76 ORNITHOLOGIST 
[Vol. 11-No. 5 



Winter Notes from Raleigh, N. C. 
BY C, 8. BRIMLEY. 
The occurrence of birds here this winter, not 
having been quite as usual, I thought a few notes 
on the subject might be of interest to some of the 
readers of the O. and O. 
Robins occurred in the fall till November 
19th, after which none were seen till January 
13th, and from that time till now I have seen one 
or more every day or two; this is unusually early 
for them as I have never observed any before in 
January, and usually not till the middle of Feb- 
ruary. 
I have also to note my first genuine winter 
records of the Brown Thrasher, one of which 
species was seen on December 17th and 18th, and 
another or the same one shot on January 2d. 
On November 16th we secured a partial albino 
Golden-crown Kinglet, a most exquisite little 
creature; if was pure white, wings and crown as 
usual, but the former with more white, the tail 
also was whitish at base, eyes brown; it appeared 
to be in perfect health and there were no worms 
in the intestines. 
The Pine Creepér and Yellow-rump, our two 
winter Warblers, have been about as common as 
usual, while as late as November 19th we se- 
cured an immature male specimen of the Black- 
throated Blue Warbler. 
A Blue-headed Vireo on December 15th, was, 
however, about the latest of our migrants, and 
also a fresh addition to the number of our winter 
birds. 
Of the numerous Sparrow tribe we have this 
winter taken a species hitherto unobserved by us, 
viz: the Savanna Sparrow, of which we have se- 
cured several specimens, but find it very rare 
here; Chipping Sparrows have been unusually 
scarce this winter and Field Sparrows very com- 
mon. A single Pine Finch was taken on Novem- 
ber 20th, the only reminder of the numbers that 
visited us last winter. 
Of our three species of Nuthatch, the White- 
bellied, usually common in winter, has not been 
observed since November 14th, while I have 
taken six specimens of the Red-bellied species 
(four in November, one in December and one in 
January), and the Brown-headed Nuthatch has 
The latter bird 
may often be seen in winter pecking at the pine 
cones and after working on one for some time he 
will fly off to a solid limb and apparently crack 
or hammer to pieces the seed or insects obtained 
from the cone. I have noticed one repeat this 
been quite as common as usual. 
manceuvre time after time, always flying to pre- 
cisely the same spot to crack and eat its food. 
Of Blackbirds, the Cowbird has been almost 
entirely absent this winter while a large flock of 
Redwings stayed until December 3d and then left; 
a small flock of seven Crow Blackbirds were seen 
on December 22d, and two more were seen on 
January 28th. Blackbirds are now (Feb. 13th,) 
beginning to come round again and will probably 
be nearly in full numbers by the end of the month. 
Among Woodpeckers, the Pileated, Red-bellied 
and Red-headed have not been observed at all 
whilst the Sapsucker has been if anything, com. 
moner than usual. 
Doves have been unusually scarce this winter, 
which was also the case with Quail up to the end 
of December, but the latter bird has been quite 
as common as usual since then. 
Crows have been commoncr than usual, a flock 
of more than three hundred being observed on 
one day in December, and nearly as many on 
several other occasions. Jays have on the other 
hand been quite scarce. 
A Great Blue Heron in breeding plumage, with 
developed crest and plumes, was killed near here 
on January Ist. 
Of Ducks, quite a fair number of Redheads 
have been killed in the neighborhood of Raleigh 
and Mallard have latterly been quite frequent in 
their occurrence; on one occasion, too, (Jan. 16th) 
a pair of Gadwall have been observed. 
Both Snipe and Woodcock have been scarce 
this winter, while the Killdeer Plover was com- 
mon until nearly the middle of January, but has, 
as usual, become quite scarce since then. 
We have pretty well got through with the win- 
ter and are every day expecting Redwings, 
Robins and Grackles in force. 
eens Ae ee 
Notes from the Sea Islands. 
BY WALTER HOXIE, FROGMORE, 8. C. 
Although this winter has been unprecedentedly 
cold, I have not observed any peculiar phenomena 
in regard to birds or their movements which 
could be traced to the weather. One Juneco, the 
first received so tar as I know in this locality, was 
my only northern straggler. Chipping and Field 
Sparrows were more common than usual, and 
Wilson’s Snipe not quite so plenty. Pine Creep- 
ing Warblers have been unusually abundant. I 
estimated fifty in one tree, A companion who 
was with me at the time considers it a “good 
guess.” 
A word or two in regard to the Catbird may 
be of interest. Tlere is a brief summary of their 
