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Bird -Lore 



localities in the state, and by several per- 

 sons in most of these places. In most of 

 the places the Robins were reported as 

 appearing to be well and happy. In Mil- 

 waukee, about the middle of January, 

 three Robins were found dead with no 

 no signs of violence. They were believed 

 to have died of cold or starvation, or both. 

 One of these was received by the writer 

 January 17. It was in good feather, but 

 the body was emaciated. A Robin was 

 received from Baraboo, January 28, that 

 had been shot by a farmer near that city. 

 It was one of a small fiock that was seen 

 feeding on frozen apples. It was shot to 

 settle a dispute as to whether it was a 

 Robin or a Pine Grosbeak 1 



Robins were reported from the follow- 

 ing places: Appleton, Baraboo, Barron, 

 Beloit, Cedarburg, Cottage Grove, Eau 

 Claire, Elkhorn, Gay's Mills, Golden Lake 

 Green Lake, Hartland, Hillsboro, Ken- 

 dall, La Crosse, Lake Geneva, Lodi, Madi- 

 son, Manitowoc, Maribel, Mayville, Mil- 

 waukee, Muscoda, Prairie du Sac, Reeds- 

 burg, Richland Center, Town of Richmond, 

 Wauwatosa, Westfield, Whitewater, Wil- 

 liams Bay, and Winneconne. Eighty-one 

 per cent of the reports were made during 

 the very severe weather of January and 

 February. As there was an abundance of 

 fruit, such as wild grapes, hawthorns, wild 

 crabs, woodbine, viburnum, mountain ash, 

 bittersweet, sumac, and the like, and a 

 good crop of seed fruits, the inference is 

 that the abundance of food enabled the 

 Robins to stay in spite of the weather. — 

 I. N. Mitchell, M!lu'aukce,Wis. 



Records from London, Ont. 



On the morning of May 22, 191 1, while 

 looking for birds in a small tract of woods 

 about four miles west of London, our 

 attention was drawn to a series of strange 

 notes. We quickly pushed our wa}' through 

 the bushes, and were very much surprised, 

 as well as delighted, to find that their 

 author was a Yellow-breasted Chat. He 

 sat in plain view on the top of a small 

 bush, and we observed him through our 

 glasses at short range for some time. We 



were not able satisfactorily to settle the 

 question of whether he had a mate or not, 

 but at least one bird was seen on several 

 different occasions during the summer. I 

 believe this is the first record of the Chat 

 for our vicinity. 



The bird lovers of London were 

 favored with visits from three rather rare 

 species in the year 191 1. A Cardinal spent 

 the winter with us, taking up his quarters 

 right in the center of the citj'. A fJock 

 of some seventy-five Evening Grosbeaks 

 were here for a week or two in March, the 

 Chat above mentioned making the third. 



We hope we may see them all again dur- 

 ing 191 2, but perhaps that is expecting 

 too much. — C. G. Watson and Melville 

 Dale. 



Notes on the Pine Warbler and 

 House Wren 



The Pine Warbler, while common in 

 migration, is a rare and local summer 

 resident in central New Hampshire. With 

 the Myrtle Warbler it shares the honor of 

 being the first Warbler to arrive in spring. 

 The earliest date was April 18, at which 

 time the snow was yet deep in the woods. 

 Although the Pine Warbler usually finds 

 its food among the thick branches of the 

 pines, on one occasion I saw one fly out 

 and take an insect on the wing. Two or 

 three pairs breed every summer about 

 Tilton. Until this year, I had heard only 

 one song from the bird. On June 19, in a 

 grove of red pines, I found a Pine Warbler 

 singing as it moved in its sluggish manner 

 through the branches in search of food. At 

 first it gave only the sweet, unbroken trill 

 so characteristic of the bird. Soon, how- 

 ever, it changed to another song. This 

 closely resembled the chi p py-chi ppy-chip py 

 of the Chipping Sparrow, but was clearer 

 and sweeter, just as the trill was clearer 

 and sweeter than the Chippy's trill. I 

 remained in the grove for some time, but 

 while I was there the bird did not return 

 to the more common song. 



About Tilton, the House Wren is also 

 a rare and local summer resident. Up to 

 1904, a few pairs were found about the 



