242 



THE OOLOGIST 



It is a far cry from the pines of 

 Oregon and Washington to the elms 

 and maples of Norwich. But drawn 

 from the far-away forests by an Irre- 

 sistible impulse, a band of these beau- 

 tiful birds have been making a long 

 visit in town, apparently pleased with 

 their surroundings. This company was 

 first reported by teamsters as a "flock 

 of 60 unknown birds feeding on sugar 

 maple trees" near Hatchet pond in 

 Worcester county, the source of the 

 Quinebaug, early in December. From 

 there they went six miles due east to 

 Southbridge, Mass., where my corre- 

 spondents and many others saw them 

 at work on the maple trees, but bus- 

 iest on the mountain ash trees. Then 

 next we find them in two divisions — 

 one of twenty birds six miles south- 

 east at the Potter homestead — in the 

 English Neighborhood, North Wood- 

 stock. Conn. This jilace is surrounded 

 by maples and was found most suit- 

 able for a rest of a week. Mrs. Potter 

 paid much attention to the new ar- 

 rivals and on the 20th of December 

 was certain that they were evening 

 grosbeaks. Miss Sarah Potter and 

 Miss Mary Potter, school teachers, 

 were home on the 23d, 24th and 25th 

 of Dec, and with powerful glasses 

 confirmed Mrs. Potter's opinion. 

 It was an e.Kcellent object lesson to 

 these teachers and their pupils may 

 get a grain of knowledge birdwise 

 from it. Again, two miles to the 

 southeast, I had a glimpse of a few 

 of them on Mrs. Back's mountain ash, 

 and of the same scouts or others pick- 

 ing the few berries on the two moun- 

 tain ash trees in front of the public 

 hall at Village Corners. 



One body of twenty, straggling in 

 groups through the village, directly 

 east, came in a bunch for a short stay 

 to the Morse barn, where they were 

 easily identified, and to the John May 

 farm, East Woodstock, where Mrs. 



May made hospitable attempts to feed 

 the handsome strangers. A division 

 was seen by the Lindermans and John- 

 sons near the Putnam turnpike, six 

 miles south, and, still moving south 

 along the river valley toward Lisbon, 

 a detachment seen by R. F. D. men 

 and farmers en route reached Taft- 

 ville, at the mouth of the Quinebaug, 

 forty miles from Woodstock about 

 Feb. 12th, where later the two divi- 

 sions came together. In this pleasant 

 place they appear to find things much 

 to their liking, act as if settled for a 

 long stay, are not a bit wild or shy, 

 are the wonder and admiration of 

 many people, and are under the spe- 

 cial surveillance of F. J. Werking, 

 principal of the Wequonnoc school. I 

 quote from one of Mr. Werking's late 

 letters: "I am interested in birds and 

 I am trying to make others interested 

 in them, too. The grosbeaks are still 

 with us. They came February 13th. 

 Perhaps I should have said the ad- 

 vance guard came on that date, for 

 the numbers have increased until now 

 we have forty-eight, eleven of them 

 adult males. We are certainly having 

 the treat of our lives. I wish you 

 might see them too." Mr. Werking 

 will reply to all inquiries about plum- 

 age, favorite trees, food, play, song, 

 and time of departure. The pupils of 

 the Woodstock and Wequonnoc 

 schools should be well up on grosbeak 

 lore. They will welcome the rosy 

 breast about May day, the piney next 

 winter, or the winter after next, and, 

 possibly some thirty years from now, 

 once again be on intimate terms with 

 the grosbeak, to which we bid a long 

 g o o d b y — Hesperophona vespertina, 

 the bird of a generation. C.L.R. 



The Editor's address while in Cali- 

 fornia is 149 N. Cahuenga Ave., Holly 

 wood Sta., Los Angeles. Nothing but 

 personal letters should be sent there. 

 Business is barred. 



