at first, a single bird or two, the Song Spar-
rows arrive in goodly numbers when first
they appear. So the places which have been
birdless become occupied with happy song-
sters all in a night, and the evidences of
their presence in the morning come to the
ear in song on every side. The Public
Garden receives a touch of such awakening
from every winter's sleep. Most of these
earliest visitants move quickly on, but they
are followed by others in succession, in larger
or smaller numbers, for several weeks.

The earliest arrival of the Song Sparrow
in the Garden was on March 6, 1903. In
1908 they came on March 12, ten of them
to the Garden and five to the Common ; in
1902, on March 13, twenty or more arrived ;
on March 19, 1905, forty came. The latest
date of arrival was March 28, in 1906.
Song Sparrows usually continue to arrive
up to about the end of April; although
after the middle of this month the num-

122 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN -

bers present are diminishing gradually to
one or two birds only. Some stragglers
come along in May, having their nesting-
places still beyond them; for the species
does not nest in the Garden Thus, in 1904,
one was recorded on May 20; in 1905, one
was present from April 26 to May 2, and
another appeared on May 12 ; in 1907, one
was present on May 9, three on May 10,
and two on May 13. These late migrants
extended the season of migration in 1904
to a period of fifty-eight days ; in 1905 the
migration covered fifty-six days; in 1907,
fifty-eight days; in 1908, forty-five days;
and in 1902 and 1903, also forty-five days.
In 1906 the migration was small and of
short duration, lasting only twenty days.

Song Sparrows show a preference for the
Garden over the Common, although the
latter usually receives some of the visitants
in the successive movements of migration.

Regularly in October a few Song Spar-
rows are seen in the Garden, and four of
the years furnish November records. Two
were present on November 8, 1903 ; one on

LINCOLN'S SPARROW 123

November 15, 1905 ; one from November
I to 4 in 1907 ; and one on November 5 and
6, also 13 and 16, in 1908.

53. Lincoln's Sparrow

Melospiza lincolnii

In no season has Lincoln's Sparrow-
failed to appear in the Garden, either one
bird or two or three individuals succes-
sively. On one occasion only were two
birds present on the same day, namely,
May 22, 1903. There have been two seasons
when but one bird was recorded, namely,
1 90 1 and 1907. The earliest appearance
of the species was a bird on May 9, 1900.
In four of the years the first bird has ar-
rived on May 12 or 13. Usually two birds
have appeared successively in a season.
Commonly the first has come between May
12 and 18; the second from three or four
days to a week after the first. The records
show that one bird remained four days in
1907 ; one remained seven days in 1905 ; and
one remained eight days in 1900. These
lingerings have been within the period of

124 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

May 15 to 23. The disappearance of the
species is commonly between May 20 and
23. The presence of a Lincoln's Sparrow
later than this occurred only in the years
1905 and 1906, when a late migrant ap-
peared on May 27 and 26 respectively.

On but one occasion has a bird sung,
when a sweet, rippling song bearing some
resemblance to the music of the purple
finch was heard. Not even has the call-note
of this sparrow been often heard, the birds
generally remaining silent. Sometimes the
shyness which belongs to this species has
been quite lacking in an individual, and
it has been easy to make a near approach
and become familiar with this trig, spirited
little sparrow, whose finer streakings and
buff-tinged breast well differentiate it from
the song sparrow.

54. Swamp Sparrow

Melospiza georgiana

The Swamp Sparrow in 1905, 1907, and
1908 made such successive appearances
during the season that the species might be

SWAMP SPARROW 125

regarded as not uncommon in the Garden.
But these seasons have been offset by
others, namely, 1900, 1901, 1903, and 1906,
when only one or two records were ob-
tained. Seldom does the Swamp Sparrow
remain over to a second day. There is no
damp ground, and there are no swampy
conditions within the area of the Garden.
So it is natural for the individuals which
drop in to seek quickly other more con-
genial places. The most marked exception
to this statement was made by a bird in
1900, which remained six days. May 19
to 24.

The time of arrival of the species is very
various. It has appeared in March, on
March 27, 1905 ; it has sometimes first been
seen in April, early or late ; but most of its
appearances have been in May, extending
in several seasons to May 22. In 1905
the period of migration covered fifty-seven
days. It is more likely to be seen in the
Garden in its later than in its earlier migra-
tions to this section. On a few occasions
two, three, or four birds have been present

126 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

on the same day, but commonly one bird
only has been recorded. On April 23, 1908,
six Swamp Sparrows were seen in the Gar-
den. There is but one record for the Coni-
mon, that of a single bird on April 23, 1902.

Only once has a Swamp Sparrow been
heard singing, namely on April 5, 1903.

There are two autumn records, one of a
bird on October 16, 1904, and one of a bird
on October 21, 1907.

55. Fox Sparrow

Passerella iliaca

The Fox Sparrow is a common visitant
to the Garden, arriving with the earliest
migrants. In 1903 the first bird appeared on
March 13 ; in 1908 two birds were seen on
the Common on March 14. According to
the season the forerunners of the larger
flights of the species have arrived between
March 13 and 30. The last bird in two of
the seasons, 1904 and 1907, has not passed
until April 22, and in 1908 one was present
on April 23. There have been many records
of a single bird, or two birds only, present

FOX SPARROW 127

in a day. And many times small flocks of
four to ten birds have been enumerated.

In 1907 there was a most remarkable
incoming of Fox Sparrows to the Garden
upon two several occasions, April 2 and 10.
At this time the water of the pond had
been drawn off, leaving a somewhat muddy
bottom covered with litter which had col-
lected, and which later would be scraped
together and removed. Upon this drained-
off surface in the early morning of April 2
there was seen to be a host of birds feed-
ing, and a vigorous scratching movement
everywhere about indicated that Fox Spar-
rows were industriously at work securing
their food. A careful reckoning showed that
quite a hundred were present. There were
also some j uncos and song sparrows with
them. On April 10 it was estimated that
there were no less than two hundred Fox
Sparrows present, nearly all of them within
the limits of the stone curbing circum-
scribing the pond. Many j uncos and a few
song sparrows on this occasion also were
scattered about with them. On both of

128 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

these occasions snow had fallen the pre-
vious day, leaving some deposit of slush
on the ground, but less had remained on
the bottom of the pond, and it was less
chilled with frost. Consequently in the
generally unfavorable conditions of wea-
ther for the sparrows to obtain their food
they had chosen an area presenting fewer
difficulties and doubtless holding many
seeds which had been blown in by the
winds. On the day after each of these large
visitations only about ten Fox Sparrows
remained. Some individuals often remain
several days. A flock of two hundred and
fifty robins, as they were estimated, on the
second occasion was round about in many
bunches, cackling and singing. The mini-
mum temperature of the morning in both in-
stances was 30°. The sky remained clouded
each time from the storm of the previous
day. Therefore these great flights of the
earlier migrant species took place under
cold and stormy conditions, when it is not
expected that such migration movements
will occur. The extensive migration of the

FOX SPARROW 129

Fox Sparrows was observable also in the
suburban places which were visited.

This handsome sparrow is shy, and when
only two or three are present they may
escape observation, since they are quite
prone when frightened to fly up from the
ground into the trees and there give only
their soft, sibilant calls which may not
arrest the attention.

While commonly Fox Sparrows are not
in song in the Garden, I have many times
heard one sing in rich, full tones the beau-
tiful song of the species. When a bird has
entered upon singing, it has often seemed
as if he were constrained to sing, for he has
given himself entirely over to it for a con-
siderable time, if undisturbed. Such a song-
ster one morning occupied the top of the
old wistaria-covered arbor, which has since
been removed. Another on another oc-
casion was hidden among the spruce trees
which had been introduced as a windbreak
to rhododendrons.

The period covered by the migration of
this species in the spring is not as ex-

I30 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

tended usually as in the case of those spar-
rows which are also summer residents of
Massachusetts. But in 1907 it reached
thirty-six days, from March 18 to April 22,
and in 1908 it reached forty-one days, from
March 14 to April 23. The species is little
seen on the Common in the spring.

The Fox Sparrow quite regularly makes
some visits to the Garden in the southward
flight in October and November, and at
this season not infrequently has been found
on the Common also. When a dozen were
present in the Garden and on the Common
in the morning of November 11, 1908, one
was seen on my way thither in a tall elm of
Louisburg Square. The first autumn bird
has twice appeared on October 17, namely,
in 1906 and in 1908. In 1907 the first ap-
pearance was on October 20, a single bird.
In the years 1903 and 1905 it was upon
October 27 and 26 respectively. The mi-
gration has extended to the middle of No-
vember for a single bird several times. One
was in the Garden on November 15, in
1905 ; one on November 12, in 1906 ; one on

TOWHEE 131

November 13, in 1907, and a bird on the
Common on November 17; and one on
November 18, 1908. In the last-named
year one was present on December 3 which
had not been seen earlier. In both spring
and autumn frequently a small flock has
remained several days.

56. TOWHEE

Pipilo erythrophthalmus

Regularly every season there have been
visits of Towhees, or Chewinks, to the
Garden, from three to a dozen birds succes-
sively each year, either singly or in small
companies. The earliest visitant, a female,
came on April 25, 1905. A Towhee also
appeared in late April in 1902, a female,
and in 1906, a male. Usually the arrival is
in the earliest days of May, having been on
May I and 2 in 1907 and 1908, respectively,
in both cases a male bird. The latest lin-
gering birds have remained to May 22, in
1902 and 1903, in each instance a female
bird. In four other years May 19 (twice),
20, and 21 have terminated the migration;

132 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

in all of these instances the birds were fe-
males, two in number twice.

The records show that nearly twice as
many female Towhees as males have visited
the Garden during the nine years of obser-
vation. But in 1907 six of each sex came.
Some of these remained several days. The
period of migration covered twenty-five
days in 1902 and in 1905. No Towhee has
been seen on the Common. The song has
seldom been heard, but in 1907 on three
occasions it was given. The Towhees are
usually seen about the groups of shrubs,
preferring to be on the ground, unless dis-
turbed. The brown and chestnut costume
of the female bird is especially harmonious
and pleasing.

57. Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Zamelodia ludoviciana

In one year only, 1904, has the Rose-
breasted Grosbeak failed to appear. In six
of the years one bird only has been noted.
In 1907 two male birds were present on
May 9, not remaining to a second day, and

SCARLET TANAGER 133

one was present in song on May 20. On
four occasions the visitant has been singing.
The earliest appearance of the species was
on May 9, in 1907; the next earHest on
May 10, 1900, and on May 12, 1908. The
later arrivals were on May 19 in 1903 and
1906. The latest remaining bird was one
which stayed from May 15 to 22, in 1905.

On one occasion in the morning a beauti-
ful male bird sat singing on an elm bough
which extended well out over Beacon
Street, pouring out his song in the stillness
of an early hour while the residents still
slept.

The visiting Grosbeak has been usually
a male bird.

58. Scarlet Tanager

Piranga erythromelas

In every season, except 1903, the Scarlet
Tanager has been seen in the Garden. On
May 23, 1900, there was an exceptional dis-
play of scarlet plumage, when four male
birds during the hours of that day flew
back and forth among the branches of the

134 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

trees which stand around the pond and on
the island. One female bird was also present
at the time. Only one of the males was
seen the following day. There had already
been a visit from two male birds and one
female on May i8. On one other occasion,
May 19, 1906, two male birds were present
together. In other cases one bird alone has
been present.

On May 23, 1904, a Tanager in song
proved to be in orange plumage of oriole
color, and might in respect of coloring easily
have been mistaken for a Baltimore oriole.
The song, however, had already identified
him. It was an interesting instance of the
variation in plumage from the normal color
of the males of this species, which one may
occasionally note.

The earliest appearance of the Tanager
was on May 16, 1905 ; the latest records of
one being present have been of a male bird
in song on May 26, 1906, and on May 27,
1908. Therefore the period of migration
through the Garden during the nine years
of observation has been within a period of

CLIFF SWALLOW 135

ten days, namely, May 16 to 27. Usually
the visitant has not remained over to a
second day. But in 1905 the records indi-
cate that a female bird may have remained
from May 16 to 24, nine days, as one was
continuously present during that period.
The male birds usually sing.

59. Cliff Swallow

Petrochelidon lunijrons

The Cliff, or Eave, Swallow seldom comes
within the Garden. Twice the species has
been recorded. Four birds with a flock of
barn swallows were seen on May 16, 1905 ;
and two birds were present likewise with
barn swallows on May 30, 1907.

The visits of the swallows usually occur
upon clouded and misty days. On such days
they may be seen skimming over the pond
in rapid flight. Thick weather seems to
attract them thither, while often in clear
weather no movement of a swallow within
the Garden will be seen.

136 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

60. Barn Swallow

Hirundo eryihrogaster

In three of the seasons the Barn Swallow
has not been observed, namely, 1901, 1903,
and 1906. But in 1905 and again in 1907
during several days in succession in May
a single bird or two, or a flock numbering
sometimes a dozen or fifteen birds, was
seen. On May 16, 1905, as many as fifteen
Barn Swallows were skimming the air in
ceaseless flight ; and on May 29, 1907, about
a dozen birds were seen, and the following
day also nearly as many.

No visit of the species has been noted
earlier than May 9, in 1900, and most of the
visits have been in the latter half of May.
In 1908 one bird was recorded on June 2.

61. Tree Swallow

Iridoprocne bicolor

There are but four records of the presence
of the Tree Swallow or White-bellied Swal-
low in the Garden. These appearances have
not occurred in the earlier period of migra-

BANK SWALLOW 137

tion of the species, for they have all been in
the second half of May, between May 18
and 30. On one occasion two birds were
present; on the other occasions a single
bird, either alone or with barn swallows.
They may be seen in their beautiful flight
passing back and forth in the air from one
end of the pond to the other, or again rising
higher in the air and measuring a larger
area of the Garden.

