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LAND BIRDS WINTERING NEAR TORONTO. 



[1853. 



twenty, feeding upon seeds, berries and the larvae of insects. At 

 other times frequenting the countr}' roads, picking up the scat- 

 tered grains fronr among the droppings of the horses, and often 

 coming bold!}' to the very doore of the farm houses, in search of 

 cmmbs or sciaps of meat. Its plumage is -well calculated to 

 resist the se\ei'est cold, the bird being a perfect bag of feathe)s, 

 ■which, about the head particularly, are so loose and uneven, as to 

 give it a peculiai'ly inelegant ragged look. Its colour is a dirty 

 ash inclining to drab, the breast and belly dirty white. 



The blue jay, (Garrulus Cristatus) is too well known to require 

 descripition. 



He is one of the noisiest tenants of our woods ; and his scream- 

 ing notes may be heard just as frequently in the depth of winter 

 as in the middle of summer. He has fortunately a most accom- 

 modating appetite ; so that when his sunnner fare of cherries, 

 strawberries, caterpillars and grubs, and still worse, the eggs of 

 small birds, for which he has a decided relish, are not to be had, 

 he takes quite as readily to beech nuts, acorns, the seeds of the 

 pine, or the berries of the mountain ash. 



I come now to a bird which may be classed as among the 

 handsomest, and at the same time the rarest of our winter visitors, 

 the Pine Grosbeak, (Pyn-hula EnucIeator.J This hardy species 

 is found throughout Labrador, and the Hudson's Bay Territory ; 

 and it is only in \ery severe seasons that it visits us. It was very 

 abundant in this neighbourhood in the winter of 1839, visiting 

 our gardens and orchards in large flocks, feeding upon the tender 

 buds of the cherry, the apple, and other fruit trees. To the seeds 

 of the apple they appeared particularly partial, any withered fi'uit 

 that might have been left upon the trees being stripped ofi' directly, 

 and cut in pieces in search of their favourite food. Having 

 obser\'ed that a party of them paid frequent visits to some lilac 

 trees growing against the verandah of my father's house, for the 

 sake of the seeds that were still hanging upon the trees, I had a 

 quantity of broken pieces of apple scattered about the verandah. 

 The next visit the birds paid, the lilacs were speedily deserted, 

 and the pieces of apple disappeared in a wonderfully short space 

 of time. I continued to have fresh supplies provided for them, 

 and by degrees the number of my pensionei-s increased, until 

 there were sometimes as many as twelve or fourteen feeding at 

 the same time, and they ultimately became so tame, as to allow 

 any of the family to watch them while feeding from the windows, 

 although they were hardly two feet from them. I may mention, 

 however, that notwithstanding their daily feed of apples the lilacs 

 did not escape, for not content with the seeds, they stripped the 

 trees so eftectually of their flower buds that the following summer 

 there was haitlly a blossom to be seen. 



The general colour of the plumage of this bird is a blueish slate 

 colour on the back and sides, deepening into black on the wings 

 and tail. The head, neck, shoulders, and top of the rump in the 

 male bird are of a reddish orange, varied in some specimens with 

 ■sery beautiful delicate tints of carmine. In the female these 

 markings, are unich less vivid, generally yellowish orange with 

 lighter tints of dirty yellow. 



Their note is peculiarly soft and full, and the call note which 

 they utter when flying resembles slightly that of the blue bird. 



In former days, when thick pine woods occupied the greater 

 part of tlie space half-a-mile to the north of Queen Street, lying 

 between Yonge Street and the Don, the Crossbill (Loxia Cur- 

 virostra,) wa.s a constant and well known visitor. E\en then it 

 was a difllcult bird to obtain a specimen of, as it generally fi'e- 

 quented the tops of the loftiest pines, feeding u])on the seeds 

 contained in the jiine cones, their strong ci-ookcd bills enabling 

 them to force open the scales with ease. 



