Extracts from Diary of Otto Widmann 47 



depth of winter they are joined by a northern, larger 

 subspecies which comes down from Canada to spend the 

 coldest time with us. 



When we watch the incoming flocks closely, as they fly 

 over or alight in trees to rest, we see sometimes a troop 

 of Bronzed Graekles in their company, and once in a 

 while we meet with a few Rusty Blackbirds or a Cowbird 

 on our rambles through the county in winter, but as a 

 rule these species are less hardy than the Redwings, 

 especially the males. We may assume that the Redwings 

 we have here in winter, thougli of the same subspecies 

 as the ones that breed here, are from the northern United 

 States, and some of them seem to be intermediates be- 

 tween ours and the Canada subspecies, ostraiegus, which 

 is nearly an inch larger than ours. 



There are always a few of our Flickers and Redheads 

 left behind when the great array of their kind has gone 

 to more genial winter homes. These abandoned indi- 

 viduals lead a recluse life and are therefore easily over- 

 looked. The Red-bellied Woodpecker is of a decided 

 sedentary habit and we count it among our true perma- 

 nent residents. Another truly permanent resident is our 

 Bobwhite. It can stand well our ordinary winters, can 

 go without food a few days, but extraordinarily cold and 

 snow}' winters have proved destructive and have 

 decimated their numbers badly. 



The Grouse, Partridge or Pheasant, as the RufFed 

 Grouse is called by different people, is still found, though 

 rarely, in our state. Old settlers claim the species was 

 once plentiful, but this must have been before the state 

 became settled by the white man with his shotgun and 

 hunting dogs. There are several theories trying to 

 explain the deplorable scarcity of this valuable game 

 bird. One is that a disease killed them ; another that the 

 spread of the jigger was destructive to the young or sit- 

 ting hen ; one s&id the extension of the range of the Red 

 Fox into Missouri was the cause, the Red Fox being much 



