262 Ma-kos, Birds of Madison Couniy, N. Y. \ u\^ 



winter, when no insects are to be met with, they come to the farm- 

 houses in order to subsist on the seeds of hay, and other small 

 grains." (Eng. Trans., II, p. 70.) 



There is little of value to the ornithologist in these fragmentary 

 notes, but the quaintness of the statements, and the pictures which 

 they call up of birds against the background of those early times 

 possess a certain charm in themselves. Moreover, as Dr. Coues 

 has remarked, some of these descriptions fo'rmed the basis of sev- 

 eral Linnaean species. Kalm saw the birds for himself and came 

 directly in contact with their surroundings. Therein lies the 

 charm. He left no great work as a monument, but so long as 

 the beautiful Kalmia grows on our hillsides his name will be 

 remembered as that of the friend of Linnaeus. 



NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF MADISON COUNTY, NEW 



YORK, WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO 



EMBODY'S RECENT LIST. 



BY WILLIAM R. MAXON. 



The notes here offered are intended to supplement Mr. 

 Embody's ' Birds of Madison County, New York,' which was 

 reviewed briefly in 'The Auk' for January, 1902. Mr. Embody's 

 list, professedly incomplete, embodied mainly the results of inves- 

 tigations in the southeastern portion of the county and properly 

 might have borne a less general title ; for, small as Madison 

 County is, it is extremely diverse in its biologic associations and 

 many distinct areas must be studied carefully before anything like 

 a comprehensive understanding, or for that matter more than a 

 tolerably complete list, of the avifauna may be had. The central 

 portion of the county, including several high-lying swamps and 

 adjacent hills near Peterboro, have been worked by Mr. G. S. 

 Miller, Jr., who has kindly furnished me many notes hitherto 

 unpublished. To the southward and westward, however, is a simi- 



