OUR BIRDS IN WINTER 1912-13 159 



In December, the Snowbird was observed on 12 days, with 

 the greatest interval of 8 days. In January, it was seen on 10 days, 

 the longest interval being 5 days. In February, it was present 

 on 12 days, with 8 days as the longest number absent. In March, 

 it was seen on 6 days, with only an interval of i day. 



Last winter the Snowbird was not recorded between Jan. 29 

 and Mar. 20 — 50 days. From this fact the writer concluded that 

 the species had migrated for this period. During the present 

 winter the Snowbird was observed from Jan. 22 to Mar. 11 — 47 

 days — only in the vicinity of a certain dump-pile. If the writer 

 had not visited this place, he would naturally have surmised 

 that the species had left this locality. Instead of a migration, 

 then, there was a very restricted distribution of the species. But 

 he still believes that the Snowbird migrated last winter, for he 

 failed to find any of the species near the same dump pile. 



In December, the Crow was observed on 7 days, the longest 

 interval being 9 days. In January, it was present on 25 days, 

 and the longest absence was 7 days. In February, the species 

 was seen on 20 days, with a short interval of 3 days. In March, 

 5 days present and an interval of 2 days was the record. The 

 Crow is the most widely distributed species in winter: this season 

 it was observed on 57 days. 



In December, the White-breasted Nuthatch was present on 

 10 days, with the longest interval also 10 days. In January, the 

 species was recorded on 12 days, and the longest absence was 

 7 days. In February, 17 days present and a short interval of 



2 days was the record made. In March, the species was seen on 



3 days, and not seen for 5 days. Next to the Crow, the White- 

 breasted Nuthatch is our most abundant winter species — 42 

 days present this season. 



Among rare species observed this winter were the Song Sparrow, 

 Hairy Woodpecker, Chickadee and Northern Shrike. During four 

 winters, the last named species was observed only on the dates 

 given in this article. The Song Sparrow was found only on Dec. 

 2, 1 911 and Dec. 14, 191 2. The Chickadee was recorded only on 

 Feb. II, 18, 1911 and on the dates given below. The Hairy Wood- 

 pecker was found only on Mar. 2, 1912 and Jan. 11, 1913. 



Other species are comparatively rare also, but appear with 

 more regularity. These are the Brown Creeper, Tree Sparrow and 

 Snowflake. This winter the Creeper was recorded twice in Decem- 