62. Bank Swallow

Riparia riparia

Twice the presence of the Bank Swallow
has been recorded. On May 18, 1900, two
birds were noted, and on May 16, 1905, one
bird. On the first occasion they were in
company with barn and tree swallows. On
the second occurrence the single bird was
with barn and cliff swallows, one of a com-
posite flock of twenty birds moving cease-
lessly through the air and skimming the
waters of the pond. /

138 BIRDS OF THE. PUBLIC GARDEN
63. Cedar Waxwing

Bomhycilla cedrorum

Cedar Waxwings, or Cedar-birds, are
usually seen within the Garden each season.
Some years three or four small flocks have
come in succession. Other years a single
bird only has appeared. In 1907 no record
of the species was obtained. The largest
flock which has been noted was one of thirty
birds on May 26, 1905. Twenty birds were
seen on May 25, 1904. Most of the occur-
rences of the species have been in May.
Once, on March 14, in 1902, a flock of six
birds appeared. There have been but three
appearances in April. Little disposition to
remain in the Garden has been manifested.
Indeed, in several instances a small flock has
dropped in for a few minutes only. But as
the Waxwing is a silent bird except for a lisp-
ing call which cannot be heard at much dis-
tance from it, and as the visits have proven
fleeting, it is quite Hkely that more birds of
this species have visited the Garden in the
series of years than have attracted atten-
tion and been noted.

NORTHERN SHRIKE 139

There are two records of Cedar-birds in
the autumn, one of a bird seen on the Com-
mon on October 13, 1907; the other of a
bird in the Garden on November 5, 1908.
To these Mr. Maurice C. Blake adds the
record of three birds present on October 5,
1904.

64. Northern Shrike

Lanius horealis

Mr. Francis H. Allen furnishes this
record: "A Northern Shrike in the Public
Garden, January 14, 1901, singing."

This is the only record which has come to
my knowledge during the years, 1900- 1908.
But it is of interest to place here another
and earlier record. Dr. Charles W. Town-
send writes me: "I looked over my old
journals and found under date of Feb-
ruary 23, 1876: '[My brother] saw a
Butcher-bird or Great Northern Shrike on
the Common. A year or two ago I saw a
man shoot one here.' I remember the inci-
dent very well. The bird was on the Public
Garden at the northern end of the pond,

I40 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

and a man employed by the city shot it.
At that time several Butcher-birds had ap-
peared and were feasting on the English
sparrows, and the city employed a man to
shoot them in order to protect the imported
pets."

It would appear from this incident and
testimony that in former years the North-
ern Shrike was a frequenter of the Garden
and the Common as a winter visitant after
the house sparrows had become numerous
there. In the country neighboring Boston
the species is now much less common than
formerly, but in recent winters a Butcher-
bird has usually frequented the Fens.

65. Red-eyed Vireo

Vireosylva olivacea

The Red-eyed Vireo is not a common
visitant to the Garden, yet no season has
lacked at least one record. In three of the
years a single bird only has appeared,! 901,
1902, and 1903. In other three of the years
of observation two birds successively have
come, 1904, 1906, and 1907. Probably

RED-EYED VIREO 141

eight different Red-eyes came in 1905, in
which year five singing birds were recorded
on May 27. Twice the arrival of the species
has been on May 15 and twice on May 16.
The arrival in other seasons has been be-
tween May 18 and 23.

There is no record of a bird remaining
more than two or three days, except in
1908. In that year one, sometimes two
singing birds were present from May 24 to
June I, suggesting a not improbable nesting
of the species. Mr. E. E. Caduc informs
me that he heard almost daily a Red-eyed
Vireo singing in the Garden on the Charles
Street side up to July 3 of that year and an-
other on the Common. As he left the city
for the summer on that day, he was unable
to carry the record further. No vireo's nest
was discovered on the leafless boughs in the
autumn by him or me. Four or five years
earlier a beautiful, well-preserved nest of
the summer was seen on the Common in the
autumn and winter months following, to
that extent testifying to a nesting of either
the Red-eyed or the Warbling Vireo.

142 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
66. Warbling Vireo

Vireosylva gilva

The Warbling Vireo makes its appear-
ance in the Garden to almost the same
extent as the red-eyed vireo. In the case
of this species, also, there have been three
years, 1901, 1903, and 1904, when one bird
only has been recorded. Probably four
birds constitute the largest number which
has been present in any one season, namely,
in 1906. The earliest date of arrival has
been May 9, in 1900. The latest date on
which a bird has been recorded was May 27,
in 1905. In 1906 two birds, one of which
sang much, extended their visit from May
15 to 26, and may have nested within the
Garden.

67. Yellow-throated Vireo

Lanivireo flavijrons

The Yellow-throated Vireo has appeared
in five of the nine seasons of observation,
twice in two of the seasons, a single bird on
six occasions, and two birds on one occa-

BLACK AND WHITE WARBLER 143

sion, namely, May 7, 1905, which is also the
day of the earliest appearance. In the years
1901, 1902, 1904, and 1907 the species was
not recorded. May 21 is the latest date on
which a visitant has been seen, namely, in
1900 and 1903. One bird only has been
heard to sing. No visitant has remained
to a second day.

68. Blue-headed Vireo

Lanivireo solitarius

The Blue-headed, or Solitary, Vireo has
been noted in four of the seasons only, one
bird in 1901 and 1903 respectively, and two
birds in each of the years 1905 and 1907.
Thus there have been six appearances of the
species only, and these have occurred be-
tween May 13 and 21. In neither instance
has the visitant sung or remained over to
the next day.

69. Black and White Warbler

Mniotilta varia

The Black and White Warbler, or Black
and White Creeper, may be relied upon to

144 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

make several successive appearances in the
Garden. Three or four visitants in a sea-
son constitute the rule. Twice the usual
number were recorded in 1907 and again in
1908. Many of the visitants remain three
or four days. In 1908 a female bird was
present from May 14 to 19, six days. The
earliest appearance was on April 30, in
1906, one bird. In 1902 the first visitant,
a female bird, came on May i. In 1908
the first visitant, a male bird, came on the
same date. May 7 to 12 has been the usual
time of appearance of the species. The
migration has commonly extended to May
21 or 22, sometimes, however, ending on
May 17 or 18. In 1908 it extended to May
25, covering twenty-five days. On several
occasions two or three birds have been
present on the same day. Not infrequently
the visitant has been in song. On account
of the creeping habit of this warbler and
its rather toneless song, it may be more
easily overlooked than many other war-
blers, whose constant flittings among the
boughs with only partially developed leaf-
age are more likely to attract attention.

PROTHONOTARY WARBLER . 145
70. Prothonotary Warbler

Protonotaria citrea

In the forenoon of May 20, 1900, Miss
Isabel P. George, while crossing the Gar-
den, observed a small bird in bright orange-
yellow plumage flitting in the air from the
branches of willows which stand beside the
pond, repeatedly sallying out over the water
and returning again. It was no other bird
than a Prothonotary Warbler. The observer
remained to enjoy it for fifteen minutes,
and its coloration and behavior were in-
deHbly impressed upon her mind.

In the same forenoon at another hour
Miss Calista S. Whitney, who was linger-
ing in the Garden to enjoy the migrant
birds, of which there was a large number
on that day, also saw this bird and watched
it for some time, noticing similar flittings
out over the water of the pond from the
willows standing on the shore.

Dr. Manning K. Rand was a third for-
tunate observer of this rare warbler, and at
the time similarly described its appearance

146 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

and movements. Dr. Rand writes me that
he saw the bird on May 19, the previous
day.

The Prothonotary Warbler, upon the au-
thority of Chapman's *' Warblers of North
America,'* wanders occasionally northward
to Massachusetts. It has not been my priv-
ilege to see one, but the observations here
recorded were made by the observers inde-
pendently of each other, and as the records
of careful and accurate observers are en-
tirely reliable.

71. Golden- WINGED Warbler

Helminthophila chrysoptera

In the largest migration movement of
the year 1900, which occurred on May 19,
as manifested in the Garden, a Golden-
winged Warbler came, a female bird. It
did not remain to a second day.

72. Nashville Warbler

Helminthophila rubricapilla

The Nashville Warbler is an infrequent
visitant to the Garden. In four of the nine

TENNESSEE WARBLER 147

seasons, namely, in 1902, 1904, 1905, and
1907, it made two successive appearances.
In four other years it was not recorded. In
1908 two birds were on the Common on
May 12, a day of very large migration, but
none was in the Garden. The earliest ar-
rival of the species was in 1902, May 5. In
other seasons the first visitant has been
noted on May 13 or 14. The second vis-
itant of the season has three times come
on May 19 or 20, once on May 15 and re-
mained to the second day. The other vis-
itants have been recorded on one day only.
In three instances the bird was singing.

73. Tennessee Warbler

Helminthophila peregrina

On May 16, 1905, when the number of
species within the Garden summed up
forty-one and the number of migrants was
nearly one hundred, a male Tennessee
Warbler was seen. The bird was not sing-
ing. It moved among the branches of a
large English elm.

Again, in 1908, on May 24, a second re-

148 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

cord of the species within the Garden was
obtained. On that day a female bird was
present. It was first seen in the European
beech near the Everett statue, and upon
a later round of the grounds it was ob-
served in a small bed of rhododendrons
growing near the pond and afterwards in
saplings which stand close by the bed.
Both times the bird was well seen at near
range.

74. Parula Warbler

Compsothlypis americana usnem

The Parula Warbler, or Blue Yellow-
backed Warbler, is seldom absent a day
from the Garden during the period of its
migration. The number of birds present on
the same day has varied from one to a
dozen. The presence of three to five birds
at the same time is not unusual. On May
19, 1907, thirteen birds were recorded. The
earliest appearance of the species was on
May 2, 1906, a bird in song. The arrival
season by season has usually been between
May 7 and 14. The last visitants have not

CAPE MAY WARBLER 149

departed sometimes before May 27 or 28,
although May 22 to 24 has been the time of
their disappearance in six of the nine years.
The last birds have sometimes been sing-
ing males and sometimes a lone female.

The species was more abundantly pre-
sent in 1905 and 1907 than in other sea-
sons, the larger number appearing after the
middle of the month in each instance. This
is true of other seasons also. The.Parula
Warbler is commonly in song. There were
two singing birds on the Common on May
12, 1908, while there were three in the
Garden.

The first autumn records of the species
were obtained in 1908, a Parula Warbler
being noted in the Garden on October 9
and another on October 17.

75. Cape May Warbler

Dendroica tigrina

A male Cape May Warbler appeared in
the Garden in the morning of May 11, 1902,
and remained four days, at times singing
freely. He frequented one section of the

I50 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

grounds. So he could usually day by day
be found there. If he wandered to another
section, he did not fail to return again
soon to his wonted area. He was not shy
during his stay and constantly afforded
fine opportunities for careful observation
of his markings. His great activity of
movement presented the only difficulty of
remaining near him. He showed a prefer-
ence for the trees which were as yet more
thinly foliaged, the elms, the cottonwoods,
and the willows, rather than for the maples,
the horse-chestnuts, and the hawthorns,
and was often in the lower branches. He
was once seen on the turf at the border of a
bed of yellow tulips.

On another occasion in the early morn-
ing, with desire for a bath he dropped down
upon the granite curbing of a basin inclos-
ing a small fountain and tried to reach the
water, but it proved to be too far below the
stone edging to permit him to make use of
it. So presently, perceiving that he could
not get his bath there, he flew to the heavily
dew-laden grass and with shakings of the

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CAPE MAY WARBLER 151

wings succeeded in throwing the dewdrops
over himself and obtaining the refresh-
ment he sought. Then well wetted, he rose
into a double-flowered peach tree and in
happiness finished his morning toilet. It
seemed a pity that there was but one ob-
server of this dainty proceeding, but so it
was. Upon other days and at other times
there were many interested observers, who
availed of the rare opportunity of becom-
ing acquainted with a full-plumaged Cape
May Warbler often voicing himself in song.

A second record of the species was of a
female bird seen on May 26, 1905, and not
remaining to a second day.

In 1908 a third Cape May Warbler came
to the Garden on May 16, a female bird,
and was seen by a group of interested ob-
servers after I had discovered its presence.
This bird moved through the Garden with
exceeding restlessness and rapidity. It was
first seen in trees of low growth near the
Everett statue, from which it quickly moved
into the large white willow at the northwest
corner of the pond. Repeated momentary

152 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

views of the little visitant were obtained,
making its identification sure. It made
constant sallies from the boughs into the
air after the manner of flycatchers. Later
it moved in the top of this and other trees in
so hidden a way that it required patience
and persistence to find it again. At length
it passed by an extended flight over to an
old willow in the vicinity of the Arlington
Street Church. Quickly from there it rose
into the air and apparently was leaving the
Garden, as it took its flight out over Boyl-
ston Street and its buildings. But presently
it was seen to turn in its course and come
back into the Garden, alighting in the
southeast quarter in an American elm. But
hardly had it rested there, when it rose
again and, passing over the centre path, lit
in one of the large willows which stand be-
side the pond in the northeast quarter.
Here it remained, restlessly moving among
the boughs of this and other neighboring
trees, furnishing ample opportunity for
successively arriving observers to view it.
The pursuit had been a lively one and had

YELLOW WARBLER 153

been carried to a successful termination,
some young friends assisting much to keep
track of the flights of the warbler as it
passed through long distances of air from
us. It was present upon this day only.

76. Yellow Warbler

Dendroica cBstiva

The Yellow Warbler, or Summer Yellow-
bird, becomes a somewhat common bird in
the Garden during the month of May, but
before the end of the month the last indi-
viduals have disappeared. It is not prob-
able, therefore, that the species nests within
the Garden. Yet there may have been ex-
ceptions to this statement unknown to the
writer. The earliest appearances have been
on May 3, in 1905 and 1906. In other years
the arrival has been between May 7 and 10,
having been twice on May 8 and three
times on May 9. The earlier birds disap-
pear and are succeeded by others. This
may occur two or three times. In two
seasons only has the Yellow Warbler re-
mained beyond May 24, the last bird usu-

154 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

ally departing on May 21, 22, or 23. But in
1904 three birds were present on May 26
and in 1908 two singing males were present
up to May 27. There has been no exten-
sion of stay over this time.

