54 DECEMBER OUT-OF-DOORS. 
side, and, after a short separation, — under 
the fright into which my sudden appearance 
put them, — one called to the other, and they 
flew off in company towards Lynn. It was 
a pleasing display of sociability, but no- 
thing new; for in winter, as every observer 
knows, birds not of a feather flock together. 
The Ipswich sparrow, a very retiring but 
not peculiarly timid creature, I have now 
seen at Nahant in every one of our seven 
colder months, — from October to April, — 
though it is unquestionably rare upon the 
Massachusetts coast between the fall and 
spring migrations. Besides the species al- 
ready named, my monthly list included the 
following: herring gull, great black-backed 
eull, ruffed grouse, hairy woodpecker, flick- 
er, goldfinch, tree sparrow, snowbird, blue 
jay, crow, shrike, white - bellied nuthatch 
(only two or three birds), golden - crowned 
kinglet, and one small hawk.? 
The only birds that sang during the month 
1 To this list my ornithological comrade before men- 
tioned added seven species, namely: white-winged scoter, 
barred owl, cowbird, purple finch, white-winged cross- 
bill, fox sparrow, and winter wren. Between us, as far 
as land birds went, we did pretty well. 
