288 BIRDS OF THE NEW YORK CITY REGION 



MASTIC. Fairly common transient, unrecorded in winter 

 LONG BEACH, Common transient; March 17, 1912 (Gris- 

 com) to April 10, 1917 (Janvrin); October 12, 1921 (Griscom) 

 to December 28, 1910 (Griscom); two winter records. 

 New York State. Not recorded in winter at Ossining (Fisher). 

 CENTRAL PARK. Common transient, occasionally winter- 

 ing in former years; February 10, 1901 (Chubb) to April 

 18, 1919 (Janvrin) and April 22, 1905 (Hix); October 2, 

 1910 (Griscom) to December 6, 1907 (Griscom); casual in 

 spring after April 1 and in fall before October 10; casual 

 August 9, 1913 (Griscom, Auk, 1914, p. 102). 



BRONX REGION. Occasional in winter; February 23, 1884 

 (Bicknell) to April 30, 1886 (J. Dwight); October 20, 1919, 

 (L. N. Nichols) to December or even January. 

 New Jersey. Occasionally wintering at Elizabeth and Engle- 

 wood, but very rarely further inland; only twice recorded after 

 December 1 in twenty-five years at Plainfield (Miller). The earli- 

 est fall date before me is October 15, 1916, near Elizabeth (Urner). 

 ENGLEWOOD. March 1, 1909 (Griscom) to April 23, 1901 

 (Bird-Lore tables); October 15, 1887 (Chapman) to Novem- 

 ber 25, 1913 (J. T. Nichols); wintering irregularly, some- 

 times in numbers. 



TOWHEE; CHEWINK (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) 

 The Chewink prefers the drier woods and scrub-covered 

 hillsides for a home. As a result it is particularly abundant 

 on the coastal plain and the dry ridges of the Kittatinny 

 Mountains in Sussex County, New Jersey. While generally 

 distributed elsewhere, it is less numerous in or locally absent 

 from the rich limestone areas in northern New Jersey. Both 

 its names are derived from its distinctive call-note. The 

 Chewink scratches more noisily than any of our other birds, 

 and seems to use both feet at once. Between scratches it 

 has a trick of muttering to itself over the results obtained. 

 These sounds coming from the middle of a dense thicket the 

 third week in April are often the only indications of its arrival, 

 as the song period does not begin until a little later. It re- 

 mains until the end of October, and near the City is occa- 

 sional in winter. 



