5^^ 



LooMis 0)1 nir(h of Chc$fer County^ South Caroliiid . [jnnuiny 



dispelled all doubt from my mind as to its identity. That this Owl occa- 

 siionally wanders southward to South Carolina has long been a matter oi 

 record. Bartram mentions its occurrence in his 'Travels' (second edition, 

 1794, p. 285), and Audubon ('Ornithological Biography,' Vol. II, p. 137) 

 notes its presence at Columbia and in the vicinity of Charleston. 



104. Melanerpes erythrocephalus. Red-headed Woodpecker. — Red- 

 headed Woodpeckers were common through the winter of 1877-78 in the 

 immediate neighborhood of the County Seat. During the previous winter 

 thev were not present, but through several subsequent winters a few 

 stragglers remained. Of late years, until the past season, when a single 

 bird was observed, they have entirely forsaken its vicinity from October to 

 April. Back in the County the case is somewhat different. In the winter 

 of 1884-85 a colony was established in a large piece of original hard- 

 woods four miles north of the County Seat, but they were not met with in 

 this situation in succeeding winters until December, 1887, and then in 

 greatly diminished numbers. Toward the close of December, 1884, they 

 were common in the northeastern part of the County near Landsford on 

 the Catawba River. I have not visited that section since in winter, and 

 do not know whether they have regularly continued to reside there. A 

 friend, however, has informed me of their occurrence in midwinter, iSSS 

 -89. During a ride of forty-five miles, taken December 29, 1885, through 

 the northwestern portion of the County, in the vicinage of the Broad 

 River, only a single individual was encountered, and this one, which was 

 the only one seen during the winter, was within seven miles of the Court- 

 House. In December, 1S87, and January, 1S8S, considerable time was 

 spent in riding over the country adjacent to the County Seat, but only 

 very few 'Redheads' were noticed, and none nearer than four miles, and 

 all on ground wholly unoccupied the winter before. During the winter of 

 1888-S9 not one was seen, although several extended excursions were 

 tnade. The past season (1889-90) extensive field investigation failed to 

 reveal the presence of this species except in the instance mentioned. 



From these observations it is apparent that a territory may be occupied 

 one season and partially or wholly abandoned the next, and that in the 

 lapse of time, with the shifting of the local centres of abundance, it may 

 again come, in a varying degree, into favor as a winter resort. In the 

 breeding season and during the height of the migrations there is, also, in 

 a series of years, a fluctuation in the scale of abundance, but I have no 

 personal knowledge of a complete desertion of a locality during the 

 former period. I am unable to assign any satisfactory reason for their 

 erratic distribution and migrations. The ordinary explanations advanced 

 — unusual persecution, great changes in the face of the country, severity 

 of seasons, obvious failure of the food supply — do not adequately account 

 for their movements. It should be added further that these singular re- 

 movals are so marked and well known that they have long attracted the 

 attention of observant country residents. 



22. Otocoris alpestris praticola. Pkmrie Horned Lark. — Mr. Ilen- 

 shaw's elaborate review of the Horned Larks led me m the winter of 



