58 EiFRiG, Rare Winter Birds at Ottawa. [jali 



could always be found. On January 24 Mr. E. White saw three 

 of the rare Hoary Redpolls (.1. hornemanni exilipes) in his garden. 



That some at least of the White-winged Crossbills had stayed 

 near the city for the winter was proven on February 8. when Mr. 

 H. Grob made a Northern Shrike {Lanius borealis) give up its prey, 

 which it was just eating, and which proved to be a Crossbill of this 

 kind. 



One of the greatest surprises, however, was the wintering here of a 

 small flock of four or five Robins {Planesficus mlgratorius). Al- 

 ready about December 20 they were seen near the Parliament build- 

 ing, but they were looked upon as belated fall migrants, who 

 certainly would not think of staying here over the winter. Imagine 

 the surprise of Ottawans in general when in January these birds 

 suddenly took up headquarters in the trees around the city hall, 

 where their well-known call notes greeted passersby and made them 

 wonder momentarily, whether or not the seasons had suddenly been 

 shifted. They were often with Pine Grosbeaks feeding on the rowan 

 berries. Although the winter of 1908-9 was an unusually mild one 

 for Ottawa, these poor birds must have suffered a great deal. 

 One was seen after a while with a frozen leg and all seemed to have 

 disappeared before the first real spring arrivals of their kind came. 

 No doubt, they were frozen to death by one of the few short cold 

 spells which occurred during the winter, when the thermometer 

 went down to about — 16°. It may perhaps be also worthy of note, 

 that our Robins here, which are extremely plentiful in the city and 

 increasing in numbers, are perceptibly larger than those that live 

 further south. 



Also in producing freaks the last winter was a record-breaker. 

 Several albino English Sparrows {Passer domesticus) which, by 

 the way, are here starting to cultivate the habif of migration, were 

 seen, as well as partial albinos, which, according to the distribution 

 of the white patches over the plumage, show very odd effects. The 

 greatest rarity, however, in the sparrow line was seen by the writer 

 on January 19 when he, on the main street, at the noon hour, when 

 the street was thronged with vehicles and pedestrians, saw in a flock 

 of English Sparrows a beautiful red one. There was no mistake, 

 he was nearly at my feet, as fearless as his fellows, behaving and 

 feeding the same way. Nor was the red over only a small area or 



