Notes from Field and Study 



17 



snow to that date. Christmas day I again 

 saw the Catbird in the same situation 

 It was evidently living on the fruit of the 

 bayberry and red cedar, which is abundant 

 this season. 



Christmas evening it began to snow, 

 with the wind from the northeast. For 

 the next twenty-four hours there was the 

 most severe storm for years. When it was 

 over, trains were stalled, telegraph and 

 telephone poles and wires were down, and 

 communication broken in all directions. 

 In the old pasture, cedars and birches were 

 bowed to the ground and held down by 

 the weight of snow, and the horse-brier 

 tangles had completely disappeared, being 

 so pressed down and covered that where, 

 the day before, I could not force a way 

 through, I could now walk over with the 

 snow well above my knees. 



The Catbird survived the storm, but 

 was driven from the pasture, as its food 

 was completely covered, unless it cared to 

 eat the seeds of the birches, as did the 

 Chickadees and Tree Sparrows. Soon 

 after the storm, the Catbird appeared at 

 a house in the neighborhood, seeking food 

 on the piazza. That night the temperature 

 fell to 10°. Since then a search of every 

 suitable place has been in vain. Whether 

 the bird was frozen to death or, concluding 

 that the New England climate was too 

 strenuous, started for warmer climes, is an 

 open question. — RuFUS H. Carr, Brock- 

 ton, Mass. 



Tufted Titmouse in Northern New Jersey 



On February 27, 1910, I found three 

 Tufted Titmice at Pine Brook, New 

 Jersey. My attention was attracted to 

 these Crested Tomtits by their three-note 

 song, which they continually whistled all of 

 the time I was observing them. All three 

 were busily engaged searching for food and 

 were very tame. One was particularly 

 sociable as he flew to a branch close over 

 my head and remained there for a few 

 seconds, watching me, and at the same 

 time singing. This is the only time when 

 I have found this species in New Jersey.— 

 Louis S. Kohler, Bloom field, N. J. 



Notes on New Jersey Winter Birds 



In northern New Jersey, according to 

 the observations of the writer, there has 

 been during the past winter (1909-10) an 

 entire absence of all the irregular winter 

 visitants, such as the Siskin, Redpoll and 

 Crossbills. 



I have not observed a Purple Finch in 

 the vicinity of Plainfield since the spring 

 migration a year ago. While, in some 

 winters, this species is rare or absent, it 

 is almost invariably present in the spring 

 and fall. As bearing upon this observation, 

 a note in the last Christmas Bird Census 

 is significant. Mr. L. H. Potter there 

 stated that the Purple Finches were 

 plentiful in Vermont (Clarendon) last 

 winter, and that he had not seen them 

 wintering there before. 



The Golden-crowned Kinglet and the 

 Brown Creeper were unusually scarce the 

 past winter. No Kinglets were met with 

 between about December i and March 27. 



Among the noteworthy records was a 

 Wood Thrush observed in Ash Swamp, 

 near Plainfield, on December 19 and 25. 

 A heavy snow was falling when the bird 

 was visited on Christmas day, and it was 

 not seen after that date. This is the first 

 winter record of the Wood Thrush for 

 New Jersey. 



A Fox Sparrow was seen in the same 

 place on December 25. With the exception 

 of the preceding winter (1908-9), this is 

 my only record of the Fox Sparrow later 

 than December 2. A Dutch Hawk was 

 observed on New Year's Day, its first 

 occurence here in winter, in my experi- 

 ence. — W. De W. Miller, Plainfield, 

 N. J. 



A Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher 

 Park, N. Y. 



Prospect 



On April 7, 1910, my wife and I saw 

 a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher in Prospect Park. 

 We sent word to other members of the 

 'Bird Lovers' Club of Brooklyn, and four 

 members noted the bird on the 8th, 9th, 

 and loth of the month. — E. W. Vietor, 

 Brooklyn, N. Y. 



