Jan. 1888.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



11 



continue the woik of cxtciniiiKitiii^iii^i'ct-: ilur- 

 ing the wiiili-i-. when mcmiIv ;i11 oIIht iiisi-ct 

 eaters :ire away. 



l!cil-lieaded Wooiljieoker, Mclniii-i-iics cri/lhrii- 

 cephaluti. Not so coninion, yet I have seen his 

 scarlet head gleaniinjj thnm^Ii a snow stoi-ui. 

 Tliey are in tlie lialiit of plaeinj; aconis In feni'C 

 posts and sorneliini'S in tree ti links, as provis- 

 ion against future want. I li.ivc seen llieni 

 eating aeorns tlius preserved ulicii tlie weatlier 

 was severe and other food diffieult to ohtain. 



Horned I.ark. Otdmrn's id/ifslris. Not seen 

 until late in .laiuiary or eaily iM'Iniiary, l)ut 

 from the time ot its tirst arrival it iievei- leaves, 



n atler liow severe the weathei' may heeoine. 



Tlioufjli it is commonly found in exposed fields 

 and commons near the lake shore. I have seen 

 large (locks live nnles inland, feeding in an (dd 

 wheat liidd. 



Blue .lay, Vii'mai-itfi rrislutn. ( onnnon all 

 winter, soinelinies associating in small hands. 

 They have a had hahit when pressed w iih hun- 

 ger of feeding on small hir'ds. I h.-i\c seen 

 them with fresh hirds iir their hills and lire nat- 

 ural supposilion is that the HIne .lay is the 

 inuriieri'r. 



.American (.'row, Curnis niiirricaiui. Ahun- 

 d.irit .'ill wirder, generally flying iir flocks. If 

 any airimal is killed and it.s hody uudisturhed 

 cr-ows will come in large iniinhers to feed. .\t 

 such times they are very tame, seenring to for- 

 get their natural cunning fronr theii' hnngei-. 



Meadow Lark, Stitrnellii iikii/iih. I think oirly 

 wounded hii'ds who are unahle to leave stay 

 with us. Last winter Mr. Ilidl reported one 

 which speut the entire winter near .1 spring in 

 his viciirity, where it piohahly foirud some in- 

 sect life to feed upon. 



Evening Grosheak, Cucotlintusles ri'gjicrtimi. 

 A very erratic bird from the Northwest. For 

 several years they will he wholly ahsent and 

 the next winter perhaps will be very common. 

 Last year they were here in full force. Mr. 

 Hull reported them as very common in the 

 south-western part of the county; one female 

 was seen in the city and a huge tlock was re- 

 ported about three miles west of Lake Michi- 

 gar). They appeared to take the place of the 

 Crossbills which were very scarce last winter. 



American Pine Grosbeak, Pinic.ula cnndeatur 

 Not so erratic as the preceding though quite 

 scar-ce. A few visit us every winter hut their 

 stay is short. 



American C'i'ossbill, L<ixiu cjirvirdstni viiimr. 

 We cair never be certain of seeing this bird, 

 thougti sometimes it is extremely numeidus all 

 winter. Whether it breeds or not is uncertain. 



though I think it probably does, :rs one winter 

 when they had been unusually common ( 1885 

 and ■(!) (locks of young birds wei-e seen in the 

 neighbor-hood. lliiring the winler lliey he- 

 come very tame, and may lie I'eadily langhl 

 with a iret or hottoiirless bird e.-ige on a lung 

 pole. 'I'hey make interesting i)ets but seldom 

 live long in captivity. Their m.inrters gi-eatly 

 i-esenrbli' the [janots, as tliey climb about by 

 the aid of the bill and use (he feel in eating. 

 'I'he males are generally more nurneron- than 

 ferrrales though both sexes .ii'e ri'pi'esented. 



White-winged Cr'ossbill, Lnxin lri(ri,pli'ni. 

 Very r'are. They are sometimes foirnd with 

 the preceding species, hut 1 think in ahont ilie 

 l)roporliori of one to one hirudred. 



HcdpoU, AcKnthis liwiiiit. One of our com- 

 mon wiutiM' hirds. They ai'e (piite evenly ilis- 

 tributed over the country and the winter sel- 

 dom passes without them. 



-American Goldfirrch, Siiiinis Iristh. Com- 

 mon, often associating in flocks. Though th<ir 

 di-ess changes, their manners ar-e the same a~ in 

 suunnei'. and anyone who knows theirr in Iheii 

 summer dress cairnot fail to r-ecogni/.e tb<'m. 



Kur-opean House .Spari'OW, Pa^xrr tlnini'slirKs. 

 I'lrfortunately they are very common and 1 

 doubt if all the cold of the North I'ole eoirld 

 drive them o(V. People say "the sparrows 

 must go." hut the (prestion is how to make 

 theiir. 



.Sirow Flake, Plectnipli/'nar nimlis. Very 

 cormnim. .Sinnetimes ventures into the out- 

 skirts of the city where it i)icks up a living in 

 the streets. It is always founil in flocks. The 

 country people firmly believe that the birds 

 always a|)pe;u- before a storm, though there is 

 really no foinidation for the supposition. 



Lapland Lungspur, Calcarius lapjioninis. Not 

 so common as preceding and never associating 

 in flocks, though sometimes found in conrpany 

 with the Snow Flake. 



Tree Sparrow, Spizella m.ontirohi. Com.non 

 nearly all winter. They resort to retired 

 swamps aird lowlands during cold weather. 



Slate-coloi-ed Junco, ■Junm hijunalis. Not as 

 comuron as it is usually supposed to he. It is 

 only found on warm days and then in some 

 shelter'cd nook where the cold winds cannot 

 reach it. 



Bohemian Wax wing. Ampclis r/arnilns. Ex- 

 tremely erratic. For years it will be entirely 

 absent, but during an unusually severe season 

 will become exceedingly nunrerous. During 

 the winter- of 1870 and "80 it was remarkably 

 common and again during the winter of 1884 

 and "5. They feed on the berries of the moiin- 



