34 The Wilson Bulletin — No. 70. 



at times ; in the tamarack swamps sounded the cheerful songs 

 of Chickadees : from the second g-rowth clearings came the 

 flute-like notes of the Wilson's Thrush ; Robins were of com- 

 mon occurrence, thereabouts, many of them being seen skulk- 

 ing along the ground in the depths of the forests. Other spe- 

 cies noted were the Cedar Waxwing, the Northern Yellow- 

 throat, the Red-eyed Vireo, the Kingbird, the Flicker, the Red- 

 headed W^oodpecker, the Goldfinch and the Sparrow Hawk. 

 I spent about two hours observing these birds and rambling 

 about through the woods, after which I set out for camp. 



While on the way back I had the good fortune to meet with 

 one bird that was practically a stranger to me. This bird, 

 which was sitting on a dead branch near my path was about 

 as large as an English Sparrow, and had the cone-shaped bill 

 that is characteristic of the finch family. By dint of keeping 

 a certain dead tree trunk between myself and the bird I suc- 

 ceeded in approaching within twenty feet of it, from which 

 distance T was able to study its plumage without difficulty. 

 Its head and rump were of a bright rosy red color, its belly 

 white, and its breast of a dingy-red hue, streaked and washed 

 with diflferent shades of purple. This data was convincing 

 proof that the stranger was a Purple Finch — a rather un- 

 common migrant in northeastern Ohio, but a fairly common 

 summer resident near the Otonabee. Once, as I stood watch- 

 ing it, the bird indulged in a low, sweet song that bore some 

 resemblance to that of a Warbling Vireo. After reaching 

 the camp T saw two more of these birds hopping about among 

 the evergreen trees near by, and my companions reported hav- 

 ing seen individuals of this species nearly every day since their 

 arrival. 



