46 



ORNITHOLOGIST 



[Vol. 9-No. 4 



month and was a regular visitor in the 

 farm-yards of this vicinity, becoming quite 

 a well known character ; the mercury in 

 the meantime was thirty degrees below 

 zero several times. 



Feb. 5, I saw a Song Sparrow. They 

 are very rarely seen here in Winter. Pur- 

 ple Finches, Goldfinches and Pine Linnets 

 have been very abundant nearly all Win- 

 ter. Their food has been, principally, the 

 seeds of the yellow birch, of which there 

 is an abundant supply here. Pine Gros- 

 beaks first noted Jan. 11, they soon be- 

 coming abundant. For three weeks they 

 were only to be met with in the forests, 

 where they completely stripped the maple 

 trees of " keys," the seeds of which formed 

 their principal food. Then they suddenly 

 came to the orchards and partook of what 

 has in former years been their favorite 

 food, frozen apple seeds. Males in the red 

 plumage were quite common. Saw the 

 last of them Feb. 11. Bird life has been 

 very abundant here all Winter. — G. 0. T. 



Birds of the " Panhandle," W. Va. 



THE JOURNAL OF 1 



5V. W. E. HILL FROM JANUARY ' 

 (INCLUSIVE,) 1883. 



PART II. 



Feb. 3. There, has been a remarkable change in the 

 weather since yesterday— the thermometer rising from six- 

 teen (leg. to sixty deg. About the middle of the day there 

 was a heavy shower of rain. 



Daring a two or three miles drive, caught sight of the fol- 

 lowing birds : A Hawk sailing in wide circles in the air, 

 which I judged to be the Red-tailed Hawk or Buzzard, 

 (Ruteo borealia), a Ruffed Grouse, or Pheasant, (Bonasa 

 nmbellus,) which flew across the road not twenty yards in 

 front of me. near a small wood, three or four Bluebirds, 

 Sialia sialis) in one company, the first and only ones I have 

 seen thus far this winter, two Hairy Woodpeckers, (Picus 

 villosus,) commonly known as the large " Sapsucker," a 

 Tufted Titmouse, a Song Sparrow, (Melospiza melodia-), two 

 Cardinal Grosbeaks, and numerous White-bellied Nuthatch- 

 es ; — eight species during a thirty minutes' drive along the 

 public road on a winter's day, not including the Snow-birds 

 and Tree Sparrows, which, strange enough, I failed to see ! 



Fee. T. At different times during the day two or three 

 Downy Woodpeckers and as many Nuthatches have made 

 their appearance among the small trees and grape-vines in 

 my yard. A day or two ago my company of feathered visi- 

 tors were two Tufted Titmice and several Nuthatches. 

 Next to the Snow-birds and Sparrows the White-bellied 

 Black-capped Nuthatches, (Sitta carolinensis), are far the 

 most numerous of our winter birds. 

 Feb. 8. In passing a small wood on foot saw my first 



specimen during the winter of the Black-capped Titmouse 

 or Chickadee, (Paras atricwpillus.) Was much interested 

 in the activity of its motions while searching for food. Al- 

 though approximating it in size, color and habits, this 

 Bpecies may readily be distinguished, even by the most in- 

 experienced observer, from the Nuthatch, by its longer tail 

 and shorter hill, and in its more restless and active move- 

 ments. The latter nearly always betrays itself by its quank, 

 quank, when you will see it perambulating the trunk of a 

 tree, mostly head downward, in search of the eggs or larvae 

 of insects. The ordinary note of the former bird is ehiek- 

 a-dee-dee, which gives it its more familiar name. 



Feb. 10th. Before entering my study this morning took 

 a walk into a neighboring wood, and was repaid by seeing 

 the most interesting group of birds I have met with this 

 winter— consisting of Nuthatches, Hairy and Downy 

 Woodpeckers, and Tufted and Black-capped Titmice, from 

 two to half a dozen or more of each, perhaps a score in 

 all, all in one loose flock on neighboring trees, or on the 

 ground (being bare), together with a Golden-winged Wood- 

 pecker, (Colaptes auratus), the presence of the latter per- 

 haps being accidental. During the same brief excursion 

 saw also a Cardinal-bird, a pair of Song Sparrows and a 

 Meadow Lark, (Stumella magna). The last and the Gold- 

 en-winged Woodpecker were the first of their respective 

 species I have seen this winter. The Meadow Lark is for 

 the most part migratory, the Golden-wing but partially so. 

 The last named has many aliases, the most familiar of 

 which are Flicker, High-hole and Yellow-hammer. The 

 Meadow Lark's yellow breast and black crescent on it, and 

 white tail feathers, with his sweet plaintive whistle, if in 

 song, will sufficiently identify him. 



Feb. 12. The whistling notes of the Cardinal Grosbeak 

 repeatedly caught my ear during the morning from the 

 thickets of the opposite hill—save that of the Wren, the 

 first bird song of the season. There is an old saying here 

 in substance— the Redbird's song in February is the proph- 

 ecy of an early Spring, but this I believe to be no unusual 

 thing. 



Fer. 13. Saw a remarkable instance of the domestica- 

 tion of wild birds in a state of freedom. While making a 

 call upon a family in the country, a pair of Cardinal Gros- 

 beaks alighted on the sill of the window at which I was 

 sitting, seemingly perfectly indifferent to my presence. On 

 expressing my surprise the people explained that some two 

 years ago they began the practice of scattering bread crumbs 

 and a little grain on the window sill to treat and attract the 

 birds. Among others to discover this gratuitous fare was 

 the above pair of Red-birds, who soon acquired the habit 

 of coming regularly morning and evening for their free 

 rations, all the time growing less shy and more familiar and 

 confident. During the last summer they were accustomed 

 to-perch on the sill of an open window and feed with per- 

 fect fearlessness, though the room was constantly occupied, 

 and even though one might be sitting at an arm's length. 

 Since their first appearance they have never been known to 

 disappear for a single day from the immediate neighbor- 

 hood, but may be seen at almost any hour near or about 

 the house— on the window sill, porch-railing, fence or gar- 

 den shrubbery. The last season they nested in a honey- 

 suckle bush in the front yard, scarcely a rod from the house, 

 and raised one brood. On leaving the house to-day passed 

 within two or three yards of the male bird without its tak- 

 ing wing. 



Started up a flock of Quail (Ortyx virginiamui) at the 

 road-side. 



Feb. 15. The feathered " harbingers of Spring" were re- 

 markably numerous. The day was warm and spring-like 

 with numerous brief showers. During a short drive saw a 

 flock of about a dozen noisy crows, (Corvus aitieritanui,) 