The plumage of the male bird is exceedingly handsome, pai-- 



ticularly towards the approach of spring, when the colouring 

 becomes much moie vivid. 



The general colour of the body is olive, inclining to greenish 

 grey, the head, throat, upper part of the back, and top of the 

 rump a reddish orange, deepening into scarlet. The female is 

 much plainei-, the body being greenish grej, and the markings 

 on the head and back pale yellow. 



A frequent companion of the Crossbill is the Pine Linnet, 

 (Linaia Pinus) ; it also feeds upon the seeds of the pine, as well as 

 the buds of the alder, lai'ch and poplar. It is a pretty, gTaceful 

 little bird, the plumage greenish yellow, marked with dark olive 

 bi-own, the breast and belly white with brown spots, the wings and 

 tail brown, edged with yellow. In its flight it resembles the 

 Goldfinch, rising and falling in deep curves like that bird, and 

 emitting its call note at each fresh effort it makes to propel itself. 



The lesser Red Poll, (Fringilla linaria) is not unlike the Siskin 

 in some of its habits; and in the spring of the year the latter, 

 deserting its friends the Crossbills, is often seen feeding very lov- 

 ingly in company with the Red Poll and the Gold Finch. The 

 Red Poll always flies in flocks, and is a hardy meny little crea- 

 ture, feeding upon the seeds of various grasses, berries, and the 

 buds of dift'ei-ent trees. In very stormy weathei-, when the snow 

 is deep in the woods and fields, they may be seen about the 

 streets of the town, often venturing into the outhouses in search 

 of crumbs, or about our poultry yards, picking up any stray 

 grains that the fowls may have left. 



Their call note is almost precisely the same as that of the Gold- 

 finch, which they also resemble in their flight. The rose co!our 

 on the head and breast deepens into crimson at the approach of 

 spring. The bird, I believe, breeds here, although I have never 

 been fortunate enough to find a nest. 



The Goldfinch (Fringilla TristisJ remains with us all the year 

 round, but in winter the Coekbird dofl^s his gay summer plum- 

 age, and puts on the sober brown suit of the female. It feeds 

 at this season of the year, like the Red Poll and Siskin, upon 

 seeds of difterent kinds, as well as the buds of the Alder birch, 

 and poplar. In flight and song it closely resembles its European 

 namesake, rising and falling in long graceful curves, utter- 

 ing at the same time its call note, and often singing sweetly 

 while on the wing. Like its European relative, it is extrava- 

 gantly fond of the seed of the thistle. It teare up withered 

 petals of the ripened flowers with great dexterity, and leaning 

 downwards upon them eats oft' the seeds, allowing the down to 

 float away. 



"We come now to a merry little fellow, fimiliar to most of us, 

 the black capped Titmouse, ('Parus atracapillus,J or Chickadee, 

 as the country people call him. The colder and more stormy 

 the weather, the merrier does this hardj* restless little bird appear. 

 They keep together generally in little flocks of five or six, fly- 

 ing from tree to tree, and branch to branch, repeating their 

 quick lively note, peeping into e\'erj' little chink and crevice in 

 the bark, frequently hanging head downwards at the extremity 

 of a twig, with their feet almost up to their bills, pecking at 

 a berry or a seed. They have a most accommodating appetite, 

 feeding upon insects, their larva? and eggs, berries and seeds, 

 and even upon scra]is thrown out from the kitchen ; indeed I 

 have often seen a Titmouse pecking away at a dish of bones 

 that had been placed in the yard foi- the dog. Although shy 

 enough at other times, the Titmouse become quites familiar in 

 winter, alighting close to you without hesitation, and if you 

 remain ]ierfoctly motionless, will ])ick up a seed or a berry al- 

 most fiom between your feet. It is Audubon, 1 think, who 

 mentions an anecdote I'elated to him by a fi'iend of his, who 

 v\hile out shooting, and passing through a newly felled wood 



