106 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



eastern seaboard rain and snow with a final coating of ice 

 made it almost impossible for birds to fi.nd food. 



Birds destroyed by Storm and Cold. — Individuals of even 

 the more hardy species, such as Redpolls and Siskins, perished. 

 Bob-whites in some northern and western sections of Massa- 

 chusetts were destroyed; even Ruffed Grouse were found dead, 

 apparently from starvation and cold. 



Great Blue Heron and Cowhirds Wintering. — Notwithstanding 

 the severity of the season a Great Blue Heron was observed 

 on Cape Cod during January and another in February. Sev- 

 eral White-winged Juncos were reported. A flock of Cow- 

 birds continued to come to a feeding place on Cape Cod, 

 others w^ere reported from Rhode Island; but Rusty Black- 

 birds and Red-wings which had been noted in January did not 

 appear on the February reports. Bohemian Waxwings were 

 reported from three different localities in Maine, but not from 

 southern New England. Early in the month a spring move- 

 ment of Robins apparently had started in the south, but this 

 did not reach New England. 



Winter Land Birds moving Goastivard. — After the storm of 

 the 12th winter birds from the north increased in southern 

 New England, scattering along the coastal region from Essex 

 County, Massachusetts, to central New Jersey. High shifting 

 northwesterly and northeasterly winds seemed to have driven 

 some into the interior and others toward the coast. At the 

 end of this storm period birds were more scarce than ever over 

 a large part of the hill country of New^ England, but had be- 

 come more numerous on the coastal plains. These condi- 

 tions continued for about two weeks. 



March. 

 Probably no winter since the twentieth century came in took 

 a greater toll of bird life in New England than the winter of 

 1919-20. Perhaps the greatest mortality occurred during and 

 after the storm which swept into southern New England on 

 the 5th and 6th of March, and continued in some of the 

 northern sections until the 7th. High northerly and easterly 

 gales were accompanied at first by rain, followed by sleet and 

 snow, with rapidly falling temperature. When the skies 