Two, three, or four Yellow Warblers are
all there are usually in the Garden in any
one day, and many days one only has been
present. But five birds were recorded on
May 14, 1907, three males and two females,
and the same number on May 26, 1908,
four being male birds. The males sing.

77. Black-throated Blue Warbler

Dendroica ccBrulescens

From two to four Black-throated Blue
Warblers have been recorded in six of the
nine seasons. In 1908 there were six vis-
itants of the species. In 1901 and 1904 no
bird was noted. The earliest appearance
was on May 7, 1905, when a male bird
arrived in song. The first visitants have
variously come between May 7 and 19, but
usually between May 9 and 13. The last
one generally departs between May 21 and

MYRTLE WARBLER 155

24. Many of the visitants have made stays
of several days. In one instance a female
bird, presumably the same bird, remained
eight days, from May 10 to 17, in 1902.
Several times male birds have remained
from five to seven days. It is usual for them
to sing. One visitant was heard singing on
the Common on May 12, 1908.

78. Myrtle Warbler

Dendroica coronata

The Myrtle Warbler, or Yellow-rumped
Warbler, regularly appears in the Garden.
In 1903 but one visitant was recorded, a
male bird in song on April 30. Usually
from six to twelve birds appear successively
in a season, one or two to four at a time.
Seven were present together on May 19,
1907. The earliest appearance of the species
was on April 17, 1902. The time of arrival
has varied between April 17 and May 18,
which late date was in 1904, when birds
were present only from May 18 to 20. Late
April and early May are the more usual
times. The migration commonly extends

156 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

to May 20 to 22. The latest record is of a
male bird present on May 25, 1905. Some-
times visitants have remained four or five
days. The males are often singing. Occa-
sionally a visitant has been seen or heard
on the Common.

Quite as regularly the Myrtle Warbler
again visits the Garden in October, and
in about the same numbers as in the spring.
Nearly twenty came successively in Octo-
ber, 1908. During the last week of this
month the last usually depart, but there
have been two or three early November
records, one being of five birds present on
November 4, 1906, and another of one bird
on November 9, 1903.

79. Magnolia Warbler

Dendroica magnolia

The Magnolia Warbler, or Black and
Yellow Warbler, has been a visitant to the
Garden in the spring to about the same
extent as the Myrtle Warbler. The num-
bers of the two species have averaged very
nearly alike, about sixty birds each in the

CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER 157

period of nine years. In 1901 but one vis-
itant was recorded, a male on May 22. In
1907 probably fifteen birds came succes-
sively. There were ten present together
from May 19 to 22, eight males and two
females. Most of the records are of a single
bird or of two or three birds. The earliest
arrival was on May 9, 1902, three birds.
First appearances have varied between
this date and May 22. The middle of the
month, May 12 to 16, is the more usual
time of arrival. On either May 22, 23, or
24 the last bird usually departs. In 1907,
when ten birds were present on May 22,
but one remained on May 24, and this
bird was not noted on the following day.
In 1908 a male and a female were present
on May 27, but were not noted later. It is
not unusual to hear one of its forms of song.

80. Chestnut-sided Warbler

Dendroica pensylvanica

The Chestnut-sided Warbler has been
absent from the list of the season but once,
in 1904. Usually there is a fair representa-

158 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

tion of the species, four to six birds being
present in a season. In 1907 nine birds
were recorded, six being present together
on May 19, three males and three females.
The earliest appearance of the species was
on May 4, 1906, a male bird. In three of
the seasons the first comer has arrived on
May 9, namely, in 1900, 1902, and 1905.
In 1903 there was but one record, two
birds appearing on May 22, which is the
latest date of the first appearance. Either
on May 22, 23, or 24 the last visitant has
departed. The presence of a female bird
on May 26, 1906, forms a single exception.
The records indicate that a visitant some-
times remains four days. Two birds were
seen on the Common on May 12, 1908.
The males sing.

81. Bay-breasted Warbler

Dendroica castanea

There are two records of the Bay-breasted
Warbler. On May 23, 1900, a male bird
was present in the Garden. It did not re-
main to a second day. And on May 22,

BLACK-POLL WARBLER 159

1903, again for a day only, a female bird
was seen.

The male bird was singing his slight song
at the time of observation in one of the
large willows about the pond. It was a day
when fifteen species of warblers were
present, including a Blackburnian and a
Chat, and when four male scarlet tana-
gers were flashing their brilliancy about
the pond. The female Bay-breast appeared
with eleven other species of warblers, in-
cluding two Blackburnians, a male and a
female.

82. Black-poll Warbler

Dendroica striata

The Black-poll Warbler never has failed
to appear in the Garden in the spring sea-
son, several birds at a time usually and
in several successive flocks. The little
flocks also remain usually several days.
The largest numbers which have been re-
corded in any one day were nine on May
27, 1905, and thirteen on May 27, 1908.
The earliest appearance of the species was

i6o BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

on May 7, 1905, when one male bird was
present. The next earliest date was May
10, in 1904, a male bird in song. From
May 13 to 17 is the usual time of arrival,
and then commonly a single male bird has
come. After the middle of May the small
flocks appear, three to six birds. The last
are still lingering when the season's obser-
vations have been closed, the time varying
from May 27 to June 2. Some visitants
probably remain five or six days or even
longer. The willows about the pond are
the favorite trees of this species.

The song is commonly heard through-
out the migration season. On May 19, 1908,
a Black-poll sang an unusual song, as he
flitted about through the top of the big
white poplar on the Boylston Street side of
the Garden. A few notes, sometimes only
two, were given in the usual way, and then
the song ran up like a Blackburnian war-
bler's, much accelerated to the end. Occa-
sionally he gave the regular song, although
somewhat abbreviated, affording a com-
parison of the two forms. The closing of

BLACK-POLL WARBLER i6i

the peculiar song when heard at a distance,
strange to say, somewhat suggested a weak
song of the downy woodpecker. Ten days
later two Black-polls within the Garden
sang a song resembling the chipping spar-
row's trill, only shorter.

Mr. Maurice C. Blake furnishes three
early autumn records of the Black-poll
Warbler in the Garden in its migration
south, namely, one of eighteen birds on
September 24 and one of seven birds
on October 5, in 1904, and one of a single
bird on September 8, 1905.

During the last five years and also in
1900 I saw a few Black-poll Warblers in
the Garden in October, and in 1904 and
again in 1908, the movement to almost the
end of the month was continuous and abun-
dant, ten birds being recorded on October
17 and thirteen birds on October 23, in
1904, while in 1908 nineteen were counted
on October 10, twelve of them being
among the branches of one sycamore maple,
twenty-one on October 14, and seventeen
on October 19 ; upon the intervening days in

i62 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

each instance the numbers were smaller.
These figures indicate how abundant the
migration of Black-polls was in the autumn
of these two years, especially the latter.
The latest lingering birds, two in number,
were seen in 1900 on November 2.

83. Blackburnian Warbler

Dendroica UackhurnicB

The Garden has received a few visits
from the Blackburnian Warbler. In six
of the years of observation the Blackburn-
ian has been present. In four of these sea-
sons a second visitant, or two, has come a
few days after the first. All of the records
are of male birds except one. On May 24,
1908, a female bird was present with a
male. Neither remained to a second day.
Usually the song has been heard. In two
instances the visitant has stayed four and
five days respectively ; in the first instance,
1900, from May 19 to 23; in the second
instance, 1907, from May 19 to 22. The
earliest appearance of the species was on
May 10, in 1900. In four of the years a

BLACKBURNIAN WARBLER 163

Blackburnian Warbler has been in the
Garden on the nineteenth day of May,
having arrived on that day. The latest
date to which a visitant has remained has
been May 24, in 1905 and again in 1908.

This warbler is usually in the larger trees
— elms, willows, or maples — and in the
higher branches. A very favorite tree of
the species is a large, ill-shaped willow near
Arlington Street and almost opposite the
church. Here several of the visitants have
been seen, together with other warblers.
In 1907 the visitant frequented a large
silver maple near the southeast corner of the
pond, sometimes passing into other trees
beside this ; but during his four days* stay
he was seen in this tree each morning —
a marked instance of chosen limitation of
range while remaining.

On May 20, 1900, in cool and clouded
conditions of weather a Blackburnian
Warbler was seen upon one of the grass-
plots, finding his food on the surface. On
the grass with him were also magnolia,
black-poll, chestnut-sided, black- throated

i64 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

green, and Canadian warblers. There had
been a thick northeasterly rainstorm the
preceding day, and it may be surmised
that the insect life on which these warblers
feed had been washed from the atmos-
phere and the trees to the ground and was
found there. The occasion afforded a rare
opportunity to view these warblers in the
open and below the level of the eye, as they
moved about upon the lawns.

84. Black-throated Green Warbler

Dendroica virens

The 'Black-throated Green Warbler has
not failed to come to the Garden every year ;
usually several birds appear. In 1905 two
birds, both singing, appeared on May 7,
the earliest appearance of the species in
any year. These were followed by four
other birds successively at intervals, two
male birds and two female birds, the last
female coming on May 26, which is the
latest date for the presence of the species.
In this year, therefore, the migration cov-
ered twenty days. In 1902 three visitants

BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER 165

were present on May 9, but they did not
remain. Usually the several appearances
have been within the space of eight days,
May 13 to 20. In a few instances the stay
of the visitant has been extended to the
second day, but usually the birds have
remained one day only. It is not unusual
to hear the song, and yet it is given but
little. After a few repetitions the songster
has commonly ceased singing, and it has
been difficult to trace his presence longer.
It has seemed sometimes as if the visitant
must have left the Garden, perhaps seek-
ing at once the white pines which this war-
bler loves so well. On May 12, 1908, one
was singing on the Common.

Three times a Black-throated Green
Warbler has visited the Garden in October,
once each season in 1904, 1906, and 1908,
in all three instances on October 13 ; none
remained to a second day.

i66 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

85. Pine Warbler

Dendroica vigorsii

The only visit in the Garden of a Pine
Warbler, or Pine Creeper, which has come
under observation, was on April 5, 1903.
It was seen upon the trees of the small
island. A sharp drop of forty degrees in
the temperature had occurred, and a brisk
northwest wind was blowing ; but the high
temperature of the preceding day with
fresh southwesterly winds had caused a
new movement of migrants bringing with
the Pine Warbler to the Garden several
phoebes, two hermit thrushes, a swamp
sparrow, and a further accession of robins.
The visit was not prolonged to a second
day.

86. Palm Warbler

Dendroica palmarum

On October 17, 1904, a Palm, or Red-
poll, Warbler appeared in the Garden. It
was unaccompanied by other redpoll war-
blers, either palm or yellow palm. The

YELLOW PALM WARBLER 167

soiled whitish throat and breast and pure
yellow lower belly and under tail-coverts
made it certain that it was a Palm War-
bler. The visitant remained mostly upon
the grass during observation, wagged the
tail but little, and gave its call-note repeat-
edly.

87. Yellow Palm Warbler

Dendroica palmarum hypochrysea

A little flock of Yellow Palm, or Yellow
Redpoll, Warblers came in each of the
years 1901, 1902, and 1903. The first visit
was of three birds on May i to the Common ;
the second visit was of six birds to the Gar-
den on April 23 and 24, one remaining to
April 28 ; and the third visit also to the
Garden was of three birds on April 29. The
first company sang freely. No bird of the
species was again noted in the spring until
1908, when three birds appeared singly on
April 15, 23, and 29 respectively, the second
one on the Common.

There have been three autumn records
for the Garden: one of a bird on October

i68 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

19, 1902 ; one of a bird on October 18, 1904 ;
and one of a bird on October 17, 1906.

No explanation of the absence of the
species in the spring during four years
suggests itself.

88. Prairie Warbler

Dendroica discolor

The Prairie Warbler is a rare visitant to
the Garden. Three visits have been re-
corded. The first was of a bird on May 23,
1900; the second was of one on May 19,
1905, in song ; the third was of one on May
15, 1907, and continued during the two days
following. The last visitant sang much his
song of many zees repeated rapidly. This
bird frequented the group of large elms op-
posite the entrance from Newbury Street.

89. Oven-bird

Seiurus aurocapillus

Several Oven-birds, or Golden-crowned
Thrushes, every year have visited the
Garden, with two exceptions coming singly
at first, and later often two or three birds

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THE OLD WILLOW GROUP

OVEN-BIRD 169

or more together. But five birds arrived on
May 14, 1907, and eight were seen on May
12, 1908, one other being on the Common.
Some of the visitants apparently make
a prolonged stay. One bird in 1900 was
noted daily from May 14 to 21, eight days;
another in 1904 from May 11 to 17, seven
days; another in 1905 from May 16 to 21,
six days; another in 1908 from May 13 to
19, seven days. The earliest appearance of
the species was on May 7, 1905, the most
delayed appearance on May 21, 1903. In
the seven other years between May 9 and
14 the first Oven-bird has come and been
followed by others in succession to May
21 to 26. The latest bird recorded remained
to May 29, in 1907.

The song has been heard on many occa-
sions. In one instance the songster was in
shrubbery nearly opposite the Arlington
Street Church, and on a quiet Sunday
morning in May at an early hour earnestly
gave his crescendo song again and again.
Sometimes one has been seen to pursue
its sedate walk on the sidewalk outside of

I70 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

the Garden, thus promenading the public
street. The demure, leisurely walk of the
Oven-bird, often taken at little distance
from the observer, makes it an easy bird to
identify as it moves under the budding
lower branches of the great beeches or
about the stocks of a cluster of shrubs.

