J^otes^ from Jptelti ants ^tuDp 



Note on the Blue-Winged Warbler in 

 New York City in Winter 



On December lo, 1899, I was surprised 

 to see in the hemlock woods at Bronx 

 Park, New York city, a Blue-winged 

 Warbler [Hehninthophila fi'jiiis) hopping 

 about in the bushes in. a perfectly con- 

 tented manner. It was not at all shy, 

 so I had no difficulty in seeing it as 

 much as I chose. On receiving the 

 February number of Bird-Lore, I saw 

 that a bird of the same species had 

 been found dead at the same place 

 about a month later. As these birds 

 generally leave the latitude of New York 

 earl}' in September, I think it more 

 than probable that the same specimen 

 was seen in December and found dead 

 in January. — Floyd C. Noble, A^eiv 

 Yo7-k City. 



Notes on the Food of the Chickadee 

 and Screech Owl 



Birds are sometimes accused of injur- 

 ing trees, eating fruit, or otherwise harm- 

 ing man, when, if the matter were inves- 

 tigated, the facts would be found quite 

 the opposite. 



One winter day, while passing some 

 willows, I saw a Chickadee picking 

 vigorously at — apparently — the buds. 

 Surprised that this bird should prove 

 injurious, I examined some of the buds 

 more closely. In the angle formed where 

 they lay upon the stem, nearly all had 

 a row of tiny black insects, while those 

 at which the Chickadee had been at 

 work were cleared of these, though 

 themselves uninjured. 



Again, an acquaintance shot two 

 Screech Owls as the first step toward 

 destroying a little colony of them that 

 was "driving away the small birds" from 

 the village lawn near b}-. Upon opening 

 the stomachs, they were found to con- 

 tain only harvest-flies, fifteen in all, and 

 every one in the pupa form in which 

 they leave the earth. Probably the 



English Sparrows from the streets had 

 far more to do with the driving away of 

 the birds, but the Owls, busy destroying 

 the injurious harvest-flies, got the blame. 

 — IsABELL.\ McC. Le.mmon, Etiglezuood, 



^^ • y. 



Two Notes from the Berkshires 



On December 3, 1899, I was in the 

 woods along the Housatonic River ob- 

 serving the ' hoards ' of White and 

 Red-breasted Nuthatches, when I heard 

 the familiar rattle of a Belted Kingfisher. 

 Following the call, I scared the bird from 

 some willows on the bank. It was alone. 



Later in the day I saw a strange 

 Woodpecker on a tree higher up the 

 river. It flew at once toward the woods, 

 calling at every ' swoop.' I followed it, 

 and as I was crossing the open meadow 

 another one flew over my head, calling 

 like the one I was following. 



Their call, which they uttered on the 

 trees as well as on the wing, consisted of 

 one syllable. In the woods they were shy, 

 and kept well to the tops of the trees. 



From the glimpses I had of them 

 and the description I made, I am con- 

 vinced they were Arctic Three-toed 

 Woodpeckers. One had a yellow head 

 patch. — John Denwood, Piltsfield, Mass. 



Additional Notes on the Season's 

 Flight of Crossbills 



We have continued to receive many 

 notes on the unusual abundance of Cross- 

 bills during the present winter, from 

 vvhich we abstract the following in re- 

 gard to the White-winged Crossbill : 

 John, H. Sage writes from Portland, 

 Conn., that on February 12 he saw more 

 than a thousand of these birds, with 

 about as many Pine Finches ; George P. 

 Ells reports them from Norwalk, Conn., 

 under date of March 7 ; nine birds 

 appeared in the Norway spruce trees at 

 Englewood, N. J., on February 21, where 

 from three to thirteen have since been 



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