16 BIRDS OF THE 



And visitants in the winter are very infre- 

 quent and only accidental. 



The summer and earlier autumn move- 

 ments of migration have not come under 

 observation, therefore. This is a deficiency 

 which the author sincerely regrets, but 

 which the ordering of his year has left un- 

 supplied. 



Nearly all of the visits have been made in 

 the early morning. Bird-observers are well 

 aware that this is the most favorable time 

 of day at all seasons and in all places. 

 Especially is it of advantage to reach a 

 central city park like the Public Garden 

 at an early hour and make a careful round 

 before it is much astir with human life and 

 when the activity therein is mostly that of 

 the birds themselves. Moreover, at such an 

 hour the noise of the city does not much 

 obtrude itself, and the air is comparatively 

 quiet for the songs and the calls of the birds 

 to be heard. 



It is also true that at this time the house 

 sparrows are less numerous and active, for 

 they are more distributed and engaged in 