Repeatedly when a bird has remained
several days, it has been found morning
by morning in the small section of the
grounds where it was seen on the first day,
seeming to roam only within a very limited
area. So day after day, when it has been
looked for in this area, it has been at once
seen and for another day placed in the re-
cord. One such long-tarrying bird made the
fence line on Arlington Street near Beacon
Street its promenade and proceeded in its
moderate way back and forth under the
overhanging vines or about the near shrubs
day by day for seven days. I have walked
by this bird at only fifteen feet distance,
and it paid me no heed.

NORTHERN WATER-THRUSH 171
90. Northern Water-thrush

Seiurus noveboracensis

Northern Water-thrushes visit the Gar-
den in about equal numbers with the Oven-
bird. The comparison is somewhat in favor
of the Water- thrush. The species makes its
appearance on about the same dates as the
Oven-bird. Thus the earHest appearance
was on May 7, in 1902. No first-comer has
arrived later than May 17, which opened
the record in 1903. In the seven other
years the first Water-thrush has come be-
tween May 9 and 13. A single bird has
always arrived first, and this has soon been
followed by others. Five came together
on May 15, 1905, and the same number
again on May 12, 1908. Four or five days
appear to constitute the longest time any
ndividuals have remained. Such a stay
has been made by visitants a few times.
The latest birds have remained variously
to May 20 to 27. The rather loud and clear
song has often been heard.

The Water- thrush, like the Oven-bird,

172 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

walks, but in so doing constantly wags its
tail. It seeks the vicinity of the pond rather
than the shaded areas under the larger
trees and often walks on the stone curbing
surrounding the pond in its desire to be
near the water. It also seeks groups of
trees or shrubs standing near the pond and
their protection, and it frequently perches
high in these to escape the intruder or
to pour forth its song. In escape, when
frightened, it often flies a considerable
distance, showing a marked degree of fear.
The Oven-bird, on the other hand, being
less shy and seemingly unsuspicious of harm,
seeks only the branches of a near tree and
counts itself secure.

One Northern Water-thrush has been
seen in the autumn in the Garden, namely,
on October 8 and 9, in 1908. Mr. Maurice
C. Blake furnishes one other record, that
of a bird present on September 24, 1904.

CONNECTICUT WARBLER 173

91. Connecticut Warbler

Oporornis agilis

A Connecticut Warbler visited the Garden
on October 17, 1908. It was first seen in a
bed of roses near Arlington Street and the
centre path. From this it presently passed
to a Pyrus Japonica bush and then into a
near beech, giving occasionally a strong,
sharp call-note. The next morning the
visitant was seen on the opposite side of
the Garden in a bed of hardy azaleas, from
which it moved into other beds and then
into a beech standing near. Its call-note,
distinctive from that of the black-polls
which were present, served to locate the
bird when the observer was at some dis-
tance. The two following mornings it oc-
cupied the same section as upon the second
day, being seen in a sycamore maple which
was much frequented by the black-polls.
The visit of this Connecticut Warbler,
therefore, covered four days.

174 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
92. Maryland Yellow-throat

Geothlypis trichas

The Maryland Yellow-throat is a quite
common visitant to the Garden. Its earliest
appearance in the nine years was on May
3, 1905, when three male birds were seen.
The preceding year the first bird appeared
on May 4, a male bird in song. In other
years the time of arrival has been between
May 9 and 14. The period of migration has
variously covered from ten to twenty-four
days, the latter period in 1905. In 1907 it
covered seventeen days, May 13 to 29 ; in
1908, twenty days, May 10 to 29. Usually
the last birds of the species have passed on
May 22 to 26. Five or six Yellow-throats
have often been noted upon the same day,
and such little flocks have sometimes re-
mained several days. The song from time'
to time has been heard. Following their
usual habit, the Yellow-throats are com-
monly in the larger individual shrubs or
the shrub-groups, rather than in the trees,
but sometimes they are in the larger trees

YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT 175

with other warblers. They also frequent the
flower-beds, moving among the blossoming
tulips or bedded plants.

In 1908 seven male Yellow- throats were
present in the Garden on May 12, and two
others were seen on the Common. A female
bird in that year remained from May 24
to 29, being seen daily. In 1907 the latest
lingering bird was a male in song, which de-
parted also on May 29.

One autumn visitant has been recorded,
a female bird, which was seen on October
17, 1908, the same day which brought the
Connecticut warbler and a northern parula
warbler to the Garden. This bird gave no
call-note and moved so quietly and hid-
denly among the plants that it was almost
overlooked. It did not remain to a second
day.

93. Yellow-breasted Chat

Icteria virens

In 1900 the Yellow-breasted Chat gave
promise of being a more frequent visitor
to the Garden than it has since proved. In

176 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

that year on May 9 one was present ; again
on May 18 one came and remained three
days, and another arriving on the 20th
remained four days, presumably the same
bird. So the Chat was recorded upon six
days in succession in that season. On May
20 two were seen together. They were
much upon the grass in the neighborhood
of the Washington equestrian statue in
company with other warblers, all of whom
were finding their food upon or near the
surface after a severe easterly storm.

It was not until the season of 1905 that
another Chat was seen in the Garden. This
visitor was present from May 16 to 18. It
was first seen by Dr. C. W. Townsend on
the first mentioned day. It frequented the
northeast quarter, making use of groups
of trees and shrubs near the pond.

In 1908 again a Chat came to the Garden,
arriving on May 12. Mr. Thomas S. Brad-
lee called my attention to it, while we sat
upon one of the benches awaiting its ap-
pearance, for Mr. Bradlee had already dis-
covered its presence. The bird came to the

WILSON'S WARBLER 177

ground near us and immediately behind
the garden-seat. This was in the vicinity
of the Everett statue, the Chat making
use of the European beech which stands
near to conceal itself in when startled. It
was not seen the following day.

Although Chats naturally seek the ground,
shyness of persons who approach, going to
and fro, usually drives the visitors much into
the trees, and they show themselves very
secretive and elusive. No one of the birds
has been heard to sing or seen to perform
any of the queer antics which conditions
of wildness inspire.

94. Wilson's Warbler

Wilsonia pusilla

The Wilson's Warbler, or Wilson's Black-
cap, may be depended upon to make suc-
cessive visits to the Garden, appearing in
the middle of the month of May. May 15,
1905, marked its earliest appearance until
the year 1908, when a male bird came to
the Garden on May 10 and a male and a
female on May 12, while there was also

178 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

a singing male bird on the Common. In
three of the years it has first appeared on
May 1 6. In 1901 its coming was delayed
to May 22, and only two birds were noted
in that season. The last visitants have
usually passed on May 23 to 26, although in
1907 the migration extended to the end of
the month and one bird was present and
in song on May 30. Commonly the male
birds sing.

On May 19, 1907, ten Wilson's Warblers
were present, male and female, and five or
six birds were recorded on the three days
following. On some days of the migration
period, which variously covers one to two
weeks, a single bird only has been recorded,
but there has been scarcely a day within
the period of each season when one or
several birds have not been present. This
warbler frequents the larger trees about the
pond, but may also be found in the groups
of shrubs or in the English hawthorns.
The black cap on the crown of the male
bird, allowing the yellow of the forehead to
show below it, is a distinguishing mark.

CANADIAN WARBLER 179

95. Canadian Warbler

Wilsonia canadensis

The Canadian Warbler, or Canada Fly-
catcher, comes almost as regularly to the
Garden and appears nearly as numerously
there as the preceding species. It usually
arrives a little later than the Wilson's and
passes on with it. The earliest appearance
was in 1905, on May 12, when a male bird in
song was seen More visitants were noted
that year than in any other year of obser-
vation, five or six birds being present each
day between May 17 and 24 and three re-
maining up to May 27. The male birds
have been perhaps less in song than has
been the case with the Wilson's warbler,
although the song has not infrequently
been heard. The visitants are likely to be
in any of the tree or shrub growth about
the Garden. The black necklace upon the
yellow breast distinguishes the Canadian
Warbler, the female birds wearing it as
well as the male birds, only less conspicu-
ously.

i8o BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
96. American Redstart

Setophaga ruticilla

The American Redstart comes to the
Garden and passes out again like all of the
other warblers. It may be that occasionally
a pair has nested there or on the Common.
The earliest appearance of the Redstart
was in 1905, when a male bird came to the
Garden on May 9. In 1908 three male
birds came on May 12. Usually it has been
quite the middle of May before the arrival
has been noted, May 14 to 18. Three to
five birds have often been present together.
Six Redstarts were in the Garden on
May 24, 1908. Perhaps not more than a
dozen birds have appeared in any one sea-
son; sometimes only four or five.

The male birds sing freely. The visitants
frequent the larger and taller trees. Some-
times a young male in a plumage resem-
bling that of the female has been seen
singing like the adult male. In 1907, and
again in 1908, a Redstart was singing in
the Garden up to the end of May, having

CATBIRD 18 1

been present eight or ten days, but he then
disappeared.

One late autumn migrant has been re-
corded, namely, a young male or a female
bird on October 12, 1907.

97. American Pipit

Anthus rubescens

No spring records have been obtained.
The species is a much rarer migrant through
New England in the spring than in the fall.

On October 23, 1904, an American Pipit,
or Titlark, was heard calHng as it passed
over the Garden in the early morning. On
October 13, 1907, a flock of eleven birds
was counted, as they passed in flight, and
again on October 19 of the same year an-
other flock of twenty-one birds as they flew
over. On October 27, 1908, a single Pipit
was- seen flying over southward.

98. Catbird

Dumetella carolinensis

Catbirds regularly come to the Garden
and pass on during a period of two or three

i82 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

weeks. The earliest arrival of a Catbird
was in 1906, on April 30, one bird. Several
seasons their appearance has been delayed
to the middle of May, May 12 to 15 ; both
in 1907 and 1908 it was upon May 12. In
1905, and again in 1907 and 1908, the
visitants were comparatively abundant.
Probably twenty individuals in the first
two named years and sixteen in the last
year paid the Garden a visit, some remain-
ing several days. Thirteen birds were re-
corded on May 19, 1907, and nine were
seen on May 12, 1908. Usually not more
than four or five are present at the same
time.

Catbirds are late in getting away, May
23 to 25 usually marking their disappear-
ance; in 1907 one bird remained to May
28, and in 1908 a bird in song to May 26.
Occasionally only has the song been heard.
Usually the visitors are silent, the call
seldom having been heard. Following its
bent for hiding-places, the Catbird seeks
the screen which the shrubs growing close
to the ground or the beds of rhododen-

BROWN THRASHER 183

drons furnish, and it slyly emerges there-
from when it feels it safe to do so.

Dr. Charles W. Townsend furnishes an
interesting winter record of a Catbird seen
in the Garden on December 22, 25, and 2"]
in 1904, it having been reported as present
previous to the first mentioned day.

99. Brown Thrasher

Toxostoma rufum

Brown Thrashers visit the Garden in
numbers somewhat fewer than the Cat-
birds, but the period of their migration, as
evidenced there, is more extended. It has
run over three weeks in five of the years,
and in 1905 it covered thirty- three days,
namely, from April 25 to May 27. The
Thrasher appears earlier than the Catbird,
often by a week or more, never having been
later in arriving than May 7. The time of
its appearance is in the first week of May,
when not in the last week of April. Yet
the last birds are quite as late in moving on
to their breeding-haunts as are the Cat-
birds, May 22 to 27 variously marking the

i84 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

day of their disappearance. Probably not
more than ten to twelve individuals in any
one season visit the Garden. Not more
than six birds have been noted on the same
day. Sometimes a Thrasher has given itself
over to song for a time in the early morn-
ing, perched high up in the top of a tree
among the slender branches, where its form
could be seen.

In 1907, which was the year of greatest
abundance of the species, a tailless bird
appeared on May 15, when four or five
other Thrashers were present, and was seen
for seven successive days. It could take
short flights apparently as well as the other
Thrashers and did not remain beyond their
departure. The Thrashers conceal them-
selves very successfully in the thicker
shrubs or hawthorns and remain silent
most of the time, but they take advantage
of quiet conditions to drop to the ground
to feed.

WINTER WREN 185

100. House Wren

Troglodytes aedon

The House Wren had not been observed
in the Garden until 1906. On May 13 of
that year one was seen, but it was very
elusive among the planted beds and the
shrubs. In 1907 two House Wrens were
seen, one on May 14 and another on
May 18. Visitants in earlier years may
quite possibly have been overlooked. The
birds recorded appeared in comprehensive
migratory flights, when the number of spe-
cies and individuals present was large.

loi. Winter Wren

Nannus hiemalis

Mr. Francis H. Allen furnishes a record
of a Winter Wren in such proximity to the
Common in a recent year that it seems not
inappropriate to include the species in the
local list. He states that the Wren was
within the Granary Burying-Ground in-
closure on April 25 and 26, 1898.

i86 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

102. Brown Creeper

Certhia familiaris americana

A few Brown Creepers in the Garden are
recorded each year, both in the spring and
in mid-autumn. The earhest appearance
of the species was in 1905, when on March
20 two birds came and remained during four
days/ In other seasons the Creeper has
first appeared in April : one on April 7, 1904,
on the Common ; one on April 10, 1908 ; one
on April 15, 1905, on the Common; one on
April 22, 1907, which remained six days,
presumably the same bird. These first-
comers have usually been followed by
others a few days later. In 1905 eight birds
were seen on April 26, and it may be that
fifteen different individuals visited the
Garden that season, the period of migra-
tion extending from March 20 to May 3,
or forty-five days. The latest birds were
present in 1907, three on May 13. In 1900
two Creepers were present on May 9. This

1 In 1909 a Creeper was present on March 18 for one
day only.

BROWN CREEPER 187

was the day of my first visit ornithologically
to the Garden, and the first bird seen and
recorded on the occasion was one of these
two Creepers. I quickly detected after my
first observation the richness of the bird-
life present.

