84 Scott 07i Winter Birch at Princeton, N. J. 



trees in the field, and in the daytime the birds rest on the ground. 

 They hunt for food morning and evening, and sometimes on dark 

 days. Throughout this and adjoining townships these Owls have 

 been more or less conmion, and many have been brought in by 

 gunners. In previous years I have looked on this species as rather 

 rare, and soiTie seasons have passed without my meeting with them. 



Since writing the above, two other points, at which vast numbers 

 of these birds have congregated, have come to my knowledge, and 

 in each case the conditions of locality are identical with those above 

 described. 



As the Marsh Harriers began to disappear, their places were speed- 

 ily filled by Red-tailed Hawks (Bnteo borealis[*]), which of course 

 are resident here every winter. These birds appeared here Novem- 

 ber 2, and were in a few days more abundant than the Marsh Har- 

 riers had been. Though they were to be seen everywhere, they 

 particularly aifected the meadows along water-courses, where there 

 were large trees. It was not uncommon to see two or three in the 

 same tree, and once I counted five, and at another time six in a 

 single tree. Many times during the past month or so I was able, 

 standing at one place, to see twenty, and even more, on the various 

 trees, fences, and other suitable places for alighting. The majority 

 were in the gray plumage, but about a quarter of the whole number 

 noted were adult. They were here in greatest numbers about No- 

 vember 20, and there are still very many at every suitable point. 

 To give further idea of their numbers, I may state that I have 

 taken more than seventy-five individuals without any pai'ticular 

 exertion. 



The Red-shouldered Hawks [Buteo lineatus), generall}' our com- 

 monest species, were rai'e, not more than one or two being seen, 

 until January 25, when they became quite abundant. I have taken 

 ten specimens, three of which are in adult plumage. Cooper's 

 Hawks [Accipiter coojyeri) have been and still are plenty, while 

 Sharp-shinned Hawks, usually very abundant, have been rare. Sev- 

 eral Rough-legged Hawks have been noted, and on November 15 I 

 saw five individuals in a small field, two in the same ti'ee. Of these, 



[* Note. — Examination of Barton's "Fragments Nat. Hist. Penna," 1799, 

 p. 11, will show that tills species is there recognizably described, and named 

 Falco aquiliiius. Barton was a strict binomenclator ; and, as this name ante- 

 dates Vieillot's F. horealis, it becomes necessary to know the species as Buteo 

 aquiUniis (see Birds Col. Vail. I, 1878, .593). — E. C] 



