Vol-XXVIIj EiFRiG, Rare Winter Birds at Ottaira. 55 



into smaller bands, one of which cleaned a large rowan tree on 

 Queen Street, near the busiest section of the city, the Pine Gros- 

 beaks, however, helping them assiduously. On February 26, I saw 

 them in an old orchard adjoining the grounds of a fine residence 

 in the same part of the city. Here they had discovered the old 

 apples clinging to the trees and were busily eating those. It was 

 a scene not soon to be forgotten. There was bright sunshine above, 

 glistening snow below, in the trees the birds, showing their delicate 

 tints, the chestnut under tail coverts, the red and yellow tips on the 

 wings; with them a great number of Pine Grosbeaks, engaged 

 similarly, and finally a Robin. But more of that later on. They 

 remained until about JNIarch 4, thus giving us over two and a half 

 months of their presence, a longer time than I ever have seen reported 

 from any city. Three specimens, two males and a female, were 

 secured for me. When comparing these with others taken out west, 

 and formerly taken here, I was struck by the prevailing dark color 

 of the under and upper parts; there is also much less of the light 

 fawn color about the head. I noticed the same thing on specimens 

 taken at Kingston, Ontario, where they had also been common, 

 but for a much shorter time. 



To make things more interesting, a flock of about twenty Evening 

 Grosbeaks {Hesperiphona vcspertina) came to our city on February 

 7, and liked it so well that they stayed until May 15, again an un- 

 })recedented case, so far as the writer is aware, for any city from 

 which records have been published. Like the Waxwings, they did 

 not show the least fear of man and took up their abode right in the 

 city, in the same section. As early as November 4 ]Mr. AYm. 

 ]\IcComber, a farmer of Bouchette, Quebec, 60 miles north of 

 Ottawa, had seen and taken a single individual of this species. But 

 here we had a whole flock, fine males and some young and females, 

 right in the city, also allowing close scrutiny. While the Waxwings 

 were so very partial to rowan berries, these Grosbeaks fell into the 

 ^Manitoba maple trees {Acer negnndo) and never strayed far away 

 from the chosen one till all its samaras were stripped off. It was 

 indeed an unusual and pretty sight to see these fine birds right be- 

 tween houses, sometimes alighting on their roofs and eating snow, 

 or hopping about on the ground below for the same })uri)ose. 

 Several times thev were also seen in mountain ash trees, eating 