Again in October the Brown Creeper
regularly appears in the Garden in its
southward migration, one or more birds
successively, usually after the middle of the
month. On October 26, 1906, six birds
were present. As the visitants are quite
as likely to be upon the large trees which
border the Garden or which stand in the
streets which bound it as upon the trees
within the grounds, it is probable that
more Creepers have been visitants than
have been seen and recorded.

In 1908 a Creeper appeared on October
II; another was present from October 14
to 16; another from October 22 to 28 ; an-
other from November i to 8, being heard
in song on the last two days of his stay ;
and a last one was seen on November
19.

i88 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

A few Brown Creepers have been noted
on the Common.

Mr. Maurice C. Blake furnishes one early
autumn record, that of a Brown Creeper
present in the Garden on September 24,
1904.

103. White-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta carolinensis

On May 19, 1904, a White-breasted Nut-
hatch had come to the Garden and was
heard singing. No other birds often in com-
pany with nuthatches were present. It was
a cool, clouded day, with a maximum tem-
perature of 52° following an easterly storm.

On April 7 of the same year a female bird
had been seen on the Common with a brown
creeper and a hairy woodpecker as com-
panions, working over the trees on Monu-
ment Hill.

104. Red-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta canadensis

No spring record of the Red-breasted
Nuthatch has been obtained.

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH 189

But in October, 1906, there was a most
unusual visitation of this species to the
Garden. On October 14 and the three days
next following, the first bird was seen ; on
October 18 three birds were present; on
October 21, five, all being seen together
in one maple tree; on the day follow-
ing, the number was reduced to two, and
one remained four days longer, to Octo-
ber 26. Thus for thirteen successive days
Red-breasted Nuthatches were present. A
little company of golden -crowned kinglets,
chickadees, and brown creepers, also an un-
usual occurrence, was present at the same
time. After an interim, again on No-
vember 3 another Red-breasted Nuthatch
came, accompanied by two golden-crowned
kinglets.

In 1908, on October 12, a single bird was
present, but it did not remain to a second
day. On December 29 of that year Mr.
E. E. Caduc informs me that a Red-breasted
Nuthatch was seen by his friend Mr. Pot-
ter, at the head of Commonwealth Avenue.

I90 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
105. Chickadee

Penthestes atricapillus

The Chickadee is an infrequent visitant
to the Garden in the spring. One was noted
on March 28, 1903. Two, remaining over
from the winter, were present in March,
1904, and also in March, 1907, and then
disappeared. In 1905 two appeared on
March 31, and the song was heard. In the
same year two were noted on April 19, and
one came and was in song on May 13. In
1907 one was present and singing from
April 25 to 29, and in 1908 a single bird was
seen on April 9. These are all of the spring
records.

In the autumn Chickadees are much
more in evidence, as they quite regularly
appear in the Garden and continue their
stay into November; and, as already inti-
mated, on two occasions two birds remained
through the winter and were seen at inter-
vals up to the end of March. Sometimes
small flocks have appeared in October
which numbered four, five, or six birds.

GOLDEN-CROWNED KINGLET 191
106. Golden-crowned Kinglet

Regulus satrapa

Like the chickadee, the Golden-crowned
Kinglet is an infrequent visitant to the
Garden in the spring. In 1901 one was
noted on May i. This bird was on the
Common. In 1902 one was seen on April
21. In 1905 one came on March 29, a male
bird with a beautiful orange-centred crown,
and another came on April 28. In 1906 one
was seen on April 20. In 1907 two appeared
on the Common on April 23, and one was in
the Garden on April 27 and 28. In 1908 a
female bird came to the Garden on April
28 and was seen in the elms of the Beacon
Street mall on that day and the following
day. In the last two instances only has the
visitant remained more than one day.

In October more Golden-crests have been
noted than in the spring, and no autumn
has lacked one or more records. In most
instances the visitants have remained sev-
eral days, as in 1905 one was present from
October 18 to 20; in 1906 there were three

192 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

from October i6 to 19 ; in 1907 one from Oc-
tober 15 to 22, and two from October 27
to 30 ; in 1908 three from October 20 to 23.
November 4 is the latest date on which a
Golden-crowned Kinglet has been seen.

107. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Regulus calendula

The Ruby-crowned Kinglet has not
failed to appear in the Garden each spring,
usually two birds singly in succession. But
in 1901 three birds came on May 7, follow-
ing one on April 30 ; and in 1907 four birds
were present on May 7. The earliest dates
of arrival have been April 23 in 1903 and
1908, a single bird in each instance. The
last migrants have usually passed by the
end of the first week of May, but in 1904
and 1907 one was present on May 17 and
18 respectively. A Ruby-crown has in no
instance remained longer than to a second
day and usually has stayed but one day.
The migration has covered variously from
seven to thirteen days. This very sweet
little songster has often been heard singing

BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER 193

his exquisite song, both in the spring and in
the autumn.

On several occasions in the autumn
Ruby-crowned Kinglets have come to the
Garden. One visitant in song was present
on October 16, 1902; one in song on Octo-
ber 20, 1903; one also in song on October
22 and 23, 1906; and in 1908 one on Octo-
ber 14, followed by two on October 20, one
on October 22 and 23, and finally one on
November 5.

108. Blue-gray Gnatcatcher

Polioptila ccerulea

In the early morning of October 22, 1904,
upon entering the Garden on the northerly
side the frequently repeated calls of a small
bird not familiar to the ear attracted in-
stant notice and led me to a beech tree from
which they proceeded. Here a little bird
as active as a kinglet, or even more active,
was flitting among the boughs and proved
upon examination to be a Blue-gray Gnat-
catcher, a bird very rare within the bounds
of Massachusetts. It had as companions

194 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

black-poll warblers which were searching
through the leafage for their food. The
Gnatcatcher repeatedly made sallies forth
for insects somewhat after the manner of
the flycatchers. It at length flew from the
beech to a sycamore maple, alighting near
the top and gradually working down by
successive flittings to the lower branches
and even to the ground. It made noticeable
displays of the white outer tail-feathers by
spreading the tail as it flitted. The bluish
gray color of the upper parts was clear and
distinct in hue. It ceased not to give its
call-note, by which as it moved from tree
to tree it could be located. A southeast
rainstorm with warm winds of almost gale
force had raged the day previous, and
doubtless had brought this rare visitant
along from its more southern range. It was
not seen or heard the following day.

109. Wood Thrush

Hylocichla mustelina

The Wood Thrush was first seen in the
Garden in 1906. Brief visits were then

WILSON'S THRUSH 195

made by two birds successively. The first
came on May 7, and the second on May 13 ;
each bird remained but one day. The fol-
lowing year, 1907, two birds were present
on May 10 and were seen in the morn-
ing in company with hermit and Wilson's
thrushes. In the late afternoon my sister,
Miss Mary A. Wright, and Miss Isabel P.
George heard one of these Wood Thrushes
sing beautifully its evening song. Another
bird appeared on May 13 and remained
during four days.

These Wood Thrushes have kept rather
more in the seclusion of the shrubs than
the other thrushes which visit the Gar-
den have done, and they have shown them-
selves less on the ground than they. No
individuals were seen in the season of 1908.

no. Wilson's Thrush

Hylocichla juscescens

The Veery, or Wilson's Thrush, is a reg-
ular visitant to the Garden. In 1906 only
one bird was noted, which appeared as late
as May 23. But usually several birds come

196 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

in succession. In 1904 a Veery came on
May 5, and the migration continued to
May 20, the succession probably number-
ing six different birds. In 1905 the first
Veery came on May 3, and the migration
continued to May 22, an equal number of
birds coming in succession. In 1907 the
same number came between May 10 and
20. In 1908, strange to say, the same num-
ber again appeared, arriving between May
12 and 24. In 1903 four Veeries came on
May 22 and passed on that night, the only
birds of that season.

The song has been heard, especially upon
a damp day, audible above the din of the
city. Usually the species is silent. The
Wilson's Thrush is very likely to be under
the shadow of the beeches, which offer
protection by their low, spreading boughs,
and whose expanding leafage very closely
matches the tawny backs of these thrushes.

One Veery was seen on the Common on
May 10, 1907, and one on May 12, 1908;
each occasion marked the first arrival of
the species to both the Common and the
Garden.

GRAY-CHEEKED THRUSH 197

III. Gray-cheeked Thrush

Hylocichla alicicB

Several records of Gray-cheeked Thrushes,
or AHce's Thrushes, which have been well
seen, have been obtained, beginning in
1900, when one was present on May 15 and
two others came on May 18 and continued
their stay during seven days through an
easterly storm. In 1901 one bird was pre-
sent on May 22 ; in 1903 one was seen on
May 20 ; in 1904 the visitant came on May
23 ; and in 1905 one on May 22, followed
by another on May 25 which remained to
the second day. In 1908 a Gray-cheeked
Thrush arrived in the Garden on May 17;
two others came on May 24 ; and these were
followed by one other on May 27 which
remained over another day.

These records show that the Gray-
cheeked Thrush arrives later than the other
thrushes except Bicknell's, and has usually
made but one day's stay.

198 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN
112. Bicknell's Thrush

Hylocichla alicicB bicknelli

On three occasions a Bicknell's Thrush
has been well seen in the Garden. In 1904
one appeared on May 28 and was seen both
on the ground and on boughs of the trees.
The olive-backed thrushes had already-
passed on. In 1905 one came on May 21,
when two olive-backed thrushes were also
present. The smaller size, entire absence
of buff tint and rather browner tinge of the
back distinguished it from its near rela-
tives. In 1908 one came on May 2y.

Dr. Charles W. Townsend furnishes an
interesting fourth record. He writes: '* On
June II, 1906, I noticed a male bronzed
grackle picking at a dead bird in the Gar-
den near the Ether Monument and when
disturbed walking off, holding the dead
bird by the neck. The bird proved to be a
female Bicknell's Thrush and is now in my
collection (cat. no. 1257). It was perfectly
fresh and apparently recently killed."

Mr. Maurice C. Blake furnishes one

OLIVE-BACKED THRUSH 199

autumn record of a migrant southward,
namely, a bird well seen by him in the
Garden on September 24, 1904, giving calls
and snatches of song.

113. Olive-backed Thrush

Hylocichla ustulata swainsoni

Swainson's, or the Olive-backed, Thrush
visits the Garden regularly, from six to a
dozen birds appearing each year. In 1905
the first bird came on May 7. The usual
time of arrival is May 13 or 14. In 1907
the earliest comers were seen on May 18,
four birds. Six birds present upon the same
day have been twice recorded, namely, May
20, 1902, and May 15, 1905. On the former
occasion one bird sang the full song many
times. On the latter occasion the number
was not diminished for three days, and two
birds recorded daily up to May 21 may
have been two of the little flock of six re-
maining seven days. The last birds linger
variously to May 22 to 25. One was pre-
sent, however, on May 30, in 1907, and one
on May 28, in 1908. The strongly buff col-

200 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

oring on the head and throat of these birds
estabHshed them surely as Olive-backs.

The song is rarely heard, and the call-
notes are given infrequently. But on May
1 8, 1908, an Olive-backed Thrush in a
beech which stands near the Everett statue
sang without ceasing for a half-hour or
more, quite as he would have sung in a
White Mountain forest such as he loves
so well. When I had passed through the
grounds and returned again to the vicinity
of this beech tree, the bird was still singing.

114. Hermit Thrush

Hylocichla guttata pallasii

Of all the thrushes the Hermit Thrush
is by far the most abundant visitant to the
Garden. It comes the earliest and in con-
siderable numbers, and the migration in
some seasons has extended over a long
period. For instance, in 1902 a bird ap-
peared on March 13 and remained two
days. Another came on March 24 and also
remained two days. The last bird of that
season passed on May 11. The period of

HERMIT THRUSH 201

migration, therefore, was sixty days. In
1905 the first bird appeared on March 29.
This bird was reported by Dr. C. W. Town-
send, and the last bird of the season passed
on May 8. The period covered was forty-
one days. In 1907 the first bird was seen
on April 2, there being two others on the
Common, and the last bird passed on
May 14. The period covered was forty-
three days. In 1908 the first bird appeared
on April 7, and the last bird passed on
May 14. The period covered was thirty-
eight days.

In 1905, and again in 1907, the re-
cords indicate that probably forty Hermit
Thrushes passed through the Garden.
Fourteen birds were present together on
April 20, 1905 ; twelve were seen on April 26
after the former flock had gone; and ten
were counted on May 3 after another in-
terval of absence. In 1907 twelve were re-
corded on April 23, and twelve again on
April 26, one only having been seen in the
intervening days. In 1908 probably more
than sixty Hermit Thrushes came to the

2Q2 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

Garden and the Common. On April 15
thirty were counted in the Garden, and one
was seen on the Common. On April 23
twelve were in the Garden, and six were on
the Common.

On May 6, 1908, a Hermit came to the
Garden which was very dull in color. This
bird was seen each day up to May 14. It
occupied the same small section of the
grounds, the corner formed by Beacon and
Arlington streets. Here it was seen every
morning for nine days. On the 12th day
four others were present for that day only,
but the long-lingering bird, recognizable by
its coloration, was seen by itself on that day
and continued its stay two days beyond
their departure.

A small flock of Hermits which came to
the Common on April 16, 1908, remained
about the band-stand for nine days; they
were often seen close about its base as well
as on the lawn around it.

Hermit Thrushes are also present in the
Garden every year during the autumn
migration. In 1900 one remained from Oc-

HERMIT THRUSH 203

tober 25 to 28. In 190 1 five were present
on October 27 ; two remained another day.
In 1903 five were noted on October 21, and
one was seen on November 8. In 1904
twelve passed in succession between Oc-
tober 16 and November 6. In 1907 five
were seen on October 24, and the migration
extended to November 8. In 1908 the first
autumn migrant appeared on October 13,
and the migration continued to Novem-
ber 19; nearly thirty individuals passed
through in succession.

