1892-] LooMis on liinh of C/tcster County, Sou/Zi Carolina. 2Q 



rej^ion below. After the intervals of inclemency tlieir numbers 

 further increased, the Pine Warbler becoming decidedly abun- 

 dant. In neither month was the Palm Warbler met with, it 

 apparently being less susceptible to the milder inHucnces of tem- 

 perature than its congener. 



The presence or absence of birds in winter cannot be explained 

 wholly on the score of migration brought about by cold or 

 warmth. Irrespective of these conditions, one season a particu- 

 lar species may be plentiful in a restricted locality, while the next 

 it may be but poorly represented there, or even entirely wanting. 

 Bewick's Wren well exemplifies this. A similar shifting of abode 

 has been observed in the Purple Finch, Towhee, Brown Creeper, 

 and others. The peculiar case of the Red-headed Woodpecker 

 also bears upon this point. This transposition of habitat may be 

 accounted for in part on the ground that there exists among cer- 

 tain species a tendency to aggregate around local centres (the 

 contiguous territory at the time being thinly Inhabited or even 

 totally depopulated), and that these centres shift with ditlerent 

 years. Why a locality is selected or rejected is not obvious. 

 Birds must occupy some part of the region constituting their win- 

 ter habitat, must be somewhere, and, if the conditions were alike, 

 the choice of a particular location might be largely arbitrary. It 

 falls within the bounds of possibility that a mere desire for change 

 of scene, as among human beings, may have some weight in de- 

 termining the selection of a winter home. On the other hand 

 there may be causes that have escaped our discernment, which if 

 understood, would account for much that now seems in a measure 

 mysterious. The question of food is an all important one, but 

 when a locality has been forsaken by any of the species men- 

 tioned there has lieen no visible deficiency in the food supply. 

 The disposition, without apparent reason, to shun certain locali- 

 ties, save during migratory movements, further accounts for the 

 absence of birds. 



For about a week during the early part of January, 1SS7, the 

 whole country, hereabouts, was suddenly flooded with Robins. 

 They were as abundant as during the height of their northward 

 migration. The occurrence was so unusual as to excite general 

 remark that the Robins had come a month ahead of time. Their 

 appearance was coincident with snow and a severe turn in the 

 weather. With the advent of a milder season they disappeared. 



