The Bismarck tribune., 1929-04-29
NORYHDAKOTABBD
MIGRATION INDEX
OF spring FEVER
Mourning Dove Advance Guard
Heralds season Of Rsviving
Life; Others Follow


The arrival Of the mourning dove IL
about the date when spring fever"
begins to make itself felt. This year
they were seen at Kindred, March p.
Wahpeton, April :, Argusville. April
3. Fargo and Tower City. April I.
These are Of course only the advance
guard, tho main body TO follow Z
couple Of weeks Of % later.
Bluebirds are hardly common
enough In this region to have their
arrival noted regularly. A pair
were observed On April (. They were
reported at Kindred April I, James
town March 20.
Other recent arrivals include the
flicker, seen ut Argusville. April 3.
Tower City. April s: sparrow hawk
at Fairdale, March 80, Kindred.
March 81, Tower City. April. I, Ar
gusville, April 8: shrike at jamestown.
March 81. Tower City. April ;, Argus
vile, April s. OF less common species.
q flock OF snow geese and pigeon
hawk were observed at Argusvtlle,
April I. Sandhill cranes were seen
ct Tower City. April 4. Bohemian
waxwings were reported at jamestown
As late rs March 80. ana Minot,
April Z.
Slate colored juncoes were quite
abundant at Fargo by the end Of the
first week Of April. though Mrs. A.
w. Guest. at jamestown. reported
that she had seen none up to April
Z, and they were first noted 1t Fair
mount, April 3. Earliest reports Of
them had been Fargo. March II, Ar.
gusville, March a. Fairdale, March
a, Tower City. March IS, Kindred
March %, Minot, March 81. The
juncoes are probably the best known
Of the small birds, thanks to their Pc
culiar slaty color. their friendliness
and great numbers. Their total popu-
lation must rank quite high In bird
life. From southern South Dakota to
the Gulf states they are winter birds.
Here they appear Is migrants only,
but spend q longer period than all
most any other species Of that class.
They are common from late March to
early May. appearing again the lat
ter part Of September and remaining
until the first Of November.
The brown creepers were observed
at Fargo and Argusville, April 1. and
were fairly common q few days later.
They are not common by any means
in the same sense as the juncoes.
but must be called common when
one sees bird or two In . few min
utes' walk. They could not be called
conspicuous. for their gray and brown
streaks blend wonderfully with the
bark Of the elm trees when they
choose to remain quiet. They are.
however, well known by their char
acteristic habit Of working up the
trunk Of q tree in . spiral fashion.
then flying to the base Of another to
repeat the process.
Prof. w. w. Cooke, the authority OF
bird migration in America. wrote,
''The brown creeper winters through
out so large . part Of its breeding
range that the migratory movements
are difficult to trace" Here they
appear only in migration. They US
ually appear In the fall, the last Of
September or the first Of October,
when they may be seen in the out.
lying groves and on the trees along
the streets. A month later they have
Withdrawn to the woods, where they
may b found regularly until the Sc
we're weather Of the end Of the year.
The shrill call Of tho creeper Is much
like that Of the kinglets, which ap-
pear In the trees about the same
| time.