28 JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL vSOCIETY. 



Sparrow Hawk in December. — On the 20th of December, I 



saw in the Eastern Cemetery a Sparrow Hawk. He remained there 



for more than two hours after I discovered him. He flew so near 



that I could see his markings perfectly. The cemetery is the haunt 



of English Sparrows, and Pigeons are constantly flying"about there, 



but on this occasion they had evidently detected the presence of an 



enemy, for not one was to be seen. 



Sara C. Eastman. 

 Portland, Jan. i, 1908. 



Scarcity ok Winter Birds Near the Coast. — During 

 the winter just closing birds of all kinds have been unusually scarce 

 in the vicinity of Portland and all along the coast, so far as I can 

 learn. There has been very little snow in southern and central 

 Maine this winter, most of the time the fields having been bare and 

 in the woods no snow at all, except for a few days at a time. It 

 seems to me that the mildness of the winter explains why birds have 

 not journeyed to the coast regions in large numbers. In hard winters, 

 when the snow lies deep in the woods everywhere, the ordinary food 

 supply of seeds, berries and wild fruits fails and the birds seek a liv- 

 ing elsewhere, coming naturall}^ to the coast, where the weather is 

 milder and where in the fields and sunny slopes along the shore 

 tlie}^ find plenty of bayberries, red cedar berries and the like. 

 Doubtless in the interior of Maine, this winter, birds have been fully 

 as abundant as ever, if not even more plentiful, though this may not 

 be apparent when they are scattered through the woods in small 

 flocks, often some distance apart. Whether this is the correct ex- 

 planation or not of the fact that there have been few birds in south- 

 ern Maine this winter, I do not know positively, but it is offered as 

 a theory that may be accepted or rejected, according as one has or 

 has not a better solution of the question to offer. 



W. H. Brownson. 



Portland, Feb. 15, 1908. 



Winter Records : — Saw at Delano Park and Pond Cove, 

 Cape Elizabeth, Feb. 23rd, 29 Chickadees, i Myrtle Warbler, i 

 Purple Finch (male), in fine plumage; March ist, 5 Chickadees, 4 

 Myrtle Warblers. 



Louis E. Legge. 



Portland, March 2nd. 



