82 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 6 



ity of Wood's HoU, the requirements of this 

 bird are apparently not as perfectly developed 

 as at points a short distance away. 



Across the channel, on Naushon island, they 

 are more plenty, and I have also noticed a 

 great increase in the numbers of this bird 

 about the settlements of shore houses on the 

 branch railroad which connects Wood's IIoll 

 with the main Cape Cod line, and notably, at 

 the villages of Wenaumet, Cataumet and Mon- 

 ument Beach. Upon inquiry, I have been 

 imformed that the Pigeon Woodpecker has 

 become so abundant as a winter resident in 

 these i)laces, that it is classed as a " common 

 nuisance" by people having cottages, and boun- 

 ties Inxve been offered for their heads because 

 of their destructive habit of boring into the 

 houses for shelter during the winter. 



The avidity of the bird to select such excel- 

 lent refuges, and the celerity with which the 

 new habit is adopted, together with the extent 

 of the new fields to concjuer, naturally results 

 in the draining of the surrounding territory 

 and the localization of all available forces in a 

 similar form to the Sparrow rookeries and 

 Robin roosts, described by Mr. Norris and Dr. 

 Brewster. 



There was one Woodpecker that had 

 excavated a home in a tiag-stalf, erected by the 

 Coast Survey on an islet in the harbor, and to 

 which he resorted nightly during the llrst part 

 of the winter, but when the cold waves of Feb- 

 ruary came, I missed my C'olajjtes from his 

 usual haunts, and I imagine that he was 

 obliged to find quarters less exposed to the 

 sweeping northwest wind. 



A comparison of the numbers of this bird 

 during winter and the season of migration may 

 prove interesting, and the following table is 

 given to show the mean monthly numbers at 

 either station dining the season of autumnal 

 migration, including September, October and 

 November, and the period of rest, including the 

 winter months already mentioned. Simultane- 

 ous notes were not received from all points 

 previous to the first of September. 



AVERAGE NO. FI.ICKERS SP:EN PER MONTH. 



TAUNTON. NAUSHON. WOOD'S HC 



Autumn, 107 22 23 



Winter, 20 10 5 



NO. TRURO. TOTAL. MEAN- 



04 21C 54 



33 CS 17 



This gives the mean average number of 

 Flickers for the months of migration, as fifty- 

 four, and during the three cold months of win- 

 ter, it is seventeen; or in other words, these 

 Woodpeckers are likely to be one-third as 

 plenty at that season as in autumn. At Taun- 



ton and Wood's Holl, the difference is grater, 

 being as 1 : 5, while at Naushon and Highland 

 Light, it is only as 1 : 2. 1 am, however, of 

 the opinion that the effects of the migrational 

 tide, so to speak, are very much more pro- 

 nounced in the vicinity of Taunton, than in the 

 counties to the eastward of that place, and 

 therefore the excess over the number of actual 

 summer residents or breeding birds, is not in 

 the same ratio at all points, being git atest to 

 the west and diminishing in an easterlj^ 

 direction. 



2. Chippini) Sparroio. A single bird of this 

 species was observed at Wood's Holl, on 

 December 23d. As it was not seen after that 

 date, it may have been a very late migrant, 

 although birds typical of the winter avifmma, 

 namely, the American and White-winged 

 Cros.sbills, the Snow Bunting, Shrike and 

 Snowy Owl, were seen on considerably earlier 

 dates. 



;5. The Meadow Lark. This bird is common 

 as a winter resident in some localities, while 

 in others it is entirely wanting. During the 

 months of December and January, but three 

 birds of this species were seen in Taunton, 

 namely, one on December 1st, and a pair on 

 January 3 1st. At Naushon, they were some- 

 what nu)re abundant, six having been recored 

 on January 2.Sth, and one on the 3()tli. Single 

 birds were also seen on February .ird and ^tli.- 

 In the immediate vicinity of the Fish Commis 

 sion at Wood's IIoll, it was not fouiul during 

 the winter, but several were usually to be seen 

 about the salt marsh fields near Falmouth and 

 also at various points along the shore between 

 that town and the head of Buzzards Bay. I 

 also saw a pair at Edgartown on one or two 

 occassions in January and February. 



The North Truro record is very complete, 

 and probably the Marsh (^uail is nowhere more 

 abundant within the limit of the State during 

 the three winter months, than on that part of 

 Cape Cod which forms the forearm of Massa- 

 chusetts, viz., from Monomoy to Provinctown. 



Mr. Small's record has a showing of one hun. 

 dred-six birds in December, they being present 

 in numbers varying from two to twenty-five on 

 no less than ten of the thirty-one days of that 

 month. In January, they were seen on thir- 

 teen days in numbers varying from one to four- 

 teen, and aggregating eighty-one. Meadow- 

 Larks were present on twenty of the twenty, 

 eight days in February, and the sum of the 

 numbers recorded amounts to fifty. The larg- 

 est number seen on any one day was six and 

 the minimum number was one. 



