54 DECEMBER OUT-OF-DOORS. 



side, and, after a short separation, under 

 the fright into which my sudden appearance 

 put them, one called to the other, and they 

 flew off in company towards Lynn. It was 

 a pleasing display of sociability, but no- 

 thing new; for in winter, as every observer 

 knows, birds not of a feather flock together. 

 The Ipswich sparrow, a very retiring but 

 not peculiarly timid creature, I have now 

 seen at Nahant in every one of our seven 

 colder months, from October to April, 

 though it is unquestionably rare upon the 

 Massachusetts coast between the fall and 

 spring migrations. Besides the species al- 

 ready named, my monthly list included the 

 following : herring gull, great black-backed 

 gull, ruffed grouse, hairy woodpecker, flick- 

 er, goldfinch, tree sparrow, snowbird, blue 

 jay, crow, shrike, white - bellied nuthatch 

 (only two or three birds), golden - crowned 

 kinglet, and one small hawk. 1 



The only birds that sang during the month 



1 To this list my ornithological comrade before men- 

 tioned added seven species, namely : white-winged scoter, 

 barred owl, cowbird, purple finch, white-winged cross- 

 bill, fox sparrow, and winter wren. Between us, as far 

 as land birds went, we did pretty well. 



