THE SEASON 



XXIX. October 15, 1921 to December 15, 1921 



Boston Region. — A mild, pleasant 

 autumn was suddenly terminated on No- 

 vember 27 by the most destructive ice-storm 

 remembered in this vicinity. P'or three days 

 and nights branches of trees, bent beyond 

 the breaking-point by an ever-increasing 

 burden of ice, were ripped away, and even 

 the trunks in some cases were riven to the 

 ground as if by lightning. After the release 

 by thaw on November 30, the whole region 

 called to mind pictures of country swept by 

 shell-fire. For years the damage to the shade 

 trees will be apparent to visitors to Lexington 

 and surrounding towns, because, in addition 

 to the present destruction, the wholesale 

 tearing away of branches has opened the 

 way, it is feared, for infection and further 

 loss by disease. During this storm the birds 

 suffered surprisingly little. Often when 

 passing an ice-bound evergreen tree, we 

 heard the notes of Chickadees and Golden- 

 crowned Kinglets. The little birds were 

 safe and happy; wholly concealed among the 

 branches, they were exploring for food in a 

 labyrinth of recesses and were meanwhile 

 protected from any enemy on the outside 

 by an armor of ice. Snow and cold weather 

 followed the ice-storm and now, at the 

 close of the period, we are in the grip of 

 winter. 



Small flocks of Pine Grosbeaks appeared 

 early in November; they failed to settle 

 down as they often do, but soon disappeared 

 from this immediate vicinity, their departure 

 being due, perhaps, to the smallness of the 

 crop of their favorite food, the seeds of the 

 white ash tree. While here the birds were 

 seen to eat ragweed seeds, but were noted 

 most frequently eating the seeds of small 

 apples. A month later Evening Grosbeaks 

 arrived, but in no great numbers, and these 

 birds also apparently did not linger, for the 

 species is now not well represented in the 

 region. A few Redpolls have been noted. 



Of the regular winter birds, Tree Sparrows 

 are present in numbers well above the average 

 (this may be a local condition), Chickadees 

 and Golden-crowned Kinglets in normal 



(4 



numbers — flocks of six to twelve can be 

 found daily in suitable localities — Brown 

 Creepers are now (December 15) frequently 

 met with (perhaps late migration) and the 

 Hairy Woodpecker, usually not a common 

 bird, is locally conspicuous. 



Northern Shrikes are as common this 

 winter as local observers have ever seen 

 them. It is the habit of the bird in this 

 latitude to settle in the autumn at some 

 definite station which suits his fancy — an 

 apple orchard or a sparsely wooded pasture 

 affording good look-out posts — and remain 

 there in solitude and complete silence until 

 spring. Apparently Shrikes do not wander 

 far from their headquarters until after a 

 brief song period; they leave for the north 

 in April. — Winsor M. Tyler, Lexington, 

 Mass. 



New York Region. — Some years, open 

 weather is succeeded abruptly by winter 

 storms, rain or snow alternating with icy 

 blasts from the northwest. Up to the close 

 of this period no such condition has prevailed, 

 but fall has dipped so gradually into winter 

 that one scarcely realizes there have been 

 sharp nights, below 20 degrees, and one 

 snowstorm on December 4 which was more 

 than a mere flurry. 



The most striking ornithological feature 

 has been the very unusual frequency of the 

 Northern Shrike. At Garden City, Long 

 Island, the first was seen on October 30, 

 and this morning (December 19) a gray 

 adult, and then a brownish young bird, were 

 observed near the beginning and end of a 

 mile or two's walk, before taking the train 

 for town. The latter of these two individuals, 

 at least, seems a bird that has settled down 

 for a prolonged stay, for such a bird is 

 encountered near the same spot every few 

 days. One morning in early December it 

 was heard to give a few grating, scolding 

 notes. On November 20, a Northern Shrike 

 in a treetop was singing a continuous song, 

 in short phrases, some unmusical, others 

 decidedly sweet, none very loud, suggesting 



2) 



