X "'i'H.; VX J \i.i.i. I" E ea County Ornitholo 19 



AN ESSEX COUNTY ORNITHOLOGIST. 1 



BY GLOVER M. ALLEN. 



I.\ 1905 the Nuttall Ornithological Club published as So. ?> 

 of its Memoirs, \>r. Charles W. Townsend's 'Birds of Esw 

 County,' the most exten ive monograph that had up to that time 

 appeared on the birds of so limited an area of North America. 

 The large number (319) of species which it Includes, bears witness 

 qo1 only to the many observers whose notes were available hut 

 al o to the variety of condition obtaining it) this favored portion 

 of Ma achusetta whereby so great a multitude of birds is attracted. 

 ( Certain ipecie (a the Orchard Oriole, ¥ellow-brea i<>\ ( !hat, Long- 

 billed Marsh Wren) whose habitat lies chiefly to the south are 

 hen- at about their northeastern breeding limit, while others, 

 characteristic of more boreal conditions (as Solitary Vino, Hermit 

 Thrush), find local pot uited to their n< i 'I 



The present paper is a further contribution of note, on E < 

 County birds, gleaned from the records and collection of the late 

 Benjamin F. Damsell, of Amesbury, in the northernmost part of 

 the County. Although a life-long student of birds, he was practi- 

 cally unknown among ornithologi its for he publi ihed nothing and 



carried on his studies by himself in a quiet, way. At his death, 

 his collections and hi, note books covering nearly thirty year of 

 continuou ob ervation in the vicinity of his borne, pa sed into the 



hands of his nephew, Mr. Howard I). Kenyon, of Sharon, Mass., 



through who e kindness I have been permitted to examine them. 

 Man\ of the note are of much local mteresl and it has seemed worth 

 while to place on permanent record such of the e a add to what has 

 been published in the 'Birds of Essex County,' that his labors 

 be not altogether losl Of Mr- Damsell's life, Mr. Kenyon has 

 • kindly written the following brief sketch. 

 "Benjamin F. Damsel! was horn Sept. 6, 1854, in Amesbury, 

 Ma . the on of Thomas and -lane Damsell. He was educated 

 in the public schools of Ame bury and early mowed a ta ite for 



• Read before the Nuttall Ornithological Club, May 6, 1912. 



