ike swallows, robins, bluebirds, blackbirds, and perhaps most of the
sparrows, our smaller wood birds, the warblers and vireos especially,
appear to move as a general thing in mixed flocks. Whenever the woods
are full of them, as is the case now and then every spring and fall, one
of the most striking features of the show is the number of species
represented. For the benefit of readers who may never have observed such
a "bird wave," or "rush," let me sketch hastily one which occurred a few
years ago, on the 22d of September. As I started out at six o'clock in
the morning, in a cool northwest wind, birds were passing overhead in an
almost continuous stream, following a westerly course. They were chiefly
warblers, but I noted one fairly large flock of purple finches. All were
at a good height, and the whole movement had the air of a diurnal
migration. I could only conjecture that it was the end of the nocturnal
flight, so far, at least, as the warblers were concerned; in other
words, that the birds, on this particular occasion, did not finish their
nightly journey till a little after sunrise. But if many were still
flying, many others had already halted; for presently I came to a piece
of thin, stunted wood by the roadside, and found in it a highly
interesting company. Almost the first specimen I saw was a Connecticut
warbler perched in full view and exposing himself perfectly. Red-bellied
nuthatches were calling, and warblers uncounted were flitting about in
the trees and underbrush. A hurried search showed black-polls,
black-throated greens, blue yellow-backs, one redstart, one
black-and-white creeper, one Blackburnian, one black-and-yellow, one
Canadian flycatcher (singing lustily), one yellow redpoll, and one
clearly-marked bay-breast. The first yellow-bellied woodpecker of the
season was hammering in a tree over my head, and not far away was the
first flock of white-throated sparrows. After breakfast I passed the
place again, and the only bird to be found was one phoebe! Within
half a mile of the spot, however, I came upon at least three goodly
throngs, including scarlet tanagers (all in yellow and black),
black-throated blue warblers, pine warblers, olive-backed and
gray-cheeked thrushes, a flock of chewinks (made up exclusively of adult
males, so far as I could discover), red-eyed vireos, one solitary vireo,
brown thrashers, with more redstarts, a second Blackburnian, and a
second black-and-yellow. Every company had