The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-07-03
JULY AND THE Birds
Two Hundred Varieties in the
NeighbOrhOOd of Washington.
Some of the Game Species Begin
Their South<1ard Flight This
PhaIarOPes-rurkey Buzzards Com
mon, But Hawks Are Very Scarce.

water and marsh birds that begin their
southern fight about the middle Of the
month.
II mas always seemed remarkable that
while more or less of these creatures lin
ger in this neighborhood on their spring
Journey north well into June, the la OF
earliest birds Of the southern fight are
here again.
The pied billed grebe or dadchick may b.
found hidden away with their bioods IN tie
concealed slOUghs OF the marshes, but
their numbers are so small they are gen.
orally overlooked. The laughing Or bla X
headed Suil is the only representative OF It's
family. and though it breeds In Delaware
and Virginia, it only occasionally does so
in Maryland
Forster's tern is the most numerous OF
the three species found here, the least
tern coming next in abundance and she
common tern being scarce. An occasional
black skinner may be seen AMI also 500
clearwater on the Atlantic coast Lea 5
petrol and also Wilson's petrol occur OF
the coast. The only ducks are the black
maliard and the wood duck.
The wood ibis has several times been
straggler from the West A few bitte.Ls
come aIoL and the least bittern is co.. par
atiyely Numerous. The great Ne he on Is
on hand and the first American egret, or
white heron. or crane. is recorded o. toe
Sth. The snowy or little white ION re-
corded on the Sth, and the hTsl little blue
heron is also recorded OF the same day. IS
the young of the little blue heron is white
during the first summer II can only be de-
termined with accuracy from the little
white heron by the expert The green
heron. or poke. and the black-crOwued
night heron, or qua, are here
King rail, clapper rail. Virginia rail. and
sora are to be found in the marshes md
some years ago a red phalaI ope was tat en-
In the District OF Columbia Every gun
ner has .iis own special place 10 huCs v Cd
cock. and more is the pity that it can be
shot at this time OF the year.
The dONitcher. OF gTeyback, arrives. as
do most OF the others, about the middle Of
the month. Possibly a few long billed
dowitchers occur with the above and the
silt sandpiper may not be as rare as il is
thought TO be. The knot or robin snipe,
the least and the semi-palmated sandPip-
ers, known both as peeps may be found in
company with their large relative. the
red-backed sandpiper. The saudlering. or
blackbird proper. is again enlivening The
surf bank and the mellow whistle Of the
greater and lesser yellowlegs may again
be heard at the marsh pools
The solitary sandpiper has been noted as
early as the 18th. and willet are On
the salt marshes and Bartramian sand
pipers. commonly called upland plOver, are
scattered over the open billy country, while
the spotted sandpiper, or tilt and the kill
deer are everywhere SsmI-pa.msted plov-
er again appear. and very few piping
ployers are on the surf banks. These two
are the rinsnecks.
Bob-white is quite numerous this year,
and rufed grouse. or pheasaEts. are stan
common for them. and wild turkeys are &c
be found in western Maryland. Doves are
rather scarce. and the wild pigeon is a
thing Of the past.
Birds of Prey.
Turkey buzzards are common. Marsh
hawk sharpshinned hawk and Cooper's
hawks are scarce The red-taiIed hawk L
common while red -shouldered and broad
winged hawks are fairly numerous. Bald
eagles alt FISH hawks are on hand. and the
little sparrow hawk may be seen lowering
with quivering wings everywhere
The barn or monkey faced owl is rather
scarce and should be protected wherever
"a
existence. The long-eared owl is also
scarce. while the barred OF boot owl, the
great horned or BOBBY owl and the little
screech owl are common.
The yellow billed cuckoo. or raincrow is
more often heard than seen, and an occa-
sioGal black-billed cuckoo occurs in cen
trail Maryland. having strayed down from
the mountains. The kingGsher - every
where; the hairy woOdpec1er is scarce; the
little dOwny wOOdPecker. or sapsucker, is
common everywhere. while the yeIlow-bei-
He'd saps ecker occurs in Western Mary
land. his last is the sapsucker proper,
though the little downy usually goes by
that name. Pileated woOdpeckers are
scarce. though they occur in heavy timber,
while the red-headed woOdpecker affects
the open country. Red bellied woOdpeck-
ers inhabit Southern Maryland and fickers
are everywhere.
Whip poor-wills and bullbats are every
where These are two separate and dis
tinct birds, even belonging to separate
families. Chimney swifts and humming-
birds are everywhere.
Kingbird or bee marten, crested fly
catcher. phoebe or bridge pewee. wood pc
wee. with its mOunrnful notes. and acadian
! fiycatchers are all common. While the last
fiycatcher occurs in the mountains blue
jays crows, fish crows, cowbirds. red
winged blaekbirds, meadow Iarks, orchard
orioles. Baltimore orioles, and purple
graekles are all common. The earliest
reedbirds were noted on the 25.h. and one
year a colony Of boat-tailed graekIes nest
ed near Ocean City, Nd.
GOldf1ches are COMMON Vesper SPAR
row. or bay wing, IS scarce. HensIow's
sparrow is stricty local, while grasshop-
per. chipping, field, and Song sparrows.
towhees, cardinals ana indigo birds are all
common. Sharp-tailed and So side SPAR
rows are numerous on the salt marshes.
and the swamp sparrow may yet be found in
the fresh marshes. Blue grosbeaks occur
sparingly in southern Maryland The dick
cissel used to be common but has now
gone West
Scarlet and summer tanagers are among
the most brilliant birds Purple martens
arc still round their boxes. and cave
swallows build locally. Barn swallows are
everywhere and tree swallows are scatter
ed over he Eastern Shore. where they nest
/ in holes in trees. Bank swallows breed in
colonies in the sand bluffs round the Cbes-
! apeake and rough winged swallows nest
IN cavities in bridges. holes In banks. and
most anywhere, but are scarcely gregari-
Gus, while the bank swallow is strictly so.
Cedarbird is common.
The red-eyed vireo is common. The war
bling vireo inhabits our country towns. The
yellow hroated vireo stays about high.
open woods. and the white-eyed vireo is "a
be found in the briary thickets
The Various WarbIers.
hizck and white warbiers are every>
WHORE Worm-eating warbIers are fairly
nn:--7oIs. Blue-winged warbler IS Ioca,
and scarce. The Southern parula warbler
and the pure warbler occur in the southern