No. 123.] DIVISION OF ORNITHOLOGY. 89 



birds were reported from Cape Cod, but some were noted in 

 Rhode Island. There were very few reports of Pine Gros- 

 beaks, Evening Grosbeaks, Siskins, Purple Finches, Crossbills 

 or Redpolls in southern New England, and Goldfinches were 

 generally scarce. Many kinglets had moved south during No- 

 vember, but Golden-crowned Kinglets were less rare in De- 

 cember than most other land birds, and several Ruby-crowned 

 Kinglets were reported during the month in Massachusetts and 

 on Long Island, New York. A few Field Sparrows and Savan- 

 nah Sparrows still remained in southern New England. A 

 flock of Tree Swallows was reported December 30 on Long 

 Island. 



January, 1921. 



Still Mild. — January also, in strong contrast to January, 

 1920, was unusually mild. There were stories of woodchucks, 

 caterpillars and earthworms moving about, English Sparrows 

 nest-building, wild flowers, spicebushes and willows in bloom, 

 with roses and other flowers blooming on Nantucket, wild ducks 

 and geese flying northward, and a Pheasant at Nantucket sit- 

 ting on a nest full of eggs. 



Ducks and Geese move Northward. — Reports of ducks and 

 geese flying northward probably arose from birds going from 

 the sea to inland ponds, but in the Mississippi valley thousands 

 of wild ducks worked northward during the month. The cold 

 wave of the last of December continued for a day or two into 

 January and brought with it a flight of birds from the north. 

 Again followed a rising temperature, and the ice cleared from 

 many ponds, but there were some sharp touches of frost during 

 the month. 



Notwithstanding the generally mild weather of the winter, 

 some of the smaller birds which were common along the Massa- 

 chusetts coast during the larger part of the winter of 1919-20 

 were much rarer in the winter of 1920-21. Perhaps this may 

 be accounted for in part by the fact that many individuals 

 which were accustomed to winter here had been killed off by 

 the severity of the former season. Waterbirds, however, were 

 unusually abundant for this season of the year, not only along 

 the coast, but in the interior wherever wide waters and sufficient 