The November Hermits of that season
clung very tenaciously to a group of trees
and shrubs near the northeast corner of the
pond. Three were here seen on the first day
of the month, and three on the nineteenth
day, after which no Hermit was seen within
the Garden. Accretions to the number upon
some days of this period indicated succes-
sive flights of the species southward even
up to November 18, for five birds were
present on that day. On November 7 one
of the birds sang sweetly, but in suppressed
tones. These Hermits were singularly

204 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

tame, allowing one to approach as near as
ten feet or to pass under them when perch-
ing, and they showed none of that shyness
which belongs to the species in its nesting-
haunts.

Once only in the spring has the song been
heard, and then it was repeated several
times clearly and came as distinctly to the
ear as it is heard on the bird's breeding-
ground in the White Mountains. This
occurred in the early morning of April 21,
1902. Upon the same morning, it may be
worth while to mention, a Hermit Thrush
had been seen at the break of day in the
back-yard of a house on Pinckney Street,
and viewed with wonder at its choice of
so confined and unnatural a resting-place.
One of the several call-notes of the species
is occasionally given, but rarely.

The Hermit Thrushes which visit the
Garden are usually in plain evidence, often
showing little timidity as they run upon
the ground, pick their food, and take short
flights. When startled from the ground the
flight often is merely up into the branches

AMERICAN ROBIN 205

of the tree above them or across an open
space to some neighboring tree. As they
are in the Garden before the leafage has
appeared, it is easy to find them if rest-
ing upon a bough, as they at intervals
quietly lift the tail. But commonly they
are upon the ground.

115. American Robin

Planesticus migratorius

The Robin is one of the three established
summer residents in the Garden, the others
being the bronzed grackle and the Balti-
more oriole. Like the grackle, the Robin
has become an abundant resident. The
records of 1900 show that only three or
four pairs of Robins were then nesting
within the grounds. The number did not
increase in the two years next following.
But in 1903 ten pairs were nesting; in 1904,
eighteen pairs; in 1905, twenty pairs; and
in 1906, twenty-eight pairs. As in the case
of the grackles in 1907, so also the Robins
were fewer in number in that year ; twenty
pairs, so far as could be ascertained, nested.

2o6 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

In 1908 the number of nests located in
May was twenty-five.

The Robin is one of the earliest birds to
appear in the spring. A single male bird
commonly arrives first, and the same morn-
ing it is usual to see several song and fox
sparrows and a grackle or two. The earli-
est date of arrival of the Robin was in 1908,
in which year one came to the Common on
March 12. In 1902 and 1903 the arrival
was on March 13, on which day in each
of those years two male birds came to the
Garden.^ In 1901 and in 1904 the arrival
was on March 24 ; in 1905, on March 18 ; in
1906, on March 28 ; in 1907, on March 21 ;
a single bird came in every instance. If the
arrival of the first bird be unusually early,
commonly it is a week or ten days before
it is joined by a few companions. Then
successive additions are made to the flock
of nesting birds even up to the early days
of May.

1 In 1909 two robins arrived on March 15. A song
sparrow preceded them by one day. They were joined
by a third robin on March 21, and by four others two
days later.

AMERICAN ROBIN 207

Occasionally a migrating flock flies in
and alights, it may be perching and cackling
noisily in the larger trees, or spreading out
upon the ground and running and chasing
actively. One such flock in the Garden, it
was estimated, numbered two hundred and
fifty birds. It came on April 10, 1907. One
of about twenty birds appeared on one
piece of lawn on April 8, 1905. And another
flock of similar size passed over in flight on
April 7, 1908. Other flocks at other times
have been seen. These appearances have
been an hour or two after sunrise, and, as
such flocks do not remain but rise again on
wing and depart, the occurrences are con-
firmative of the idea that the Robin is a
day-migrating bird.

Toward the end of March or in early
April some female birds arrive, but it is well
on in the month of April before many fe-
males have joined the males and nest-build-
ing begins. Many nests have been built or
are building when May opens, but some
pairs prove to be even later in their home-
making.

2o8 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

The males which come first seem not to
give themselves over to song, but they are
heard occasionally singing. Bleak winds
continue for many days after the first mild
spell of weather which inspired the early
comers, and the temperature falls on many
mornings considerably below the freezing
point. So these earlier birds much of the
time lack incentive to sing until the warmer
mornings come. Then they will be heard
in chorus in response to higher ranges of
temperature and the arrival and presence
of the females. This chorus singing in all
its combined power, however, occurs in the
very early morning, indeed before sunrise.
So, should you remark in early May to a
patrolman whose beat is through the Gar-
den, ** I do not hear the Robins sing
much," he will reply, " You should have
been here about 3.30 o'clock this morning;
that is the time they sing." Some birds are
inspired in the later hours of the morning,
but the universal song is given only at the
early hour.

In October a few lingering Robins are

BLUEBIRD 209

found in the Garden, and some small flocks
call there on their southward flight. One
or two birds have remained in several of the
seasons until the middle of November. In
1903 and 1904 the last one was seen on
November 15. In 1905 the last bird stayed
one day later. In 1908 two were present on
November 18. Dr. Charles W. Townsend
furnishes a record of two Robins in the
Garden in the first week of December in
1904. For eight months of the year, there-
fore, this ** friend of man *' and cheery, use-
ful companion is present with us.

116. Bluebird

Sialia sialis

Bluebirds make very short visits within
the Garden. One or two may be seen and
heard for a brief time occasionally, as they
perch on one of the trees, having alighted
on their way further. On one occasion,
March 26, 1905, a flock of eleven birds
made a short stay, and on March 28 a
flock of eight birds lit, while on the same
morning twelve others were noted as they

2IO BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

flew over. The only instance of a pair tarry-
ing, as if it might have intended to nest,
was in 1902, when a pair remained in one
section of the Common, that which lies
nearest to Park Square, from April i to 14,
and then disappeared. They were seen
daily during those fourteen days. The
earliest date of the Bluebird's arrival has
been March 14, in 1902.^ Other dates of
arrival have been March 15, 16, 19, 21,
and April 4 and 5. Some visitants have ap-
peared in May, apparently drawn along in
the larger migratory movements. Thus in
1902 one was present and in song on May 9,
and another on May 11. In 1903 one came
on May 19. In 1904 two male birds were
seen on May 5. In 1905 a female bird ap-
peared on May 16, and another came on
May 20. In 1906 a male bird was present
and singing on May 20. In 1908 a male
bird was on the Common on May 10.
There are four late October records of

^ In 1909 Mr. E. E. Caduc informs me that he saw a
male bluebird on the Common, on Monument Hill, on
March 14. A blue jay was also present.

BLUEBIRD 211

the Bluebird. A single bird was recorded
on October 20, 1901 ; one on October 26,
1904; one on October 26, 1907; and on
October 24, 1907, a flock of fourteen birds
was seen flying over westward. In 1908
the autumn visitants were all November
birds; eight passed over on November i,
and three were seen perching on the Com-
mon on November 12.

The Garden, therefore, scarcely consti-
tutes a way-station for this species, as no
Bluebird has been known to spend the
night therein, or indeed pass an hour within
the grounds. They make only fleeting calls
and continue on their way ; or in many in-
stances alight not at all, but pass over in
their migratory passage ; for the Bluebird is
one of the few species of small birds which
migrate by day.

INTRODUCED SPECIES
I. House Si^arrow

Passer domesticus

The House, or English, Sparrow was suc-
cessfully introduced into Boston by pro-
vision of the city government in the year
1869 after an unsuccessful effort made in
the preceding year. From that time dates
its occupancy of the Common and the Pub-
lic Garden and its spread throughout the
city and thence to suburban cities and
towns and thus more and more widely.
Mr. William Brewster in his ** Birds of the
Cambridge Region," p. 65, says of his first
observation of these sparrows : " I remem-
ber spending the greater part of a cold
morning in December, 1869, looking for the
alien birds in Boston. On this occasion I
failed to find any of them on the Common,
but near the pond in the Public Garden I
finally came upon six or eight huddled to-
gether in the top of a leafless bush. During

HOUSE SPARROW 213

the next three years they became numer-
ous in Boston, and in 1873 they began to
invade Cambridge, appearing first at Har-
vard Square and in Cambridgeport. A few
were seen in the immediate neighborhood
of our own place the following year, and in
1875 a pair nested, for the first time, in our
garden."

So now the House Sparrow we always
have with us. It abides in abundance. But
it seems as if the species locally had been
somewhat on the decrease in the last few
years. It is known that the parent grackles
destroy some of the young sparrows, be-
cause this has been witnessed by a number
of observers in June at the time when the
grackles' young are first out of the nest
and seeking food, and when also the young
House Sparrows are clumsy of movement
and fall easily a prey. I suspect the provo-
cation proceeds from the parent sparrows
who may in their rude way steal the young
grackles' food for themselves or their young,
and that the killing is done in retaliation
and in the interest of the young grackles,

214 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

for I do not learn that it is witnessed at
other times. There is some decimation of
the House Sparrows in the Garden in this
way.

Noisy and pugnacious as they crowd to-
gether, yet these sparrows have appeared
usually to give the small migrant birds
little annoyance. Occasionally I have noted
a marked exception to this statement, when,
it may be, a warbler, provoking animosity
by the challenge of its song, has been
fiercely chased about for a time by an angry
sparrow and sometimes has flown out of
the Garden. Such a pursuit is more likely to
happen upon a day when there are but few
migrants present, or in the earlier part of
the season, and it seldom occurs. Later in
the season the House Sparrows seem to be-
come wonted to the presence of the migrant
birds and more willing to share the grounds
with them.

In the early morning hours I have found
them less noisy and less in evidence to sight
than in the forenoon, when they are gath-
ered in larger numbers from the neigh-

HOUSE SPARROW 215

boring streets to bathe at the edge of the
pond or the fountains and sun themselves
on the grass-plots. It has proved after some
experience that they afford little embar-
rassment to the observer, since a power to
overlook them and eliminate their voices
from the notes of the visitant birds can be
readily acquired.

White- throated, white-crowned, and fox
sparrows treat the House Sparrows as in-
feriors and drive them at will, for they are
at once recognized by them as masterful
and superior.

A House Sparrow of albino type has
sometimes been seen. One such of almost
complete whiteness of plumage used to
be seen within the Garden near the head of
Newbury Street. And others in less degrees
of albinism have been seen from time to
time and have also been observed upon the
Common. Such plumages are generally
regarded as the result of degeneracy.

2i6 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

II. European Goldfinch

Carduelis carduelis

On the morning of May 27, 1908, a bird
was perceived feeding on the grass near the
edge of the pond, which by its coloration
caused a moment of wondering surprise,
for it was none other bird than a full-plum-
aged European Goldfinch. It permitted a
somewhat near approach and was viewed
by myself and my companions with the
interest which attaches to a rare bird. It
might have continued longer in view, had
not a swan approached so near upon the
waters that the little finch was frightened
apparently at its immensity and whiteness,
and, flying across to the trees of the island,
was lost to view. The expectation was that
it would be likely to be seen the next day
and perhaps for several days, but it was
not looked upon again and must have gone
out of the Garden.

A natural presumption would be that
this was an escaped cage-bird. Yet as Eu-
ropean Goldfinches have occasionally been

EUROPEAN GOLDFINCH 217

seen in the suburbs of Boston in recent
years, some birds having been designedly
liberated some years ago, it is quite possi-
ble that this bird was acquainted with life
in nature rather than with life within a cage,
and it is thus classified as a bird of the wild
descended from parents which were once
introduced and set free.

FOREIGN SPECIES
III. Java Sparrow

Munia oryzivora

On October 19, 1904, a bird of unusual
coloration was seen picking on the ground of
the Common among a large flock of house
sparrows, which proved upon investigation
to be a Java Sparrow, or Java Finch. It was
again seen with the flock on the following
day and also on the next day. Wherever
the English sparrows moved this bird went
with them. It was viewed upon these three
days of its presence on the slope of Monu-
ment Hill, on the level of the parade-ground,
and on the lawn around the band-stand.
It showed as little fear as the house spar-
rows, like them simply flying to a near tree
when a too close approach was made by
passers-by. Its call, given when taking
short flights, bore a resemblance to the
call of the purple finch. Otherwise it was
silent. The strongly contrasting colors of

EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 219

its plumage — black, white, and slaty gray
— and its stout bright- red bill made it con-
spicuous among its companions, and yet
apparently they who passed to and fro saw
it not. After the third day it disappeared.
There is no other explanation of the pre-
sence of this bird than that it had escaped
from a cage and found its way to the Com-
mon.

IV. European Blackbird

Planesticus merula

In the autumn of 1908 a foreign bird
was discovered in the Garden when I made
my usual round on the morning of Oc-
tober 9, a bird appearing essentially like
our American robin in size and form, but
glossy black in coloration throughout, with
a bright yellow bill. The bird was none
other than a European Blackbird, a male
bird, doubtless escaped from captivity. It
was first seen in a Norway maple by the
pond, sitting quietly upon a bough, and it
permitted a careful inspection of itself to
be made from a position perhaps fifteen

220 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

feet distant. One very apparent charac-
teristic was its lifting the tail and then
slowly lowering it after the manner of the
hermit thrush. This, it was found, it con-
stantly did, as it was viewed day after day
thereafter. Whether the bird ran upon the
ground, which it proved it much frequented,
or sat upon a bough, at brief intervals this
tail-action was manifested. And the tail
was usually spread somewhat wider at the
tip than- at the base, thus presenting to
some extent a fan-like form.

When on the ground it was seen to cast
aside the fallen leaves with its bill in the
search for food as a brown thrasher is
wont to do, first on one side and then on the
other. And on a few occasions there was a
momentary scratching action of both feet
together after the manner of a fox spar-
row. When a flight was taken, it was at
rather low range, and all perches were upon
the lower boughs of trees; no disposition
was shown to climb higher than perhaps
ten feet.

