488 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



mergansers, fifty gbldcn-eye ducks, one ruffed grouse, six 

 ring-necked plieasants, one screech owl, one belted king- 

 fisher, five flickers, two thousand two hundred crows (esti- 

 mated), fourteen bhie jays, nine meadow larks, seventeen 

 English sparrows, three song sparrows, two fox sparrows, 

 thirtj^-one tree s})arrows, five goldfinches, six red crossbills, 

 tAvelve myrtle warblers, two red-breasted nuthatches, twenty- 

 one chickadees, one brown creeper, four golden-crowned 

 kino-lets and one robin. 



On the 24th wild geese were flying south, and sixteen were 

 shot not far from Plymouth. On the 27th the thermometer 

 at my house registered 6° below zero, and the month closed 

 with cold and snow. 



Most of the ducks, crows, robins and crossbills then dis- 

 appeared, but there was no indication that there was any 

 unusual suffering among the birds in December. ' ' January," 

 says Mr. Smith, " may safely be considered one of the most 

 severe months that has occurred during the last century. 

 The mean temperature for the month, 15°, is the lowest since 

 the weather service Avas established here." The first week 

 of the month was extremely cold, and snow fell generally on 

 the 2d and 3d, On the 5th and (3tli authentic records in 

 Massachusetts give readings from 16° to 2S^ below zero, and 

 from some localities 40° was reported. The temperature 

 remained low nearly all the month, with extreme cold on the 

 19th and 20th and again on the 2(3 th and 30th. 



Mr. AV. S. Clark of Cummington, Mass., reports this as 

 the coldest month in his record, which goes back to 1860. 

 Mr. Geo. Douglas of Burlington, Conn., reports that the 

 trunks of apple trees Avere split by the intense cold. Mr. 

 F. A. Tower of Concord, Mass., says that the previous 

 record of — 20° for December and January was broken 

 four times during the month. 



The average preci})itation of jNlassachusetts during the 

 month (4.39 inches) was greater than that of any other New 

 England State. This was mainly snow, of which 18 to 44 

 inches fell in the northern part of the State, 21 to 36 inches 

 in a wide belt of a breadth sufficient to reach from Cape Ann 

 to Boston harbor and extending to south-western Berkshire 



