490 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



appeared. They never have returned. The tloek of juncos 

 was reduced to thirty, though only one was found dead. 

 This bird appeared to be well fed, and uninjured except by 

 the frost. There Avas still food in its stomach. A pair of red- 

 breasted nuthatches appeared to sutler much on the coldest 

 mornings, when all the birds shivered with cold, and seemed 

 with difficulty to keep their feet from freezing; ])ut the 

 luithatches survived the winter. The flock of tree sparrows 

 was soon reduced to six. Some of these birds were no 

 doubt killed by cats and a hawk which was in the vicinity 

 for a time. The blue jays, a flock of which usually winters 

 here, were soon reduced to five birds. One of these was 

 struck by the hawk, but escaped^ as a dog came to the rescue. 

 It seems (j[uite probable that a number of the birds that 

 disappeared at this time may have succumbed to the cold. 

 Meadow larks, song si)arrows and flickers were reported as 

 plenty about Dartmouth u}) to Jaimary 15. In Swansea and 

 the adjoining town of Warren, R. I., these birds were also 

 conmion, and horned larks and Bohemian Avaxwings were 

 reported. 



Bayberries were quite plenty at AVareham during the first 

 part of the month. These enabled the flickers, myrtle 

 warblers and crows to subsist so long as the berries lasted. 

 On January 22 and 23 a southerly rain cleared the ground 

 of snow in many places, and gave the sparrows and quail 

 that were left an opportunity to find seeds. 



An inspection of the country about Wareham at this time 

 showed that the bayberries were nearly all gone, and with 

 them the birds had become scarce. One robin and one 

 flicker were seen, but no myrtle warblers. Kinglets and 

 creepers were not seen again diu'ing the Avinter. The storm, 

 which cleared the ground here, only made conditions Avorse 

 in some other parts of the State, crusting the snow and cov- 

 ering the trees Avith ice. It was immediately foUoAved by 

 more snow and cold, and so the month closed. 



A fcAv grouse and quail Avere still alive here in December, 

 but after the cold, snowy Aveather of January I Avas unable 

 to find a single track on or near my place. I have seen no 

 quail and only four grouse within Ave miles of the place this 