On the second morning it was seen.

EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 221

namely, October 10, it was in the same tree
in the southwest quarter of the grounds;
for a time at first this was its chosen
section, and occasionally afterwards it re-
turned to it But later it was seen in all
quarters of the Garden, most often, how-
ever, on the Beacon Street side, and after
a time almost exclusively there and in that
part of it which reaches up to Arlington
Street. It sometimes had as a companion
a robin or a hermit thrush, according as
migrants of these species occasionally came
to the Garden on their way southward. I
recall that on one morning, when an early
snow was fast falling, the Blackbird was
moving about the rocks which surround the
base of the large Japanese lantern near the
curbing of the pond and with it were both
a robin and a hermit thrush.

As the leaves continued to drop from the
trees, leaving them more and more bare,
the Blackbird was often seen in the Eng-
lish hawthorns, which still held their foliage
and afforded it seclusion and protection;
and it showed a fondness for a bed of salvia

222 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

close beside the pond until in the progress
of clearing up the Garden these plants were
removed. In the early morning of Novem-
ber 6, which was clouded and frosty, our
foreign visitor made use of a small pool of
water upon the turf, where a hose-attach-
ment allowed a little to flow, and refreshed
himself with a bath.

Ten days later, in the early morning of
November 17, the bird was found sitting
on a bough of an English hawthorn which
stands north of the Ether Monument, and
singing sweetly in very soft tones, so soft
that had I not been as near as only twenty
feet away I could not have heard him. He
had fully settled into the mood of singing,
for he moved not upon the bough and
paused not in his utterance of the sweet
notes so long as I remained, which was at
least ten minutes. Passers-by moved on
the plank walk near the tree, but these dis-
turbed not the bird, as he sat in the seclu-
sion of the boughs. The song was so nearly
formless that it lacked definiteness, but
occasionally phrases were heard which re-

EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 223

sembled those of a wood thrush. I could
not see that the bird opened its bill at all
to produce its song, and I suppose it was
meant for no ears to hear, either bird's or
man's. This was the only occasion on which
sounds were heard which were traceable
to the Blackbird, unless on one other morn-
ing a ** chuck" which was heard proceeded
from it while I was near, and not from a
possible hermit thrush which was not seen.
Usually when seen it was not seeking
food actively. But several times I have
seen the bird pull an angle-worm from the
grass and eat it, running like a robin a few
feet upon the turf, and after a pause, in
which he was plainly giving attention to his
object, seizing the worm and preparing it for
comfortable use by dividing it. If a house
sparrow intruded at such a time, the Black-
bird had only to strike out for it and the
sparrow retired. On December 5 it was
enjoying such a feast under a large purple
beech which stands just within the Garden
at the head of Marlborough Street. The
ground was without frost. On December 9,

224 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

II, 12, and 15 it was seen in the Garden by
several different observers, who mentioned
the fact to me.

Later the bird appeared to spend most
of the time in Commonwealth Avenue, as
it was frequently seen near the head of the
avenue by Mr. J. M. Whi taker of Cam-
bridge between December 22 and January
26, 1909, at about 8.30 in the morning.
Miss E. D. Boardman informs me that she
saw the bird on January 28 at the head of
the avenue in a shrub in the Sears garden-
border and in the vine climbing upon the
house. Mrs. Arthur T. Cabot, having gath-
ered such accurate data as she was able
concerning the wintering of this Blackbird,
very kindly puts the information at my dis-
posal. Mrs. Cabot writes me under date of
February 21: "The European Blackbird
was last seen by a member of my family on
Friday, February 19th, in the grass-plot of
the house on the northeast corner of Berke-
ley Street and Commonwealth Avenue. The
people in that house and in the house on
the northwest corner put out crumbs for

EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 225

him, which he is said to eat. Suet, which
was tied in shrubs in the vicinity, has ap-
parently not been touched. Personally I
have never seen him feeding on anything
put out for him, but scratching or hunting
about in the manure spread on the grass."
Mrs. Cabot also states that she has seen
him on Beacon Street near the PubHc Gar-
den and has never heard of his being seen
farther west than Berkeley Street.

This Blackbird was again seen by Mr.
E. E. Caduc and me in the late afternoon
of February 20 in one of the trees at the
head of Commonwealth Avenue, having
flown from the direction of the Garden.
He placed himself snugly out of the wind in
the main crotch of the tree but little above
the level of our heads. I had seen him take
a similar position in the Garden in Decem-
ber, in the first crotch of a purple beech,
so narrow in width between the ascending
trunks that he was almost concealed from
view, and would not have been detected
there had I not seen him fly to the position.

Three later records of this bird have been

226 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

kindly contributed to me by the respective
observers. Miss Bertha Langmaid writes
under date of February 28: ''You may be
interested to know that at four-thirty
o'clock this afternoon I saw and heard the
European Blackbird. He was in a tree in
the centre of Commonwealth Avenue about
halfway between Berkeley and Arlington
streets and was giving a song suggesting
our robin. It was not loud, but soft and
very sweet, yet decided enough to attract
the attention of others beside myself."

Dr. Charles W. Townsend writes : ** As to
the European Blackbird, I saw him on
March ist fly up from a grass-plot on
Marlborough Street between Clarendon
and Dartmouth streets and alight on the
vines of a house. I hope some time to be
awakened by his song, which will be a
pleasing contrast to that of Passer domesti-
cus,'' This record indicates that the bird
was making use of a wider range of the
Back Bay streets than had been supposed
and that he was still ranging through that
district when March opened.

EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 227

Mrs. Edmund Bridge writes me that she
saw this Blackbird singing beautifully on
March 8 at 9.15 in the morning in a maple
tree in Commonwealth Avenue between
Arlington and Berkeley streets, the section
of the avenue which he has most frequented.
Mrs. Bridge states that the bird was perch-
ing in the curve of one limb partly covered
by another and that the singing might be
likened to the mockingbird's song.

Ten days later, on March 18, this Black-
bird was found by me to be again within the
Garden. The water of the pond had just
been drawn off for the annual cleaning out
of litter, leaving the bottom exposed, and
here the Blackbird was busily feeding, ac-
companied by one of two early-arrived
robins. He moved freely about over a por-
tion of the surface, and his motions indi-
cated that he found it good feeding-ground,
for he was constantly picking up and swal-
lowing bits of food which the draining off of
the water had brought to view. What these
bits were I could not discern. The following
morning he was again seen and was simi-

228 BIRDS OF THE PUBLIC GARDEN

larly occupied, and so each succeeding
morning up to March 25, when his record
for this volume was necessarily closed. On
three of these mornings, March 20, 24, and
25, at about seven o'clock, he sang a few
phrases of song in mellow, rich tones, which
were thrushlike in quality and suggested at
times, now the bluebird's song and again the
wood thrush's, but sang softly, not allowing
his voice free scope, and each time he all
too quickly dropped to the ground again to
feed, and the brief singing was ended. On
all of these mornings the temperature was
near, or several degrees below, the freezing
point and the surface was hard frozen.
These conditions probably did not move
him to sing freely, and so for hearing the
full power and beauty of his voice we must
doubtless await higher temperatures and
more springlike conditions. The eight days
of continuous stay, following his return to
the Garden, indicates that this foreign
visitor, after three months' winter residence
in Commonwealth Avenue, has once more
established himself in the Public Garden

EUROPEAN BLACKBIRD 229

amid favorable conditions with a full, long
season before him in which to enjoy him-
self and furnish interest and enjoyment to
the Boston public.

INDEX

Note. — The heavy-faced type indicates the place where the species is
treated at length.

Acanthis linaria, 1 00.

Accipiter velox, 62.

Actitis macularia, 61.

Agelaius phoeniceus, 89.

Albinism, 215.

Allen, Francis H., x, 62,, 65, 69,

71, 98, 139, 185.
Allen, Glover M., x, xi, 74, 87,

100.
Anthus rubescens, i8l.
Arlington Street, 7, 50, 73, 163,

169, 170, 173, 202, 221, 226,

227.
Arlington Street Church, 152,

163, 169.
Asiragalinus tristis, lOI.
Attachment to location, 49-51,

149, 163, 170, 203.
Aviary, 6, 27.

Back Bay district, 5, 62, 67, 75,

76, 226.
Bath, 113, 150, 215, 222.
Beacon Hill, 75.
Beacon Street, 4, 7, 59, 65, 74,

83. '^33y 170. 191. 202, 221,

225.
Beech, European, 148, 177, 193,

200.
Beech, purple, 95, 223, 225.
Beeches, 8, 112, 170, 173, 196.
Berkeley Street, 224-227.

Birches, 8.

Blackbird, Crow, 93.
Blackbird, European, 219.
Blackbird, Red-winged, 33, 34,

89, 96.
Blackbird, Rusty, 92.
Black-cap, Wilson's, 177.
Blake, Maurice C, xi, 92, 112,

120, 139, 161, 172, 188, 198.
Bluebird, 19, 23, T)^, 96, 209,

228.
Boardman, Miss E. D., 224.
Bobolink, 2,?,, 34, 85.
Bob- white, 62.
Bombycilla cedrorum, 138.
Botanic Garden, 3.
Boylston Street, 7, 8, 152, 160.
Bradlee, Thomas S., 176.
Branta canadensis, 58.
Brewster, William, x, xi, 21-23,

67, 83, 99, 212.
Bridge, Mrs. Edmund E., 227.
Brimmer Street, 84.
Butcher-bird, 139.
Buteo platypterus, 63.
Buteos, 63.

Cabot, Mrs. Arthur T., 224,

225.
Caduc, Eugene E., x, 66, 69, 74,

75, 78, 82, 85, 141, 189, 225.
Cage-birds, 54, 216, 219.

232

INDEX

Carduelis carduelis, 2 1 6.

Carpodacus purpureus, 99.

Catbird, 13, 23, 28-30, 32, 33,
35, 38, 39. 63, 181, 183.

Cats, 10.

Cedar-bird, 1 38.

Census, 13, 14, 17, 40-

Certhia familiar is americana,
186.

Ceryle alcyon, 69.

Chadbourne, Dr. Arthur P., 67.

ChcBtura pelagica, 76.

Chapman, Frank M., 146.

Charles River, 44, 58.

Charles River Basin, 57, 58.

Charles Street, 4, 7, 59, 65, 84,
141.

Chat, Yellow-breasted, 13, 28,
29, 32, 38, 159, 175.

Chebec, 81.

Chestnut Street, 37.

Chewink, 131.

Chickadee, 15, 189, 190, 191.

Chippy, 114,

Chordeiles virginianus, 75.

City Hall, 87, 88.

Clangula clangula americana,
58.

Clarendon Street, 70, 226.

Coccyzus americanus, 67.

Coccyzus erythrophthalmus, 68.

Coffee- tree, Kentucky, 52.

Colaptes auratus luteus, 73.

Colinus virginianus, 62.

Common, Boston, 5, 7, 11, 20,
23, 24, 36, 37, 44, 46, 53, 65,
66, 70, 7i» 73-75. 78, 79. 84,
85, 87, 91, 93, 94, 104-107,
no, 113, 115-119, 121, 122,
126, 130, 132, 139-141, 147,

149, 155, 156, 158, 165, 167,

169, 175, 178, 180, 186, 188,

191, 196, 201, 202, 206, 210-

212, 215, 218, 219.
Commonwealth Avenue, 62,

64, 67, 189, 224-228.
Compsothlypis americana us-

nea, 148.
Continuance of stay, 6, 19, 26,

32, 36, 49-51-
Corvus brachyrhynchos, 83,
Cowbird, 86.

Creeper, Black and White, 143,
Creeper, Brown, 13, 186, 188,

189.
Creeper, Pine, 166.
Crossbill, White- winged, 1 00.
Crow, American, 83.
Cuckoo, Black-billed, 68.
Cuckoo, Yellow-billed, 35, 67^
Cyanociita cristata, 82.

Dartmouth Street, 226.
Day, Chester S., 74.
Dendroica cestiva, 1 53.
Dendroica blackburnice, 162.
Dendroica ccerulescens, 154.
Dendroica castanea, 158.
Dendroica coronata, I55«
Dendroica discolor, 168.
Dendroica magnolia, 156.
Dendroica palmarum, 166.
Dendroica palmarum hypochry-

sea, 167.
Dendroica pensylvanica, 1 57.
Dendroica striata, 159.
Dendroica tigrina, 149.
Dendroica vigorsii, 166.
Dendroica virens, 164.
Dolichonyx oryzivorus, 85.

INDEX

233

Dryobates pubescens medianus,

71-

Dryobates villosus, 70.
Dumetella carolinensis, 181.

Elm, American, 7, 8, 63, 65,
90, 91, 130, 133, 152, 163,
191.

Elm, Dutch, 8.

Elm, English, 7, 8, 147, 163,
168.

Emerson, Guy, xi.

Empidonax flaviventris, 80.

Empidonax minimus, 81.

Euphagus carolinus, 92.

Falco sparverius, 64.

Falcons, 63.

Female birds, 48.

Fens, 64, 85, 89, 90, 140.

Finch, Grass, 103.

Finch, Java, 218.

Finch, Pine, 102.

Finch, Purple, 30, 33, 35, 37,

63, 99, 124, 218.
Flicker, Northern, 24, 32, s^,

47. 73-

Flycatcher, Least, 22, 24, 28, 31,

33. 35. 37, 39. 81.
Flycatcher, Yellow-bellied, 39,
80.

Flycatchers, 82, 152, 194.
Foreign species, 54, 218, 219.
Frog Pond, 7, 67, 70.

George, Miss Isabel P., x, 145,

195-
Geothlypis trichas, 1 74.
Gilbert, R. A., 67.
Gingko tree, 64.

