Notes from Field and Study 



4S3 



all parts of the country alike — in the deep 

 woods, on the banks of the river, in the 

 numerous swamps, and in the farm-yard, 

 as much in one as the other; but, if it has 

 any choice, it prefers the more open dis- 

 trict along the bank of some stream for 

 breeding. On the bank of one creek there 

 were hundreds of them, and the trees, 

 mostly dead ones, were fairly riddled with 

 holes, and there must have been fifty 

 nests within half a square-mile of woods, 

 the trees being scattered, along the course 

 of the creek." — Robert Cushman 

 Murphy, Brooklyn Museum. 



The Carolina Paroquet in Florida 



[In a letter by Mr. W. F. H. McCor- 

 mick, to Mrs. Kirk Munroe, sent to the 

 Editor of Bird-Lore by Mrs. Munroe, 

 mention was made of the occurrence of the 

 Carolina Paroquet in southern Florida. 

 A call for further information brought the 

 following response from Mr. McCormick. 

 We omit his reference to the locality in 

 which the birds were seen. — F. M. C] 



In reply to your request to Mrs. Kirk 

 Munroe in your letter of July 6, I will say 

 that there is very little to make "a detailed 

 statement" of in regard to my seeing the 

 Carolina Paroquet. 



I was down in that country on a pleasure 

 cruise during the last weeks of March and 

 early April, 1915, and first saw the birds 

 while I was following a panther through 

 thick scrub. At that particular time I did 

 not pay much attention to them, as I was 

 intent on the bigger game, but some days 

 afterward I visited the same place and 

 saw about a dozen of the birds flying 

 about and eating the berries of the mastic 

 and rubber trees. This time I made sure 

 that they were the real Paroquets. I am 

 not sure that they were nesting, but sup- 

 posed they had young, for they carried 

 berries away with them every time they 

 left the trees. On my last visit (the first 

 week in May) I saw none. 



I will also say that I made no mistake 

 of indentification, for I have been familiar 

 with the Paroquet since childhood, and 

 also have a speaking acquaintance with 



other Parrots, gained in a two years' 

 residence in Central America. — -W. F. J. 

 McCormick, Cocoanut Grove, Fla. 



Meadowlarks Wintering in Indiana 



The winter of 1914-15 was severe, the 

 ground being covered with a deep snow 

 for weeks. January 28, when it was two 

 degrees below zero, there were five 

 Meadowlarks seen in freight-yards, where 

 some straw and litter had been thrown 

 from cars. They would fly only far enough 

 to keep out of reach, and seemed to do 

 this with difl&culty. January 29 was 

 warmer and snowing again, and three of 

 them were seen. January 28, I noticed 

 a small Hawk watching them, and think 

 probable that it caught some of them. It 

 would have been an easy matter for it to 

 catch them, as they were so cold and stiff 

 they could move but very slowly. The 

 fast trains, also, might have killed some. 

 There are hundreds of birds killed in 

 attempting to fly across in front of trains, 

 and getting too close to them. — J. H. 

 GiLLiLAND, Carlisle, Ind. 



Meadowlarks Wintering in Iowa 



Mr. Lowe, section foreman of the Rock 

 Island Railway at Wiota, a few miles 

 east of Atlantic, in southwestern Iowa, 

 about midway between Des Moines and 

 Omaha, reports that two flocks of 

 Meadowlarks, about twelve or fourteen 

 birds in each flock, and a flock of eight 

 Doves, wintered in separate locations 

 along the track a mile or so east and west 

 of Wiota, under his daily observation. 

 Bird-Lore's Iowa Advisory Counselor, 

 C. R. Keyes, of Mount Vernon, writes 

 that the presence of any especial number 

 of Meadowlarks in Iowa in the winter is 

 very uncommon. The railroad through 

 Wiota runs in the valley of Turkey Creek, 

 which is here enclosed by rather high 

 rolling hills, especially on the south. Mr. 

 Lowe says there was an abundant supply 

 of hemp along the creek, and the birds 

 lived on the seeds. Transient Meadow- 

 larks have been spoken of by farmers in 



