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Bird - Lore 



tumbled-down stable. Other places just 

 as promising are occupied by White- 

 throats but never by White-crowns. 



On Jan. 19, 1920, I saw what I took to 

 be three Purple Finches in the top of a 

 pine tree. I would have passed them by 

 had they not begun to call. On closer ob- 

 servation I found them to be Red Cross- 

 bills, the first record, so far as I can learn, 

 of their appearance here. I observed them 

 closely and heard another small flock late 

 in the afternoon of the same day. Judging 

 from the 1919 Christmas Bird Census, the 

 Crossbills have come much farther south 

 this winter than usual. 



Why does not the Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker winter here? It is a common winter 

 resident in many parts of the state and 

 was reported from ten places north of here 

 in the 1919 Christmas Bird Census. We 

 have plenty of mast here and everything 

 is as favorable for Red-heads as can be 

 found in the sections where they winter. — 

 Gordon Wilson, Bowling Green, Ky. 



Blue Grosbeak at Newtown, Pa. 



I thought that Bird-Lore readers might 

 be interested to know that I observed a 

 Blue Grosbeak in this vicinity on Sunday, 

 May 9, There could be no mistake in the 

 identity of the bird for it was watched for 

 fully fifteen minutes and corresponded 

 exactly to the illustration and description 

 in Reed's 'Bird Guide.' This is the second 

 time that I have seen this rare bird in our 

 vicinity, the other time being in 1918. — 

 Russell Richardson, Jr., Philadelphia, 

 Pa. 



Blue Grosbeak at Rock Island, Ills. 



May 11, 1920, a pair of beautiful Blue 

 Grosbeaks came to an elm tree outside of 

 our school window. An immense flock of 

 Goldfinches just filled the top of the tree 

 and on my arrival, at 8 o'clock, I went 

 upstairs with my field-glasses to see if any- 

 other Finches were among them. Not ten 

 feet from the window, two male Grosbeaks 

 were eating industriously but quietly, 

 occasionally darting out to capture an in- 



sect on the wing. I looked at the markings 

 very carefully, the body, head and breast 

 being a rich green-blue, shading into black 

 at the base of the bill. The wings were a 

 dull gray-brown with a lighter cross-bar 

 and a tan spot at the shoulder. The tail 

 was also brown, medium length, with the 

 tips of the feathers rounded. The bill was 

 light and shaped like the Rose-breasted 

 Grosbeak's, only very much smaller. Three 

 females came later in the day, and they 

 were a yellowish tan with darker cross- 

 bars on wings and no blue that I could see. 

 I watched them three days. The second 

 day there were just the two males; the 

 third, only one, appearing very restless and 

 finally flying off. I had read of Blue Gros- 

 beaks and have studied all of the birds in 

 our locality, but have never found a record 

 of these Grosbeaks here. — Genevieve 

 Zimmer, Rock Island, Ills. 



Belated Evening Grosbeaks 



In the July-August number of Bird- 

 Lore, for 1919, mention is made of a 

 belated female Evening Grosbeak having 

 been seen at Williamsport, Pa., on May : 

 of that year. 



On May 14, 1920, a pair of Evening 

 Grosbeaks, male and female, were seen at 

 Ulster, Bradford County, Pa., by several 

 members of the Nature Club of that place. 

 They remained in the vicinity for two or 

 three days. — (Miss) Martha McMorkan, 

 Ulster, Pa. 



Evening Grosbeaks Like Sumac 

 Berries 



I was interested in the article concerning 

 the staghorn sumac in the January- Feb- 

 ruary issue of Bird-Lore. I agree as to 

 the lack of attractiveness of the berries, 

 but would like to add that the Evening 

 Grosbeaks do not share this feeling. They 

 are avid devourers of them in weather fair 

 or foul all winter. I have observed them 

 busily eating these berries during at least 

 more than half the days of January. 

 From four to thirty birds will perch on the 

 branches with an air of evident enjoy- 