Glaux acadicus, 6$.

Gnat catcher. Blue-gray, 193.'

Golden-eye, American, 53, 58-

Goldfinch, American, 39, loi.

Goldfinch, European, 2 1 6.

Goose, Canada, 58.

Goshawk, 63.

Grackle, Bronzed, 24, 25, 47,

48, 63, 93, 98, 120, 121, 198,

205, 206, 213.
Grackle, Purple, 96.
Granary Burying-Ground, 53,

69, 99, 185.
Gray, Horace, 3, 4.
Grosbeak, Pine, 98.
Grosbeak, Rose-breasted, 31,

32, 37, 132.
Gull, Herring, 57.

Hangbird, 90.
Hardy, John H., Jr., x, 65.
Hawk, American Sparrow, 64.
Hawk, Broad- winged, 63.
Hawk, Sharp-shinned, 62.
Hawthorn, English, 94, 178,

184, 221, 222.
Helminihophila chrysoptera,

146.
Helminihophila peregrina, 147.
Helminihophila rubricapilla,

146.
Helodromas soliiarius, 60.
Heron, Black-crowned Night,

59-

Hirundo eryihrogaster, 136.
Horticulture of Boston, 3.
Hummingbird, Ruby-throated,

39. 77-
Hunt, David, Jr., 58.
Hylocichla alicice, 197-

234

INDEX

Hylocichla alicia hicknelli, 198.
Hylocichla fuscescens, IQS-
Hylocichla guttata pallasii, 200.
Hylocichla mustelina, 194.
Hylocichla usiulata swainsoni,
199.

Icteria virens, 1 75.
Icterus galbula, 90.
Introduced species, 52, 54, 212,

217.
Iridoprocne hicolor, 1 36.
Island, 73, 113, 134, 166, 216.

Jay, Blue, 33-35, 63, 82.
Joy Street path, 66, 74.
J unco hyemalis, 118.
Junco, Slate-colored, 47, 1 18,
127.

King's Chapel Burying-

Ground, 87.
Kingbird, 22, 31, 35, 78.
Kingfisher, Belted, 53, 69.
Kinglet, Golden-crowned, 189,

191, 193.

Kinglet, Ruby-crowned, 13,

192, 193-

Lamps, city, 18, 19, 114.
Langmaid, Miss Bertha, 226,
Lanius borealis, 1 39.
Lanivireo flavifrons, 142.
Lanivireo solitarius, 1 43.
Larus argentatus, 57-
Lincoln, Frederic Walker, Jr.,

5-
Linden, European, 8, 66.
Louisburg Square, 37, 84, 130.
Loxia leucoptera, 100.

Male birds, 48, 49, 51.
Maple, Norway, 219, 221.
Maple, Silver, 50, 163.
Maple, Sycamore, 161, 173,

194.
Maples, 7, 8, 69, 163.
Marlborough Street, 67, 70,

223, 226.
Melospiza georgiana, 124.
Melospiza lincolnii, 1 23.
Melospiza melodia, 120.
Migration, 6, 12, 14-21, 25-27,

27. 29, 33, 35, 36, 38, 40, 42,

43, 45, 48.
Migratory flights, large, 25, 27-

34, 36, 38-40, 45, 46.
Mniotilta varia, 1 43.
Mockingbird's song, 227.
Molothrus ater, 86.
Monument Hill, 7, 37, 75, 104,

105, 116, 188, 210, 218.
Morning, early, 15-17, 59.
Mt. Vernon Street, 37.
Munia oryzivora, 218.
Myiochanes virens, *jg.

N annus hiemalis, l85'

Nesting, 20, 23-25, 73, 74,
76, 83, 91, 92, 94, 96, 122,
141, 142, 153, 180, 205, 207,
210.

Newbury Street, 168, 215.

Night Heron, Black-crowned,

59-

Nighthawk, 39, 75.
Nuthatch, Red-breasted^ 188.
Nuthatch, White - breasted,

188.
Nycticorax nycticorax nesvius,

59.

INDEX

235

Oporornis agilis, 173.
Oriole, Baltimore, 24, 25, 90,

134, 205.
Otus asio, 66.
Oven-bird, 13, 23, 28, 30, 31,

33^ 34, 38, 39. SO. 168, 171,

172.
Owl, Acadian, 65.
Owl, Barred, 53, 6^, 65.
Owl, Saw-whet, 53, 65.
Owl, Screech, 66.

Parade-ground, 104, 218.
Park Square, 210.
Park Street station, 53.
Passer domes ticus, 212, 226.
Passerculus sandwichensis sa-
vanna, 104.
Passerella iliaca, 126.
Peabody-bird, no.
Peach tree, double-flowered,

151-
Penthestes atricapillus, 190.
Petrochelidon lunijrons, 135.
Pewee, Wood, 28, 31, 35, 39^

79-

Philohela minor, 59-
Phoebe, 22, 78, 166.
Pigeons, 52.
Pinckney Street, 204.
Pinicola enucleator leucura, 98.
Pipilo eryihrophthalmus, 13 1.
Pipit, American, 181.
Piranga erythromelas, 133.
Planes ticus merula, 219.
Planesiicus migratorius, 205-
Polioptila ceerulea, 193.
Pond, 9.

Pooeceles gramineus, 103.
Poplar, White, 8, 160.

Potter, F. B., 67, 189.
Protonotaria citrea, 14$.
Purdie, H. A., xi, 83.
Puritan Glub, 84.

Quiscalus guiscula ceneus, 93.

Rainy weather, 12, 26-28, 35.
Rand, Dr. Manning K., x, 73,

74, 145-
Redpoll, 100.
Redstart, American, 23, 24, 28,

29. 32, 33^ 35, 38, 39. 180.
Regulus calendula, 192.
Regulus satrapa, 191.
Rhododendrons, 98, 129, 148,

182.
Riparia riparia, 137-
Robin, American, 19, 24, 25,

47, 48, 98, 120, 121, 128, 166,

205, 219, 221, 223, 226, 227.

Sandpiper, Solitary, 19, 60.
Sandpiper, Spotted, 19, 61.
Sapsucker, Yellow-bellied, *J2.
Sayornis phcebe, 78.
Season, opening of, 47.
Seasons, comparison of, 41-

45.
Seiurus aurocapillus, 168.
Seiurus noveboracensis, l*Jl.
Seiophaga ruticilla, 180.
Shrike, Northern, 139.
Shrubs, 9.
Sialia sialis, 209.
Siskin, Pine, 37, 102.
Sitta canadensis, 188.
Sitta carolinensis, 188.
Snow, 48, 95, 114, 120, 128,

221.

236

INDEX

Snowbird, 1 18.
Somerset Club, 83.
Song, 16, 45, 51, 52.
Spalding, F. P., xi, 87, 88.
Sparrow, Chipping, 22, 37,

114, 161.
Sparrow, English, 140, 212,

218.
Sparrow, Field, 31, S3> I16.
Sparrow, Fox, 87, 119, 126,

206, 215, 220.
Sparrow, Ground, 120.
Sparrow, House, 10, 16, 87, 88,

91, 109, 113, 140, 212, 218,

223, 226.
Sparrow, Java, 2 18.
Sparrow, Lincoln's, 13, 28-30,

35. 37, 123-
Sparrow, Savanna, 20, 33, 1 04.
Sparrow, Song, 20, 30, 47, 48,

87, 120, 124, 127, 206.
Sparrow, Swamp, 20, 28-31, 33,

37, 87, 124, 166.
Sparrow, Tree, 113.
Sparrow, Vesper, 22, 87, 103,

105.
Sparrow, White-crowned, 31,

37. 107, 215.
Sparrow, White- throated, 13,

28, 30-33, 35. 37, no, 215.
Sparrows, 20, 21, 34, 37, 39, 82,

104, 130.
Sphyraptcus varius, 72.
Spinus pinus, I02.
Spizella monticola, II3.
Spizella passerina, 114.
Spizella pusilla, 116,
Spring, awakening of, 121.
Spruce Street, 66, 84.
State House, 5.

Strix varia, 65.

Summer residents, 20-25, 5^,

74, 76, 83, 90, 93, 97, 130,

141, 205.
Swallow, Bank, 31, 137.
Swallow, Barn, 28, 31, 135,

136, 137'
Swallow, Cliff, 31, 135, 137.
Swallow, Eave, 135.
Swallow, Tree, 136, 137.
Swallow, White-bellied, 136.
Swallows, 135, 137.
Swan, European, 52, 216.
Swift, Chimney, 28-33, 35, 76.

Tanager, Scarlet, 23, 28, 29,

31, 32, 35, 39, 133, 159-
Thistle-bird, loi.
Thrasher, Brown, 13, 23, 30,

33^ 35, 38, 50, 183, 220.
Thrush, Alice's, 197.
Thrush, Bicknell's, 197, 198.
Thrush, Golden- crowned, 168.
Thrush, Gray-cheeked, 28, 29,

39, 197-
Thrush, Hermit, 21, 33, 34, 38,

47, 50, 87, 166, 195, 200,

220, 221, 223.
Thrush, Olive-backed, 13, 28,

3^-33> 35, 38, 39, 198, 199-
Thrush, Swainson's, 1 99.
Thrush, Wilson's, 28, 30-33,

35, 38, 39, 195-
Thrush, Wood, ^s, 34, 194,

223, 228.
Thrushes, 12, 21, 195, 197, 200,

228.
Titlark, i8l.
Torrey, Bradford, x-xii, 11, 24,

44, 59, 60, 65, 69, 86, 93.

INDEX

237

Towhee, 13, 22, 30, 33, 35, 37,

131-

Townsend, Dr. Charles W.,
X, xi, 60, 62, 70, 97, 114, 139,
176, 183, 198, 201, 209, 226.

Townsend, Mrs. C. W., 96.

Toxostoma rujum, 183.

Trees, 7,-9, 44.

Tremont Street mall, 65.

Trochilus colubris, *]*].

Troglodytes aedon, 185.

Tyrannus tyrannus, 78.

Union Club, 67.

Veery, 195.

Vireo, Blue-headed, 31, 35,

143

Vireo, Red-eyed, 23, 24, 28, 31,

35, 39, 140, 141.
Vireo, Solitary, 143.
Vireo, Warbling, 23, 24, 28, 29,

32, 141, 142.
Vireo, Yellow- throated, 31,

142.
Vireosylva gilva, 142.
Vireosylva olivacea, 140.

Warbler, Bay-breasted, 29,

158
Warbler, Black and White, 23,

28, 30, 31, 33, 34, 37. 143-
Warbler, Black and Yellow,

156.
Warbler, Blackburnian, 28, 29,

32, 34, 38. 39. 50. 159. 160,

162.
Warbler, Black-poll, 28-32, 34,

39, 159, 163, 173, 194.
Warbler, Black-throated Blue,

28, 29, 31, 32, 34, 37, 39,

154. 163.

Warbler, Black- throated Green,

23. 30. 31. 33. 34, 39. 163,

164.
Warbler, Blue Yellow-backed,

148.
Warbler, Canadian, 28-30, 32,

SS, 39, 164, 179.
Warbler, Cape May, 49, 50,

149.
Warbler, Chestnut-sided, 23,

28, 29, 31-34, 39, 157. 163.
Warbler, Connecticut, 173,

175-
Warbler, Golden-winged, 28,

146.
Warbler, Magnolia, 28-34, 37,

39, 156, 163.
Warbler, Myrtle, 30-34, 37, 39,

155, 156.

Warbler, Nashville, 23, 30, 31,

33, 34, 146.
Warbler, Palm, 166.
Warbler, Parula, 28-34, 37, 39,

148, 175-
Warbler, Pine, 166.
Warbler, Prairie, 29, 168.
Warbler, Prothonotary, 145.
Warbler, Redpoll, 166.
Warbler, Tennessee, 31, 39,

147-

Warbler, Wilson's, 28-30, 32,

33, 35, 38, 39, 177, 179-
Warbler, Yellow, 23, 28, 29, 31-

34, 37, 39, 153-
Warbler, Yellow Palm, 166,

167.
Warbler, Yellow Redpoll, 167.
Warbler, Yellow-rumped, 155.

238

INDEX

Warblers, lo, 12, 20, 21, 28-34,

36-40, 44, 48, 63, 82, 146,

159, 163, 164, 175, 176, 180,

214.
Water-thrush, Northern, 13,

28-31, 33, 34, 38, 39, 171-
Waxwing, Cedar, 19, 138.
Weather, 12, 13, 25-28, 32, 35,

37, 39, 42, 48.
Wellman, Gordon Boit, xii.
Whitaker, J. M., 224.
White Mountains, 11, 200, 204.
Whitney, Miss Calista S., 145.
Wilder, Marshall Pinckney, 3.
Willow, old, 152, 163.
Willow, White, 68, 151.
Willows, 8, 73, 92, 145, 152,

159, 160, 163.
Wilsonia canadensis, 179.
Wilsonia pusilla, 1 77.
Winsor, Justin, xi.
Winter residents, 15, 57, 58, 64,

87, 100, 190, 224.
Winter Street path, 66

Winter visitants, 16, 66, 67, 71,

74. 75. 98-101, 114, 140, 183,

189, 209.
Woodcock, American, 53, 59.
Woodpecker, Downy, 71, 72,

161.
Woodpecker, Golden-winged,

73
Woodpecker, Hairy, 70, 188.
Woodpecker, Yellow-bellied,

72.
Woodpeckers, 25.
Wren, House, 33, 34, 185.
Wren, Winter, 53, 185.
Wright, Miss Mary A., 195.

Yellow-bird, Summer, 1 53.
Yellow-hammer, 73.
Yellow-throat, Maryland, 23,
28-30, 32, ss, 35, 38, 39, 174.

Zamelodia ludoviciana, 132.
Zonoirkhia albicollis, no.
Zonotrichialeucophrys, 107.

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U . S . A

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