THE OOLOGIST 



281 



Unusual Winter Birds. 



Thomas D. Burleigh. 



The winter 1912-13 was remarkable 

 to me because of the number of Sum- 

 mer residents that remained here, 

 many of which I had never before 

 seen during the winter and had never 

 heard of anyone seeing. The one 

 that most surprised me was the Cat- 

 bird, but as I have dealt more fully 

 with it in another article, let it suffice 

 to say that it was seen occassionally 

 the entire winter, remaining for the 

 last two months in almost the same 

 thicket. 



The Flickers were quite plentiful 

 and I was surprised at their abund- 

 ance, especially as I have never re- 

 corded them here in the winter be- 

 fore. Up to the middle of October, I 

 saw them almost daily, but at that 

 time they suddenly dissappeared and 

 I saw no more of them until the 9th 

 of November. On that date I saw two 

 and after that I occassionally came 

 across them; seldom, however, in the 

 same place. 



On the 28th of November, while 

 watching a large flock of Tree Spar- 

 rows, I was amazed to hear a Towhee. 

 At first I thought I must have imag- 

 ined it, but I soon found out that 1 

 had not, for while I was listening for 

 the sound to be repeated, the bird, a 

 male, very obligingly hopped into 

 view from a dense thicket, allowing 

 me to absolutely identify it. I came 

 back to this place several times later, 

 hoping to see it again, but with no 

 success and I finally gave it up. It 

 must have wintered there, however, 

 for as I was passing the same place 

 on the 18th of February, I again saw 

 a Towhee, presumably the same bird, 

 for as before it was a male and was 

 exactly in the same place. 



The crow is more or less of a resi- 

 dent here, but I was rather surprised 

 on the 31st of December, while out on. 



a tramp near Harmaville, to come 

 across a fiock of about one hundred 

 and fifty of these birds. They were 

 feeding in a large field, almost cover- 

 ing it, and, as I approached, fiew off 

 in small detachments, continuing to 

 do so for quite a while. 



On the same day, I also saw two 

 Golden Crowned Kinglets feeding in 

 some hemlocks, the first I've ever seen 

 during the winter. 



While crossing a large field on the 

 22nd of January, I flushed two Mead- 

 owlarks from the ground (or snow) 

 and I was delighted to see them, as 

 they very rarely winter here. They 

 must have left soon after, for although 

 I searched for them several days later 

 I was unable to find them. 



While out on a tramp on the 11th 

 of January, I came across a flock of 

 ten birds feeding near the tops of 

 some large trees, which I did not at 

 first recognize. One of them, how- 

 ever, finally flew down to the ground 

 and I saw at once that they were 

 Bluebirds. Most of them were males 

 and I certainly did enjoy watching 

 them (what ornithologist would not?) 

 Just about a month later, on the 12th 

 of February, I saw another little flock 

 of Bluebirds at this same place, but 

 whether they were the same birds, 

 I do not know. 



Two Partridge Nests. 

 Geo. H. Murphy, 

 How many of you have ever seen 

 a Partridge nest? I remember of 

 seeing one about ten years ago. My 

 sister and I lived at our uncle's, and 

 he had a habit of wandering around 

 the woods. One Sunday he told us 

 he had found a Partridge nest up in 

 "Aunt Betty's" woods, but he would- 

 n't tell us just where it was for fear 

 we would spend the whole day in 

 looking for it, and he didn't like to 

 have us do that. We went to church 



