78 JofnaL and proceedings 



Red Poll, stout hardy looking birds,, measuring six inches in length, 

 the common kind being only four and a half inches. They were 

 observed feeding in company with the common species. 



Early in October the first Snotvy Owls were seen, and by the 

 end of November their migration was over. I heard of seven having 

 been obtained here, but at Toronto about forty were killed. These 

 birds like to be near water, and large numbers come down the Ottawa 

 valley, and thence westward along the north shore of Lake Ontario. 

 The island at Toronto is a place just to their liking, dead fish and 

 "cowheens" being abundant, but at that season of the year the 

 marsh there is bristling with fowling pieces in the hands of those 

 who are well practised in their use, and the owl skins being always 

 in demand, scarcely an individnal is allowed to escape. Therefore, 

 it is only those which have run the gauntlet at Toronto which we see 

 here at all. It was remarked this season that a large number of 

 those obtained were females. 



At Toronto a Razor-bill, several Great Grey Owls, and one or 

 two Hawk Owls were obtained. Near Hamilton, in the woods, the 

 -usual groups of Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Chicadees, Brown 

 Creepers, Kinglets and Nuthatches have been observed, and Blue Jays 

 have been often seen. Crows have been more numerous and active 

 than usual, and flocks of Goldfiinches in winter dress have been seen 

 in their usual haunts, but the most interesting visitors we have had 

 for many years have been the Evening Grossbeaks. These birds are 

 natives of British Columbia, and so little has been known of their 

 history that it was not till 1887 that any account of their nest and 

 eggs was published. In June of that year Mr. Walter E. Bryant 

 read before the California Academy ©f Sciences an account of a 

 nest of this species, which was found in Yolo county, California. 

 The nest was placed in a small oak about ten feet from the ground, 

 and was built of twigs rather loosely put together and lined with 

 fibrous bark and horse hair. It contained four eggs of a clear green- 

 ish color, blotched with pale brown. The name. Grosbeak, is a 

 corruption of the French gros-bec, meaning thick bill. There are 

 several members of the same family peculiar to the United States, 

 and to distinguish this from the others it was named the Evening 

 Grosbeak, from a belief formerly entertained that it sung most fre- 

 quently at that time of the day. The migratory course of the birds 

 has heretofore been down the Pacific coast as far south as Arizona, 



