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definite winter habitats. The boundaries of the latter are, however, 

 infiuenced to a considerable extent by the severity of the season and 

 the abundance of suitable food. When the crop of berries has been 

 large and the weather during the early part of the season compara- 

 tively mild, many birds will winter farther north than they usually 

 do, and will often brave very severe weather later in the season. 

 Heavy snow storms, which completely cover the ground, and with it 

 the food of many species of birds, cause a sudden migration farther 

 south, where the ground is more open. It is on such occasions that 

 we are favored with flying visits from Redpolls, Snow Buntings and 

 other birds of the far north. 



The distribution of birds in the Delaware Valley during the winter 

 months is by no means uniform, some localities being much more 

 frequented than others. The vicinity of the tide-water creeks on the 

 New Jersey side of the river seems to furnish the most favorable win- 

 ter quarters, while some of the dry uplands in Pennsylvania are 

 nearly destitute of birds during the winter season. About Philadel- 

 phia the Song Sparrows and Tree Sparrows are universally distri- 

 buted in low swampy tracts, the latter species usually in large flocks. 

 On the river marshes quite a number of Swamp Sparrows also asso- 

 ciate with them. Large flocks of Snowbirds, as well as flocks of 

 Goldfinches, Purple Finches and a few Pine Finches are always pres- 

 ent. White-breasted Nuthatches, Brown Creepers, Downy and Hairy 

 Woodpeckers, Black-capped and Carolina Chickadees and Tufted 

 Tits are generally distributed through woodland and orchards, and 

 in sheltered thickets occur Cardinals, White-throated Sparrows, 

 Carolina Wrens and Winter Wrens. Golden-crowned Kinglets also 

 winter regularly in many places, and Cedarbirds and Blue Jays are 

 generally to be found. Crows are very abundant all winter in 

 immense flights, passing to and from their roosts in the evening and 

 early morning. Hawks, too, occur in larger numbers in winter than 

 at other seasons, and, though pretty generally distributed, the river 

 meadows of Delaware county seem to be their great rendezvous. 

 Here, on any winter morning, large numbers may be seen perched 

 upon the solitary trees which dot the meadows, or lazily flapping out 

 from the patches of woodland where they have roosted during the 

 night. All the summer species are present, and in addition the 

 Pigeon Hawk, Peregrine and Black Hawk. None of these, however, 

 are very plentiful, and the Black Hawk is seldom seen far from the 

 river meadows. Some other birds are also nearly or quite restricted 



