52 



Bird- Lore 



birds have without doubt suffered greatly. 

 Fortunately there is a most unusual crop of 

 sunflower and weed seeds available to 

 tide over the hard times. Despite the 

 adverse conditions, 41 species were noted 

 on December 7, which augurs well for the 

 Christmas census. 



It is regretted that an error crept into 

 the writer's last letter to 'The Season' 

 (November-December Bird-Lore). Ref- 

 erence was there made to the local rarity 

 of the Yellow-billed Cuckoo, when the 

 Black-billed was meant — an unaccountable 

 slip of the pen. — Harry Harris, Kansas 

 City, Mo. 



Denver Region. — It would be exceed- 

 ingly interesting to know the causes of the 

 Bohemian Waxwing's irregular visitations. 

 This species has been in the neighborhood 

 of Denver at least three times this fall, on 

 one of the occasions being seen as a large 

 flock in one of our parks. This makes its 

 third consecutive fall-winter visit, some- 

 thing unprecedented in the bird-records 

 of Denver. If cold weather drives this 

 species south, it certainly has an excuse 

 for being here now, since Denver has had 

 five spells of zero, or near-zero, weather 

 since the first of November. 



Juntos may be expected in this region 

 any time after September 14, the Grey- 

 headed coming first, Shufeldt's next, and 

 montanus or the Pink-sided, third, while 

 the Slate-colored or the White-winged 

 are very uncertain in their visits here, 

 though the first was seen here in the winter 

 of 1917 and again in the winter of 191S. 

 The first Juncos (sp.?) were noticed here- 

 abouts on October 19, though the writer 

 is confident that he saw some Juncos 

 along the Plat te River, west of Denver, 

 about October 1, but the glimpse was so 

 fleeting that identification was not 

 definite. 



The small flock of Crossbills (L. r. 

 Strickland*) reported in the last regional 

 notes lingered about Denver until Novem- 

 ber 13, but have not since been seen. On 

 October 26, two pairs of Bufflehead Ducks 



were seen in Washington Park lake. 

 This is the first record (coming under the 

 writer's notice) of this species in Denver. 

 though it is a fairly common migrant 

 throughout the state. It is always a 

 pleasure and a satisfaction to have other 

 wild Ducks visit the city, which was the 

 case when three Lesser Scaup Ducks and 

 a considerable flock of Redheads were 

 seen in the same park. 



One can expect, at this season of the 

 year, to find certain birds almost any day 

 in this vicinity, i. e., the Hairy Wood- 

 pecker, the Sharp-shinned Hawk, and 

 Townsend's Solitaire, yet they are very 

 irregular in their visits. A single Solitaire 

 was seen on November 17, a Sharp- 

 shinned Hawk appeared m my yard on 

 November 15, and the Hairy Woodpecker 

 was noticed for the first time this fall on 

 November 14. 



There are several species which seldom 

 penetrate the city beyond its outermost 

 boundaries. Thus, the American Rough- 

 legged Hawk is not infrequently seen in the 

 outer zone of the suburbs in the wintertime, 

 yet this year, to wit on November 10, one 

 was seen on the Country Club grounds 

 at a spot well within the city, and the 

 writer was dumbfounded to detect, within 

 a couple of blocks of the same place, two 

 Clark's Crows on December 7, which makes 

 its first record within Denver. It is, in 

 the writer's experience, very exceptional 

 to see this Crow in Colorado, far from the 

 foothills or mountains. Perhaps the same 

 conditions which have caused the early 

 appearance this year of the Tree Sparrow 

 and the reappearance of the Bohemian 

 Waxwing, caused these two Crows to 

 wander so far afield. 



Viewing the past two months as a whole, 

 the impression given to the writer is that 

 of a period rather quiet in its ordinary 

 bird-life, yet sprinkled here and there 

 with some very unusual and interesting 

 observations. The absence of Robins, and 

 Meadowlarks stands out in sharp contrast 

 to the other uncommon or unexpected 

 visitors. — W. II. Hergtold, Denver, Colo. 



