84 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 17-No. 6 



seen by the writer on January 1st. It was also 

 reported at Naushon on January 24tli. The 

 Great Blue Heron is said to have wintered at 

 Wood's IIoll, but it was apparently absent 

 during the three winter months this season. 

 At Naushon it was common in November and 

 Mr. Chisholm noted it as late as the 22d of that 

 montli, when one was seen. 



9. The Belted Kinf/Ji.sher. It is stated in 

 books that the Kingfisher may, on rare 

 occasions, remain throughout the winter in 

 Massachusetts, but I do not remember to have 

 seen it recorded as a regular or common 

 resident at that season. Tliis, however, ai)i)ears 

 to be the case, at least in that portion border- 

 ing on Buzzards Bay and Vineyard .Sound, 

 altliough the winter notes from Taunton aiul 

 Iligliland Light do not include this bird on 

 the lists. 



Late in the fall, the Kingfishers daily plied 

 their trade from off the guards of the Com- 

 mission Wharf and great was the demand for 

 their skins to lielj) out the World's Fair 

 collection. The persistency with which they 

 were stalked and the "dare devil" habits of 

 the binls themselves caused me much alarm 

 for tlieir safety, as I was anxious to continue 

 my notes upon tliem with the view of learning 

 the exact time of their departure for the 

 South ; and when one or two of them had 

 been secured, I would liave sold out my 

 interest at a very low figure. One bird escaped 

 the general slaughter and remained with us, 

 a Hitting spirit of the departed and doomed to 

 fish alone from oft' the iron railing, so I was 

 correspondingly hai)py. But too much of any 

 good thing is apt to wear uixni the nerves, and 

 so it was with my Kingfisher. At first, I was 

 only too anxious that he should remain 

 another day, but soon I became more in- 

 ditterent and finally I longed to mention the 

 impropriety of further putting oft' his depart- 

 ure. But he had not the slightest intention of 

 leaving, and as far as I am able to judge, he 

 has stuck to the text of "don't give up the 

 ship," having remained on the ground, ready 

 to welcome back his brethren which adopted 

 the better part of valor last fall. All winter, 

 he kept bachelor's quarters in a last year's 

 nest situated not far from the station, and as 

 long as the " silversides" and other small fish 

 remained, he was ever busy about the wharf, 

 although on account of his temerity, he served 

 as a target for ritle practice. During the 

 montli of December, he was about the wharves 

 on ten days, and in January I saw him on nine 

 occasions, the last being on the 31st. In 



February, he seldom appeared about the 

 station, for small fish were very scarce and 

 especially so in the shallow water oft' the 

 harbor, where the anchor ice and frost killed 

 what few there were. But on one or two 

 occasions, I saw him diving into the icy water 

 of tlie IIoll amid tlie floating cakes borne on 

 the surface of the swiftly llowing current. 



A pair lived all winter in a hole in a sand- 

 bank at Hadley Harbor, Naushon, and from 

 the reports of fishermen, I infer that at le.ist a 

 fourth individual resorted to similar quarters 

 at Cuttyhunk, the outermost of the Elizabeth 

 chain of islaiuls. The Naushon pair were 

 fre(|uently seen in January, viz., nine times ; 

 but on the following month they changed their 

 fishing grounds and were less freipuMitiy 

 observed. I heard of them occasionally out on 

 the Sound and near Tarpaulen Cove. It is 

 said that here, a winter never passes without 

 a few Kingfishers remaining over and that 

 usually they are more plenty than during the 

 season which has just passed, this particular 

 scarc^ity being, no (U>ubt, jiartially caused by 

 the shooting last fall. On the afternoon of 

 February 1st, I saw a single Kingfisher at 

 Edgartown Harbor. 



10. The Son(j Sparroto. I have hesitated 

 before including this species in my notes, on 

 account of its familiarity to nearly all ob- 

 servers, for it is nowhere in eastern Massachu- 

 setts a rare bird in winter. If considered in 

 relation to the number of individuals which 

 pass through as migrants or remain to breed, 

 it is less plenty tlian other species which are 

 spoken of in former lists, as rare or toleral»ly 

 common at this season of the year, and 

 furnishes a striking example of the inefficiency 

 of our present nomenclature for the expression 

 of degrees of plentifulness. 



For example, during the months of Decem- 

 ber and January, eight Song Sjjarrows were 

 seen about Taunton. February notes were 

 not available. During the three winter 

 months, only live were observed at Wood's 

 IIoll and none weie seen at Naushon or North 

 Truro. In the first named locality the number 

 of Song Sparrows in August were 233 ; in 

 September, 50 and in October, 247. Taking the 

 two consecutive numths of September and 

 October to compare with the December and 

 January record for the same locality, we have 

 a total number of 30G birds or about forty 

 times the number that are present during the 

 winter months. At Wood's Holl, the record 

 for August, September and October was 214, 

 207 and 67, respectively, or a total of 488. 



