Notes from Field and Study 



199 



Montana is to be included, tliougii the 

 number that reaches this section of coun- 

 try is apparently small. 



In the summer of 1906, I saw them for 

 the first time in this vicinity. A small 

 flock spent the summer in a meadow near 

 my home, and I saw the birds and heard 

 their song frequently. Again in 1907 and 

 1908, a small number frequented the same 

 meadow. 



Last summer (1909), the size of the 

 flock was apparently much reduced, and I 

 did not see any of the birds, though 

 several times I heard the familiar Bobo- 

 lincan, wadolincan, winter seehle, see, see, 

 see! Assuming that migratory birds usu- 

 ally return to the locality where their life 

 began, some casualty had doubtless over- 

 taken some members of the flock. Per- 

 haps they had succumbed to the hard- 

 ships of the long journey to and from their 

 winter home in South America; or, per- 

 haps, in the guise of Rice-birds or Butter- 

 birds, they had figured on the table of 

 some Southern epicure. 



My home is in the Gallatin valley, in 

 the southern part of the state of Montana, 

 east of the main range of the Rockies. But 

 the birds have also been recorded on the 

 west side of the mountains, near Flathead 

 Lake by the ornithologist of the Univer- 

 sity of Montana. 



If all Bobolinks travel by the Florida 

 route in migrating to and from the United 

 States, these far western pilots of the 

 air have to cross the Rocky Mountains 

 twice each year. — Nelson Lundwall, 

 Bozemoit, Montana. 



Lunch-counter Notes 



One of the most interesting features of 

 keeping a well-supplied lunch-counter 

 for my birds is seeing, some day, a new 

 bird, perhaps an entire stranger. One pair 

 of Tufted Titmice came together all one 

 winter. Their regular range is south of us. 



Occasionally a Cardinal will be seen, 

 and once in a while will come to the win- 

 dow. In February, last year, a flock of 

 Redpolls came and visited for some weeks. 

 Sometimes a Red-breasted Nuthatch will 



stay for the winter. The Red-bellied 

 Woodpecker also favors us some years. 



A flock of Purple Finches is staying here 

 this winter, apparently because they 

 appreciate our efforts in their behalf. 

 They began coming one or two at a time, 

 now there will be four or five at the counter 

 and as many more waiting and flying 

 about. There are now three Bronzed 

 Crackles that come (since January 11), and 

 shell seeds, and eat cracked corn, as 

 happy and contented as if they did not 

 regret not going South this winter. 



This has been a cold winter, — the 

 ground covered with snow from eight 

 to twenty inches in depth, — and the birds 

 have been more numerous than usual at 

 my counter. 



My regular winter birds are the Hairy 

 and Downy Woodpeckers, White-breasted 

 Nuthatches, Chickadees, Juncos, with 

 Blue Jays and English Sparrows under 

 protest. In the spring and summer, Robins, 

 Catbirds. Wrens, Vireos, Orioles, Rose- 

 breasted Grosbeaks, as also some of the 

 winter birds, with their young. — Nettie 

 I. Fairbanks, Mt. Vernon, Linn Co., Iowa. 



Pied-billed Grebe Nesting in 

 Connecticut 



On a pond close to "Bald Hill" in 

 Wilton township, Connecticut, on July 

 21, 1909, I saw at least five Pied-billed 

 Grebes, all of which appeared to be full- 

 grown. One of them was feeding four 

 young Grebes, that did not look over five 

 or six inches long, and must hav'e been 

 hatched at the pond. On the same day, I 

 saw a female Wood Duck, followed by one 

 downy young, swim from the edge of the 

 pond out into a partly submerged clump 

 of bushes and trees. There was consider- 

 able commotion in these bushes, and, 

 among the other notes, was a distinct 

 quacking. At the same pond, on August 7, 

 I saw a half-grown Duck, which I believe 

 was a Black Duck, swim out to the bushes, 

 and heard more quacking. (I have added 

 this rather indefinite note on the Black 

 Duck, not as a record, but as a suggestion 

 as to where the Black Duck could prob- 



