( 



is She TOarbler 



mon winter residents, arriving usually late in October. The latter is ex- 

 ceedingly sin-, never entering the grounds. Even those breeding here have 

 never made use of the nesting boxes provided for them. They prefer the 

 lonely flat woods for their home, never seeking the society of man here in 

 Florida. I hear their familiar plaintive notes almost daily now when they 

 fly over the garden. 



In Texas, in the region between Houston and Austin, I have for years 

 observed enormous numbers of Juncos, White-throated and White-crowned 

 Sparrows and Fox Sparrows during winter, but here under the 28th degree 

 of latitude I never have seen a single specimen. 



Blackbirds abound in large numbers, the Redwing and the Florida 

 Grackle breeding within the grounds. In winter they are found in enor- 

 mous numbers, frequenting with Robins and other birds places where forest 

 fires occurred. They appear, usually, early in October, though the native 

 assemblages may enter the grounds at any time from late in August until 

 February. 



The Fish Crow can be seen at present in swarms numbering man)' thous- 

 ands. They are great devourers of the magnolia seeds and they even enter the 

 garden in close proximity of the house in order to eat the very juicy and aromat- 

 ic fruits of the different species of cocos palms such as C. do til. attaining 

 the size of a large plum. C. eriospatha, C. Gaertneri, C. Yatay, C. aiistralis, etc. 

 During their pillaging excursions they are very silent and never utter their 

 unpleasant notes. They never dare to come near the place as long as the 

 Purple Martins and Kingbirds are present. 



The rover among our birds, the Cedar Waxwing, is a bird of the mul- 

 berry season in March, but flocks not infrequently suddenly appear when the 

 poke berries are at their best, late in August, or when the magnolia fruit 

 ripens early in September. Then they again disappear as mysteriously as 

 they came, being again present when the dahoon is covered with its masses 

 of coral red berries late in October. 



The Humming-bird is quite common among the yellow elders {Tecoma 

 stans) and the Cape honeysuckle (T. capensis.) but I never found it here in semi- 

 tropical Florida half as abundant as in my native state, Wisconsin. 



While closing these notes I hear the voices of the Screech Owl and the 

 hooting of the Hawk Owl — both birds that should not be omitted from this 

 cursory list, as they announce their presence always at this time of the clay, 

 just as the Sparrow Hawk does during the daytime. 



In these last days of October the fragrance of the enormous flower-trusses 

 of Crtnum amabile, C. augustum and C. giganteum, the delicious perfume exhaled 

 by the night-blooming jasmine (Oestrum nocturnum) and the tea roses is almost 

 overpowering. The moonflower and the large bushes of the Eupatorium foeni- 

 culaceum in full flower now, exhale a very sweet fragrance. The tall bushes 

 of Tecoma stans are weighted down to all sides by their large bunches of flow- 



