191.^1 The Ottawa Naturalist. 45 



Very common at Bury, December 9th to 17th. December 

 15th, watched one extracting seeds from cones of White 

 Pine trees; at the same time heard two singing from the 

 tops of neighboring pines. 



Redpoll, Acanthis linaria linaria.- Not seen at Bury until 

 December 14th; a few noted between that date and 

 December 17th. Scarce at Montreal; noted small flocks on 

 two dates only, December 29th and January 1st. 



Goldfinch, Astragalinus tristris . As notable b}^ its presence as 

 is the absence of the Redpoll. Bury ; commonly noted daily 

 from December 9th to 17th, generally in small flocks, some- 

 times singly. One evening, after dark, I brushed the lower 

 branches of a Balsam in passing, and disturbed a Goldfinch, 

 which tumbled out of its bed and went dipping away. 

 As it flew, the sudden note of alarm was instantlv followed 

 by the musical flight notes. The Goldfinch has scarcely a 

 harsh note in its repertoire and therein differs from the 

 Redpoll. Montreal, December 29th, one flock of from 20 to 

 30 birds seen feeding on seeds in tops of Yellow Birches. 



Snowbird, Plectrophenax nivalis nivalis . Bury; noticed several 

 times in small flocks from December 9th to 17th. Montreal; 

 first seen November 3rd; very common from that date to 

 the present time. On November 10th unusually large 

 numbers were seen near Laprairie, roughly estimated at 

 4,000 birds. They were feeding amongst grass and low 

 weed growth about a chain of shallow surface pools. 

 Continually shifting their position, small bands w^ere con- 

 stantly in view. As I slowlv approached they kept bobbing 

 into sight, from 15 to 25 feet ahead of me, alighting again 

 after a short flight. It seemed incredible that so many 

 conspicuously-colored birds could be so effectively concealed 

 in the scanty growth, and it was only when an individual, 

 plover-like, raised its wings above its head, that I discovered 

 some of them squatting closely. Nearing the ponds I saw 

 that the main body of birds were feeding about the margins 

 some of them wading into the water with a see-saw T , sand- 

 piper-like walk. Whilst thus feeding the chorus of notes 

 reminded me strongly of the twitter of a flock of Bank 

 Sw T alkws about their nesting-place. As the birds arose, by 

 little bounds, they invariably uttered the usual tremulous 

 twitter, followed, on the second bound, by a single lark-like 

 note. 



Northern Shrike, Lanius borealis. Montreal, January 1st. 

 Saw T one fly to perch in tree-top. As I approached it again 

 flew in a northerly direction, but almost immediately 



