° "{gig J General Notes. 573 



Evening Grosbeaks at Boonville, N. Y. — From May^ to 10 I was 



in Boonville, N. Y., and during that time I observed daily a flock of twenty 

 Evening Grosbeaks. I was there again on the fifteenth, but could not find 

 any of the birds. This is an unusually late date. I am informed that they 

 were seen continuously through the winter. They were also reported at 

 Constableville, eight miles to the north, during the previous winter. The 

 birds which I saw in Boonville were feeding on the ground and in low shrubs. 

 — F. C. Smith, Utica, N. Y. 



The Evening Grosbeak on Long Island, N. Y. — On the afternoon of 

 February 4, 1919, my attention was attracted by a series of finch-like notes 

 utte red by a flock of Evening Grosbeaks ( Hesperiphona vespertina vesper- 

 tina) that was flying eastward. An excited, but rather poor imitation of 

 their call notes caused them to swerve from their course and pitch into a 

 clump of wild cherry trees standing in a hedge-row about a quarter of a mile 

 away. Hastening to the spot, I found them on the ground busily feeding on 

 the pits of the wild cherry. With their powerful bills it seemed an easy task 

 for them to split the pits and remove the kernels. Although not shy, they 

 appeared to be very restless, keeping up an almost continuous calling, 

 flying back and forth between the trees and ground. The birds, thirteen 

 in number, were all in the plumage of the female with the exception of three 

 or four that were in the black and yellow dress of the male. A portion of 

 the flock soon flew to a yellow locust tree overgrown with vines of 

 the poison ivy, and began picking among the ivy seeds. On my near 

 approach they took fright and flew away to the eastward. No others 

 were seen until March 26, when a flock of eleven was seen in the same 

 locality. 



On the morning of April 4 a flock of fifteen was seen flying north near 

 the railroad station at Miller Place. Their flight was high and very direct. 

 They were very noisy, keeping up a continuous calling, but refused to be 

 diverted from their course by my imitations of their calls. 



April 9 a small flock spent most of the day among the maples and black 

 alders in a small swamp. I believe that all of the birds noted were merely 

 transients and did not remain anywhere in the vicinity during the periods 

 between the dates on which they were noted. The winter of 1918-1919, 

 one of the mildest on record, would not lead one to expect a visit from these 

 birds. The two preceding winters were of unusual severity, yet nothing 

 was seen or heard of these birds on Long Island. There was a scarcity of 

 suitable food for these and similar birds during the past two winters, 

 more noticeable, perhaps, during the winter of 1918-1919 than in 1917-1918. 

 A similar condition existed in many sections of the north, and may have 

 been a contributive cause to the Grosbeaks wandering so far from their 

 normal range in search of new feeding grounds. — A. H. Helme, Miller 

 Place, Long Island, N. Y. 



Evening Grosbeaks again at Lakewood, N. J. — Lakewood, New 

 Jersey, harbored Evening Grosbeaks again on February 20, 1919, and it is 



