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Bird - Lore 



bird life. Providing ourselves with a 

 liberal supply of several kinds of bird- 

 food, we went to what is called Reservoir 

 Park, although not a park at all, but 

 simply the watershed for the city reser- 

 voirs therein located. Wading through 

 the snow well above our knees at every 

 step, and avoiding drifts that were six 

 or eight feet deep, we had not gone more 

 than an eighth of a mile from the car- 

 line before we heard what can best be 

 described as the sound produced at a dis- 

 tance by striking a telegraph wire several 

 rapid blows with another piece of wire, — 

 a sort of rapid and metallic chit, chit, 

 After listening, to get the direction, we 

 soon discovered in a clump of white birches 

 a flock of fourteen Redpolls. Practically 

 every bird showed the bright poll and an 

 an abundance of the red wash on the 

 breast. They all seemed to be in unusually 

 fine plumage; but, as the day was perfectly 

 clear and all underfoot an unbroken 

 expanse of white, their colors were per- 

 haps given a more conspicuous bril- 

 liance than usual. Later in the day we 

 saw another flock somewhat larger than 

 the first; but as it was nearly at the close 

 of day, the observation was not so pleas- 

 ing as the first one. 



We then half-waded and half-crawled 

 through the deep snow among some small 

 white-pine growth, and were well repaid 

 for our efforts by soon finding a flock of 

 sixteen excellent specimens of the Pine 

 Grosbeak family. The birds were feed- 

 ing on the seeds of the pines and sumachs, 

 not more than ten feet from the ground, 

 and were very fearless; so we had an excel- 

 lent opportunity to see them at our 

 leisure. There were several males in the 

 full rosy plumage of this beautiful bird 

 of the North, and occasionally one of the 

 birds would give voice to a little ripple of 

 a song, just as though he were trying to 

 tell the rest of the crowd something in 

 an undertone. 



On Monday, February 23 (Washing- 

 ington's Birthday), we again took to the 

 woods and fields to try our luck. After 

 considerable search in one of the large 

 outlying parks, and finding several of the 



more common species of birds, we were 

 fortunate enough to happen upon a flock 

 of eight Evening Grosbeaks. This spe- 

 cies was first reported by me on the first 

 day of January, and the birds have been 

 seen in varying numbers by many of the 

 members of our club up to about a month 

 ago, when they disappeared. However, 

 on Lincoln's Day, with the thermometer 

 at eight above zero, I discovered eleven 

 nearly a mile from where they were seen 

 today. They are evidently of the same 

 flock seen New Year's Day, having one 

 very brilliant male, although all of the 

 birds today were very much brighter- 

 plumaged than when first reported several 

 weeks ago. 



We then took a car about five miles, 

 to get in the same trip, if possible, the 

 Pine Grosbeak seen on the previous Satur- 

 day, and were successful in finding the 

 flock of sixteen, together with a flock of 

 some fifteen Redpolls. We have thir- 

 teen species for the day, which averaged 

 about fifteen degrees above zero, with 

 snow, as above stated. Has anyone else 

 seen the Redpolls and the Pine and Even- 

 ing Grosbeaks in the same trip in central 

 or southern Connecticut? 



I have also seen within the past month 

 at least a half-dozen Northern Shrike. 

 They are reported as being more than 

 usually abundant in this section this 

 winter. — Geo. T. Griswold, 24 Imlay 

 Street, Hartford, Conn. 



Wild Fowl at Sandusky Bay in 1756 



In the November-December, 1913, 

 issue of Bird-Lore, there is a very inter- 

 esting article by E. L. Moseley entitled 

 'Gull Pensioners.' It describes the 

 feeding of thousands of Herring Gulls by 

 the foreman of the fish companies at 

 Sandusky during the unusually severe 

 winter of 191 2, and is illustrated with 

 photographs taken by Ernest Niebergall, 

 of that city. 



At the time when Professor Moseley's 

 article appeared, I was making a study 

 of the itinerary of Col. James Smith, who 

 visited Sandusky Bay during the autumn 



