Winter Notes 



43 



years in the West, the Assistant Direc- 

 tor, Dr. Murrill, came by and I called his 

 attention to them. He at once pronounced 

 the birds to be similar to eight he had 

 seen a week earlier in the Garden at no 

 great distance from this point, and feed- 

 ing on the same species of tree. This is 

 the earliest date, I believe, recorded for 

 their far eastern range, and I can find only 

 four other birds mentioned in the past as 

 having been seen within the city limits. 

 Up to the time of writing this note, Dec. 

 25, I have seen or heard nothing more of 

 these strikingly showy visitors. — R. S. 

 Williams, Administrator Assistant, New 

 York Botanical Garden. 



Evening Grosbeak in Pennsylvania 



On the morning of November 30, 1916, 

 I went for a walk along Stony Creek, 

 carrying with me a quantity of suet to 

 put in the wire cages at several feeding- 

 stations; and, while busy filling one, I 

 heard an entirely new bird-note, and dis- 

 covered in a nearby tree a bird which 

 was a stranger in this locality. Soon two 

 others joined this one, and the three came 

 into a honeysuckle vine within a few feet, 

 and I immediately identified them as 

 female Evening Grosbeaks. They re- 

 mained near me for a half-hour or more, 

 so my identification was positive. They 

 were eating honeysuckle berries, and ber- 

 ries from the poison ivy. The cracking 

 of the seeds could be heard at a distance. — 

 Harriet E. Wallace, Norristown, Pa. 



Pine Grosbeak in Illinois 



If I am rightly informed, I understand 

 that the Pine Grosbeak has not been 

 recorded in this vicinity. I am therefore 

 delighted to place the female Pine Gros- 

 beak on record. I first saw same this 

 morning of Nov. 20. It fluttered from a 

 tree to my feet, and again very unhurriedly 

 back to the branches. 



It has since been staying almost con- 

 tinuously in a thicket of vines, amongst 

 which grow an abundance of matrimony- 

 vine berries. The bird feeds with great 



relish upon these berries, seems very 

 friendly and contented. 



This bird was verified by Mr. Paul B. 

 Riis, of this city and others. — (Mrs.) 

 Robert Lathrop, 1231 National Ave., 

 Rockford, Illinois. 



A Practical Solution of the Sparrow 

 Problem 



I have been fighting the English Spar- 

 row for several years, for the reason that 

 he has been fighting the other birds which 

 visit our feeding station, driving them off 

 and consuming all of the food. I noticed 

 that the English Sparrow liked the seeds 

 and grains best of all the foods which I 

 put out. I also noticed that when there 

 was no grain in the station and there 

 was grain thrown out for the poultry 

 the English Sparrow left the station and 

 went to the chicken-yard, and the other 

 birds had a few minutes to snatch a lunch. 

 So, although I heartily disapprove of him, 

 I am feeding him grain on a bare space 

 of ground about fifty feet away from the 

 feeding station and to my delight the 

 Chickadee, Nuthatch, Juncos, Wood- 

 peckers and Tree Sparrows are left in 

 peace. I put in the station sunflower 

 seeds, suet, bits of apple crumbs, and 

 doughnut scraps, which I make by tossing 

 crumbs of all kinds into boiling fat and 

 skimming them off as soon as they 

 brown. For the English Sparrow I throw 

 oats and cracked corn and, although I do 

 it grudgingly, I see no better way out. — 

 (Mrs.) Edith H. Smith, Cornwall, N. Y. 



Acadian Chickadee at Branchport, N. Y. 



During the last days of November, 19 16, 

 an Acadian Chickadee presented his 

 appearance here in our woodsy village, and 

 I observed him dailj' until December 22, 

 when he vanished. 



This is the first time that I have noted 

 the Acadian Chickadee in this section 

 during a period of over twenty-six years' 

 active bird observation, therefore it is 

 of noteworthy occurrence. 



It proved to be of a rather independent 



