140 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[V^ol. XXXV 



developed in the bill substance and gre'v\ 

 until a flake of horn flew off. leaving 

 the falconian notch fully developed again 



The significance of this is rather im 

 portant as it indicates that the tooth 

 billed hawks are more highly developed 

 than the others and appeared later in the 

 evolutionary scheme; that the "Noble'' 

 is a specialized "Ignoble Hawk'' instead 

 of the contrary. It is, in fact, additional 

 justification for contemporary classifi- 

 cations placing the Falcons at the head 

 of their order. 



Faleo had a considerable measure of 

 freedom, and seldom except for good 

 reason was confined to her cage. When 

 the robins without would leave her in 

 peace and some one was about to ward 



off cats she even had the run of the yard. 

 Had she allowed her primaries to mature 

 she might have had absolute freedom at 

 any time. She always managed to break 

 them off before full grown and was in a 

 half flightless condition unequipped to 

 fend for herself. Season after season 

 passed in various attempts on our part 

 to keep her wings in order, to prepare 

 her for a fair fight with the world. 

 Whether we succeeded in the end we do 

 not know, l)ut that is another story. 



All told, little Falco was a most pleasing 

 experience in the life of an ornithologist 

 and we still remember her with affection, 

 regretting that such happy associations 

 cannot continue indefinitely. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Unusual Migration Records In The 

 Vicinity op Montreal. March 1921. 



No doubt t/.ie mild weather during the 

 past winter, and the abundance of fruit 

 and seeds (especially coniferous seeds) lim- 

 ited the movements of a great many 

 Northern birds. Throughout Sou th-E ast- 

 ern Canada and the North-Eastern States, 

 at least in urban districts, the dearth of 

 birds appears to have been general. Of the 

 customary winter birds the following were 

 seen in the vicinity of Montreal in very 

 small numbers: Snow Owl (2) ; Saw-whet 

 Owl (2) ; Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers; 

 Snow Bunting; White-winged Crossbill; 

 Pine Siskin ; Coldf ine^i ; Redpoll ; Cedar 

 Waxwing ; White-breasted Nuthatch ; Red- 

 breasted Nuthatch ; Black-capped Chicka- 

 dee. 



The unusual occurrences were: Herring 

 Gull (last seen Jan. 15) ; Canada Goose 

 (Magog, Jan. 16 N. Smith) ; and Robin 

 (4) seen by Mr. Brown on Jan. 30. There 

 were several other reports of Robins that 

 I was unable to verify one from St. 

 Lambert, another from Westmount and a 

 third from St. Andrews East. It is not- 

 able that the only unusual birds were north 

 of their usual winter range. I have no re- 

 cords of Evening Grosbeaks, Bohemian 

 AVaxwings or Pine Grosbeaks. With re- 

 gard to the latter I am told that thej^ have 

 wintered commonly in Newfoundland. 



During January and February I saw 



no ducks whatever, 

 many areas of open 

 the vicinity of St. 

 ducks are congested 

 of open M^ater, and 



possibly due to the 



water. As a rule, in 



Lambert, wintering 



within a small area 



are easilv seen. Fol- 



lowing is a list of spring arrivals during 

 the month of March. The earlier birds 

 Crow and Prairie Horned Lark, were late, 

 while the others, almost without exception, 

 M-ere very early. I have taken the liberty 

 of including several records secured by 

 Mr. W. J. Brown, and one by Miss E. Luke. 

 March 2 Crow. 

 March 4 Prairie Horned Lark. 

 March 5 Flock (15) of Robins on a 

 sheltered southern slope, two 

 Meadowlarks and a Red-should- 

 ered Hawk, all seen by Mr. 

 Brown. 



-Song Sparrow (39 'song'). 

 -Red-winged Blackbird (35 

 males, 'song') ; House Wren 

 one seen in a sheltered garden 

 by Mr. Brown. 

 March 12 Bronzed Crackle 6 seen (Mr. 

 Brown) ; Blueoird three 

 'song'. 



March 13 Marsh Hawk one; Robins 

 and Song Sparrows fairly com- 

 mon. 



March 1 Slate-coloured Junco one 

 (Miss Luke). 



March 19 Canada Goose one flock; 

 Purple Finch 7 (Mr. Brown). 



March 

 March 



9- 

 11- 



