94 



Bird - Lore 



Pickett Waller, whose previous observa- 

 tions on this Swan at the same place have 

 been recorded in these columns. In De- 

 cember of this winter there were several 

 hundred individuals about Widewater, 

 although they did not feed so near the 

 shore as has ordinarily been the case. The 

 majority of these birds disappeared about 

 December 25, and Aliss Waller has seen 

 only an occasional individual since that 

 time. The increase in the numbers of the 

 Whistling Swan as indicated by its re- 

 appearance on the Potomac River during 

 the past few years is one of the most 

 interesting developments of the protection 

 afforded waterfowl by recent protective 

 legislation. — Harry C. Oberholser, 

 Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 



Minnesota Region.— The weather dur- 

 ing the past two months has been ab- 

 normally mild for the time of year. There 

 have been no considerable falls of snow 

 and none that has remained on the ground 

 in the southern part of the state, and 

 only six to twelve inches in the northern 

 counties where it is usual to have three or 

 four feet at this time of the year. At the 

 present writing the ground is practically 

 bare in the southern half of the state and 

 the ice on the lakes is only fifteen to 

 eighteen inches thick compared with 

 nearly three feet last year. Not for many 

 years has there been such a mild, snowless 

 winter. The Mississippi River below the 

 Falls of St. Anthony has not been frozen 

 and only rarely has it been cold enough to 

 make the rapids 'steam.' 



Generally speaking, there has ap- 

 parently been a more than usual scarcity 

 of bird-life thus far this winter, only one 

 or two observers reporting any consider- 

 able number of birds. This applies not 

 only to winter visitants but also to the 

 familiar resident species. Thus the now 

 large number of bird-lovers who maintain 

 feeding stations have, with few exceptions, 

 been disappointed in the number of their 

 callers. May it not be that, in the case 

 of the resident birds, they are really here 

 in normal numbers but that the mild 

 weather and absence of snow make it 



possible for them to take care of themselves 

 without resorting to the proffered larders? 

 A correspondent from far-awaj' Pennsyl- 

 vania, where conditions seem to be about 

 the same, takes this view for granted: 

 "It has been so mild here this winter that 

 the birds haven't needed us and with the 

 exception of the ever-present 'Downies,' 

 a few Juncos and Tree Sparrows, we see 

 none of our usual goodly company. What 

 is their gain is our loss and I suppose we 

 should be glad they are not forced to come 

 to us for help — but we do so love to have 

 them." 



Reports indicate that more individuals 

 of the half-hardy species — birds that 

 largely desert us during severe winters — 

 have remained in the North this year. 

 Word has been received of the presence at 

 various places in southern Minnesota of 

 numbers of Tree Sparrows, Juncos, Brown 

 Creepers, Red-winged Blackbirds, Horned 

 Larks, Crows and less numerously of Rusty 

 Blackbirds, Crackles, Golden-crowned 

 Kinglets, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Wil- 

 son's Snipe and still more rarely of an 

 occasional Meadowlark, Flicker, Robin, 

 Bluebird, Mourning Dove, Kingfisher and 

 Marsh Hawk. A few ^Mallards have 

 remained in open water in some of the 

 streams and this Duck was present at 

 Heron Lake "in immense numbers" 

 until a few days after the middle of 

 December. Lake Superior has remained 

 unfrozen and there are present there many 

 Golden-eye Ducks, Old Squaws, Mergansers 

 and Herring Gulls. Crows, which usually 

 leave the state during the winter, have 

 been common and widely distributed. 



Of special interest are reports from 

 Pipestone County (Mr. Alfred Peterson) 

 and Lincoln County (Mrs. J. S. Campbell), 

 in the e.xtreme southwestern corner of the 

 state, that the Horned Lark is wintering 

 there in large numbers. Mr. Peterson 

 writes from Pipestone under date of 

 February 14: "On Sunday, January 30, 

 I heard and saw many Horned Larks 

 scattered in many places on plowed ground, 

 such places being preferred to pastures 

 during colder weather or time of snow. In 

 a'ficld three miles east of town I found 



