December 
wink seems stranded here for the winter, but 
has fallen among white-throated friends, and 
appears in no wise disconsolate. A field spar- 
row showed itself a couple of days early in the 
month, and the hermit thrush was last seen on 
the 7th. What seemed to be a pair of yellow- 
rumps were found on the 13th, and the song 
sparrow occasionally until the 25th, while the 
cardinals have returned to their winter-quar- 
ters in the Ramble. Among the larger species 
were gulls and crows, with an occasional coarse, 
loud tone from a tree-top that revealed the 
golden-winged woodpecker, which, on the wing, 
sometimes gives a delightfully mellow note, 
showing the folly of forcing the tone. 
In walking through the Park on the 28th, 
a rather sizable bird flew over my head and 
lighted in a distant tree. If robins had been 
plentiful I should have thought this to be one, 
as it was about as large, and yet with some- 
thing unusual in its appearance that made me 
curious to follow it up. It showed little timid- 
ity, but still kept a sharp eye on me as I recon- 
noitred close enough to see that its plumage 
was dingy white beneath and ashy above ; not 
a robin certainly, possibly a shrike. At that 
instant it flew out of sight, but following its 
333 
