162 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



There are numerous winter records of the hermit thrush in southern 

 New England, where it has been reported in favorable situations 

 throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut even at times when it 

 was very cold and tbe ground covered with snow. It has also been 

 reported from various sections of New York and New Jersey during 

 the winter months. South of this area it is a regular winter resident. 



In South Carolina, according to A. T. Wayne (1910), the hermit 

 arrives by October 23 and remains until the second week of April. 

 The birds are not abundant until the middle of November, when they 

 are apparently settled for the winter. Contrary to reports of the 

 wintering hermits in New England, Mr. Wayne states that the species 

 cannot endure a sudden change of weather, especially if very low 

 temperatures prevail for even a few days, as great numbers perished 

 on February 13 and 14, 1899. During January and February 1895, 

 hundreds succumbed to cold weather, although the food supply was 

 plentiful. Mr. Wayne states that the hermit is the least shy of the 

 thrushes and can be readily approached within a few feet, especially 

 during cold weather. According to W. P. Wharton (1941) the hermit 

 has a strong tendency to return to the same winter quarters. Of 81 

 of the birds he banded at Summerville, S. C, he had 10 returns, or 

 12.34 percent. 



In Florida, according to A. H. Howell (1932), the hermit is a com- 

 mon winter resident in the northern and central parts of the State but 

 rare in the southern part. He states further: "During the winter 

 season, these Thrushes inhabit thick hummocks and the borders 

 of wooded swamps. [In many parts of the south because of this 

 characteristic habitat the hermit is known as the 'swamp sparrow' 

 or 'swamp robin.'] While not particularly shy, the birds are so 

 quiet and retiring in disposition that they attract little attention as 

 they feed on or near the ground." 



In the Middle West there are winter records of the hermit thrush 

 foi Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, the majority from the 

 southern sections of these States. In the winter of 1906-07 I found 

 the hermit to be a very abundant bird in the wooded river bottoms of 

 the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in southern Illinois. Otto Widmann 

 (1907), in writing of the wintering buds of the Peninsula of Missouri, 

 states: "It is seldom heard to sing in transit, but may be heard in its 

 winter home, where it frequents the same swampy ground as the win- 

 ter wreD adjoining the drier haunts of the fox, white-throated and other 

 sparrows." The hermit is very abundant in the Mississippi River 

 Valley south of Missouri, but the majority pass southward in October 

 and northward in April. 



