^'^\^4^^ Wright, Acadian Chickadees in Boston and vicinity. 241 



Ipswich, December 27, feeding in the conifers, and again observed 

 on January 10. The same three birds, undoubtedly, were seen by 

 Dr. Charles W. Townsend and Mr. Francis H. Allen, on January 11, 

 gleaning on the larch trees on Castle Hill. 



In early February these Acadian Chickadees in the vicinity of 

 Boston were no longer in evidence. None could be found in the 

 Arboretum, Olmsted Park, Belmont, Harvard, Lexington, or other 

 places as far as heard from. The latest record furnished me was 

 of the Arboretum birds, seen by Dr. G. M. Allen on January 23 

 among the same conifers in which they had previously been ob- 

 served. Some were picking on the ground under the thick spruces, 

 others were in the trees, Dr. Allen states. They were very quiet, 

 giving only the slight single call-note, not characteristic. Five or 

 six inches of snow lay upon the surface, but the ground was bare 

 under the spruces. On the tenth of February a careful search by 

 Mr. Barrett and myself failed in finding them. On February 2 

 I had searched the Belmont pastures also without finding any. 

 Mr. Peters at Harvard saw none after the middle of November, 

 Dr. Faxon and Dr. Tyler at Lexington none after the first of De- 

 cember. They seem to have disappeared with the Golden-crowned 

 Kinglets, with whom they were the closest companions. These 

 usually pass mostly out of evidence by early January in the vicinity 

 of Boston. 



Whether the Eastern Massachusetts birds moved farther south 

 or had begun a return migration northward is an interesting point 

 remaining undetermined. 'Bird-Lore' of February, 1914, page 

 52, furnishes evidence that the migration in November extended 

 as far southward as Hartford, Connecticut, two birds having 

 appeared at the feeding-tray of Miss K. C. Robbins in Wethersfield 

 on or about November 13 and continuing for some time to make 

 almost daily visits to her hospitable board. Two other birds were 

 seen at West Hartford by Mr. George F. Griswold on November 

 27. i\Ir. Arthur G. Powers in his Hartford bird-census of December 

 25 states that he was unable to find a pair of Acadian Chickadees 

 on that day, although they had been seen only a few days before 

 and had been seen frequently for a month previous. These Con- 

 necticut records with a single exception are the first for the state, 

 as showTi by the official publication, 'The Birds of Connecticut' 



