140 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[V^ol. XXXV 



developed in the bill substance and grew 

 until a flake of horn flew off, leaving 

 the falconian notch fully developed again 



The significance of this is rather im- 

 portant as it indicates that the tooth 

 billed hawks are more highly developed 

 than the others and appeared later in the 

 evolutionary scheme; that the "Noble" 

 is a specialized "Ignoble Hawk" instead 

 of the contrary. It is, in fact, additional 

 justification for contemporary classifi- 

 cations placing the Falcons at the head 

 of their order. 



Falco had a considerable measure of 

 freedom, and seldom except for good 

 reason was confined to her cage. When 

 the robins "without would leave her in 

 peace and some one was about to ward 



off cats she even had the run of the yard. 

 Had she allowed her primaries to mature 

 she might have had absolute freedom at 

 any time. She always managed to break 

 them off before full grown and was in a 

 half flightless condition unequipped to 

 fend for herself. Season after season 

 passed in various attempts on our part 

 to keep her wings in order, to prepare 

 her for a fair fight with the world. 

 Whether we succeeded in the end we do 

 not know^ but that is another story. 



All told, little Falco was a most pleasing 

 experience in the life of an ornithologist 

 and we still remember her with affection, 

 regretting that such happy associations 

 cannot continue indefinitely. 



NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



UxisfAL Migration Records In The 

 Vicinity of Montreal. — March 1921. 



No doubt t)ie mild weather during the 

 past winter, and the abundance of fruit 

 and seeds (especially coniferous seeds) lim- 

 ited the movements of a great many 

 Northern birds. Throughout South-East- 

 ern Canada and the North-Eastern States, 

 at least in urban districts, the deartHi of 

 birds appears to have been general. Of the 

 customary winter birds the following were 

 seen in the vicinity of Montreal in very 

 small numbers: Snow Owl (2) ; Saw-whet 

 Owl (2) ; Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers; 

 Snow IBunting; White-winged Crossbill; 

 Pine Siskin ; Goldf inc]i ; Redpoll ; Cedar 

 Waxwing; White-breasted Nuthatch; Red- 

 breasted Nuthatch; Black-capped Chicka- 

 dee. 



The unusual occurrences were : Herring 

 Gull flast seen Jan. 15) ; Canada Goose 

 (Magog, Jan. 16 — N. Smith) ; and Robin 

 (4:) seen by Mr. Brown on Jan. 30. There 

 were several other reports of Robins that 

 I was unable to verify — one from St. 

 Lambert, another from Westmount and a 

 third from St. Andrews East. It is not- 

 able that the only unusual birds were north 

 of their usual winter range. I have no re- 

 cords of Pjvening Grosbeaks, Bohemian 

 Waxwings or Pine Grosbeaks. With re- 

 gard to the latter I am told that they have 

 wintered commonly in Newfoundland. 



During January and February I saw 



no ducks whatever, ^lossibly due to tlie 

 many areas of open water. As a rule, in 

 the vicinity of St. Lambert, wintering 

 ducks are congested within a small area 

 of open water, and are easily seen. Fol- 

 lowing is a list of spring arrivals during 

 the month of March. The earlier birds — 

 Crow and Prairie Horned Lark, were late, 

 while the others, almost without exception, 

 were very early. I have taken the liberty 

 of including several records secured by 

 Mr. W. J. Brown, and one by Miss E. Luke. 

 March 2— Crow. 

 March 4 — Prairie Horned Lark. 

 March 5 — Flock (15) of Robins on a 

 sheltered southern slope, two 

 Meadowlarks and a Red-sliould- 

 ered Hawk, all seen by Mr. 

 Brown. 



-Song Sparrow (39 'song'). 

 -Red-winged Blackbird (35 

 males, 'song') ; House Wren — 

 one seen in a sheltered garden 

 by Mr. Brown. 

 March 12 — Bronzed Grackle — 6 seen (Mr. 

 Brown) ; Blueoird — three 

 'song'. 



Marcli 13 — Marsh HaAvk — one; Robins 

 and Song Sparrows fairly com- 

 mon. 



March 1 — Slate-coloured Junco — one 

 (Miss Luke). 



March 19 — Canada Goose — one flock; 

 Purple Finch — 7 (Mr. Brown). 



March 9- 

 March 11- 



