1SS4.I Scott o>i lV/»/<'/- liirch of Ottawa. 1^9 



latter part of March ; but last spring- they were here as late as April 

 21, and this season they had arrived by the first of November. 



The White-winged and Red Crossbills {^Loxia leucoptera and 

 L. curvi rostra americana) remain with us from December to 

 March ; but while the latter are alnmdant, the former are quite 

 rare. Last season a flock of five Red Crossbills was observed by 

 Professor Macoun and Mr. Geo. R. White, as late as May 10; 

 and in 18S2 a flock of the White-winged species visited us 

 towards the latter part of June. 



Both the Lesser and the American Mealy Redpolls {^yEgio- 

 tJnis llnaria and A. ex Hi pes) abound usually from December to 

 March. Last spring, however, flocks were seen as late as May 

 10, and this year they arrived on October 30. Specimens of the 

 latter species were kindly identified for me by Dr. Cones. While 

 with us they feed on the seeds of the white cedar ( Thuja occi- 

 dentalism, hemlock {Abies canadensis) and mullien ( Verbascum 

 thapsns). Mr. White tells me that he noticed a flock a short 

 time ago, feeding on pine cones. They were sending down such 

 a shower of pieces of the cones that he at. first took them for 

 Crossbills ; but, on shooting some of them, he discovered thein to 

 be Redpolls. 



The Snow Bunting {Plectropkanes nivalis) is, with us, essen- 

 tially a snow bird. It comes with the first fall, remains as long 

 as the snow covers the ground, and when the snow inelts, it goes 

 also. It lives principally on the refuse of the streets, and on the 

 seeds of ^veeds. vidiich. like the mullein, project above the sno^v ; 

 but it is never seen to fiequent trees of any kind. Our first fall 

 of snow is generally about the first of November, and the ground 

 is usuallv clear by the beginning of April. 



The English Sparrows {Passer domestic?is) are. unfortunatelv, 

 but too common with us, during both winter and summer. Thev 

 are very hardy, and stand our climate remarkablv well. In order 

 to protect themselves from the cold, they occupy their nests 

 throughout the whole year ; and this habit is fraught with very 

 unpleasant consequences for the unfortunate inmates of the houses 

 beneath ^vhose protecting eaves the nests are built. For the 

 nests get so infested with vermin, that the insect pests frequentlv 

 descend into the houses, and make their presence felt in a man- 

 ner much more forcible than pleasant. During the cold weather 

 the Sparrows subsist mainly on the street refuse, and on food 

 thrown to them from the windows ; but I have also frequentlv 



