Bird-Lore's Sixteenth Christmas Census 



THE Census for 1915 shows that in the northeastern United States, this 

 winter, there is again a general lack of the irregular winter visitors 

 from the north. Flocks of Redpolls appear in four reports from Con- 

 necticut, but one observer in Massachusetts is the only other to report any. 

 There are a few scattered Northern Shrikes, but only one occurrence of Red 

 Crossbills (Olean, N. Y.), and White- winged Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks and 

 Pine Siskins are entirely absent, — even the Canadians failed to find any 

 White-wings. It is good to find the Black-capped Chickadees, so scarce last 

 winter, even more abundant than ever. 



In the competition for first place, Santa Barbara, with 102 species, falls 

 off a little, and even its best record is well beaten by Los Angeles, its first 

 serious competitor, whose superior number of observers are responsible for a 

 list of 1 21. A promising future competitor is St. Marks, Fla., whose lone worker, 

 unfamiliar with the ground, listed 85, as yet much the largest Christmas Census 

 from east of the Pacific coast. 



Forty-odd censuses were received too late for publication, and others were 

 discarded as seeming not at all fairly representative of the Christmas-time 

 bird-Hfe of the regions concerned. It is hard to draw the line, but we feel that 

 our errors are of inclusion rather than of exclusion. — Charles H. Rogers. 



Wolfville, N. S. — Dec. 25; 10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. Cloudless; 3 in. of light snow; no 

 wind; temp. 30°. Herring Gull, 2; Black Duck, 100; Canada Ruffed Grouse, 4; Downy 

 Woodpecker, i; Northern Raven, i; Crow, 6; Goldfinch, 11; Vesper Sparrow, i (collected 

 for positive identification); Black-capped Chickadee, 7; Acadian Chickadee, 2; Golden- 

 irowned Kinglet, 5. Total, 11 species, 140 individuals. Dec. 20, a flock of 8 to 10 

 American Crossbills. — R. W. Tufts. 



Yarmouth, N. S. — Dec. 27; one observer, 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.; other observer, 

 separately, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Partly cloudy; ground bare; wind west, strong; temp. 30° 

 at sunrise. Herring Gull, 3; Canada Ruffed Grouse, 2; Downy Woodpecker, i; Northern 

 Raven, i; American Crow, 25; Junco, 3; Myrtle Warbler, 7; Brown Creeper, 2; Chick- 

 adee, 35; Acadian Chickadee, 32; Golden-crowned Kinglet, 28. Total, 11 species, 139 

 individuals. — E. Chesley Allen and Harrison F. Lewis. 



Arnprior, Ont. — Dec. 26; 9.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Clear; 16 in. of snow; wind northwest, 

 strong; temp. 12° to 20°. Canada Ruffed Grouse, i; Hairy Woodpecker, 2; Evening 

 Grosbeak, 31; White-breasted Nuthatch, 2; Red-breasted Nuthatch, i; Black-capped 

 Chickadee, 20. Total, 6 species, 57 individuals. A Northern Shrike was observed on the 

 27th. Winter visitors, in general, are very few this winter. — Charles Macnamara 

 and LiGuoRi Gormley. 



London, Ont. (vicinity of). — Dec. 26; 2.30 to 5 p.m. Overcast; 8 in. of snow; wind 

 west, fresh; temp, about 26°. Downy Woodpecker, 2; American Crow, 10; Snow Bunting, 

 200; Tree Sparrow, 12; Slate-colored Junco, 2; Cardinal (male) i; White-breasted Nut- 

 hatch, i; Black-capped Chickadee, 6. Total, 8 species, 234 individuals. A female Card- 

 inal has also been around all winter. — John C. Higgins and E. M. S. Dale. 



London, Ont. (vicinity of). — Dec. 28; 8 to 11 a.m. Overcast; 8 to 10 in. of snow; 

 very little wind; temp, about 28°. Ruffed Grouse, i; Screech Owl, i (heard at night); 

 Kingfisher, i; Downy Woodpecker, 3; Blue Jay, 3; American Crow, 2,000 to 3,000; 



(i8) 



