14 



The Canadian Field-Naturalist 



[Vol. XXXVI. 



There were reports from northern woods to the 

 effect that the usual crop of bird foods — seeds, 

 berries, etc. — was poor, which led many of us to 

 be on the watch for some of the irregular and rare 

 winter visitants, such as Pine and Evening Gros- 

 beaks, Redpolls, Canada Jays and Snow Buntings. 

 As early as November some of these appeared. 

 Snow Buntings and Canada Jays were both seen 

 at Scugog Lake on November 7, while I was 

 hunting ducks, and a week later Pine Grosbeaks 

 were seen at the Humber River. During Decem- 

 ber I saw several flocks of Redpolls in the Don 

 valley, but at no time were any Canada Jays seen 

 in the vicinity of Toronto. Other rather unusual 

 visitants this winter were a pair of Cardinals, 

 which were seen feeding on berries on December 

 18 in the Humber valley. The same day a Belted 

 Kingfisher was seen — rather a late date. With 

 these unusual late records an interesting winter 

 seemed in view. Taking advantage of every 

 opportunity, I went out early every Sunday 

 morning and some of the results were most grati- 

 fying, considering that often the weather at the 

 time was very uninviting. Although little snow 

 was flying and there were probably not more 

 than 5° or 10° of frost, the strong western winds 

 which blew made ornithological work endurable 

 only in sheltered ravines or deep woods. 



Week by week, my records are as follows: 



January 1.: Downy Woodpecker, Tree Sparrow, 

 Song Sparrow, Chickadee. 



January 8.: Great Black-backed Gull, Ring- 

 billed Gull, American Scoter, Hairy Woodpecker, 

 Junco, White-breasted Nuthatch. 



January 15.: American Merganser, Scaup 

 Duck, American Golden-eye, Red-headed Wood- 

 pecker, Northern Shrike. 



January 22.: Red-breasted Merganser (?), 

 Sparrow Hawk, Brown Creeper. 



January 29.: Saw-whet Owl, Evening Grosbeak, 

 Swamp Sparrow, Robin. 



In all, 22 species were seen in January. Besides 

 seeing these, I have heard Pine Grosbeaks, a 

 Screech Owl, Blue Jays and Redpolls, without 

 being able to locate them at the time. Many of 

 these birds seen are, of course, regular winter 

 visitants or permanent residents, whose presence 

 is expected almost any day in winter. Strange 

 to say, I have not, throughout the whole month, 

 either seen or heard a Crow. On other winters 

 I have noted great flocks of Crows, even on 

 January 1. 



The more interesting notes on the species 

 observed are as follows. 



Song Sparrow. Rarely stays all winter. I 

 found a dead specimen in the winter of 1905 and 

 saw one alive on February 6, 1921. This year, 



however, I have found the Song Sparrow once at 

 the High Park marsh and once in the Don valley; 

 apparently quite cheerful. 



Sparrow Hawk. This bird was seen perched 

 on a dead branch of a pine tree on the lee side of 

 a residence Hear High Park. There was a high 

 wind blowing at the time and he seemed very 

 loth to take flight, so that we came quite close to 

 him. Finally he flew off through the park, when 

 his typical flight could not be mistaken. 



Red-breasted Merganser. I must admit 

 being doubtful of this identification. As I was 

 strolling through the Don valley, I came upon a 

 pair of these birds who took flight at once. They 

 had been feeding in a small open part of the 

 river, where the rapid current kept a few yards 

 unfrozen. I had no difficulty in recognizing 

 them as Mergansers, not only by their plumage, 

 for, on account of my coming up under cover of a 

 steep bank, I came within about 30 yards of them, 

 but also by the manner in which they made a 

 wide circle and flew down the valley again directly 

 over my head, when their thin, narrow bills were 

 quite readily seen. 



Swamp Sparrow. This bird was found in 

 company with a flock of Tree Sparrows who are 

 to be seen in a frozen marsh in High Park through- 

 out the winter. I was first attracted to him by 

 his note — so different from any which the Tree 

 Sparrows were uttering at the time. On my 

 approach the Tree Sparrows moved to the other 

 side of the marsh, but this particular stranger 

 sought cover and remained skulking from clump 

 to clump until finally, after many fleeting glances 

 through the reeds, he showed himself plainly on a 

 twig, when he was readily identified. The Song 

 Sparrow mentioned previously was seen near 

 here also. 



Robin. Plainly seen on a sunny hillside near 

 the Humber, foraging about on the bare ground. 

 He uttered his call and was apparently in good 

 condition and plumage. 



Red-headed Woodpecker. Three of these 

 birds have been seen at one time in High Park. 

 Several times people have mentioned seeing one 

 where I saw my three. On another occasion, I 

 saw one about a mile away. It seems hardly 

 likely that this is one of the three, for at no time 

 did any fly very far. Seemingly they all preferred 

 to remain quiet and, on windy days, cling to the 

 lee side of tree trunks as I watched them. 



Evening Grosbeak. A flock of eight were 

 seen eating Manitoba maple seeds in the Humber 

 valley. None were seen elsewhere, although they 

 were reported in various parts of the city. 



As for Ducks, American Mergansers, and Gulls, 

 they all were seen in Humber Bay. Although the 



