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Bird - Lore 



commonly considered as only 'half-hardy.' 

 Most of the reports of such species have 

 come from the southern half of the state, 

 but a few are from localities much farther 

 north than heretofore recorded. More and 

 keener observers and a more active 

 campaign in search of winter bird-notes 

 may be the real explanation of these 

 seemingly exceptional occurrences. Brown 

 Creepers have been present all winter in 

 the southern half of the state, and O. J. 

 Murie reports that some individuals of 

 this species are wintering as far north as 

 Moorhead, on the Red River of the North, 

 only a little south of latitude 47°. Tree 

 Sparrows, Juncos, Goldfinches, and Purple 

 Finches have been reported from the 

 southern portion of the state; Red-headed 

 Woodpeckers from Red Wing (Mrs. 

 Green and Miss Densmore), St. Paul 

 (Thompson), Cannon Falls (Swanson), 

 and Rochester (Mrs. MacCarty); Golden- 

 crowned Kinglets from Martin County 

 (Dr. Luedtke), and Fillmore County (Dr. 

 Hvoslef); a Robin at Moorhead, December 

 12 (Murie), and one at Minneapolis 

 December. 2 7 (Zeleny); two Flickers at 

 Moorhead January 8 (Murie); a Rusty 

 Blackbird at Fosston, far up in the Red 

 River Valley, January 2 (Miss Torgerson), 

 and three wintering at Pipestone (Peter- 

 son); a Red- winged Blackbird at Fosston 

 January 2 (Miss Torgerson); and Bronzed 

 Crackles at Duluth, December 18 (Green) 

 and at Fosston in January (Miss Torger- 

 son). Cardinals have been wintering at 

 Red Wing (Miss Densmore), La Crescent 

 (Whit Harrison), and Lanesboro (Dr. 

 Hvoslef). It should, perhaps, be stated 

 that competent observers, though greatly 

 increased over former years, are still so 

 few in number and so widely scattered over 

 Minnesota's more than 84,000 square miles, 

 that these notes can only be regarded as 

 fragmentary and merely suggestive of 

 actual conditions. 



Of winter bird visitants only brief 

 mention will be made here. Goshawks 

 have been reported from only four locali- 

 ties. There has, however, been a consider- 

 able influx of Snowy Owls, as reports 

 Jiave been received from nineteen stations 



in all parts of the state. Of Great Northern 

 Shrike there are only four records, widely 

 scattered. An early and extensive incur- 

 sion of Bohemian Waxwings has been an 

 interesting feature of the present winter. 

 In a few places they have remained con- 

 stantly and been fairly numerous, as at 

 Moorhead (Murie). Pine Grosbeaks have 

 been reported several times, none farther 

 south than Minneapolis. Redpolls, as 

 usual, have been common all over the 

 state. Evening Grosbeaks have been 

 reported from only nine localities, all in 

 the northern two-thirds of the state. 

 None have yet appeared in the southern 

 portion, where they were, in former years, 

 a frequent and common winter visitant. 

 At Wadena (Mrs. Bigelow), Staples (Mrs. 

 Young), and Brainerd (Mrs. Thabes) — 

 localities near together in the central part 

 of the state — it has been present for some 

 time in large flocks. Apparently, the Even- 

 ing Grosbeak is no longer the regular 

 visitant in large numbers throughout 

 Minnesota that it was twenty-five to 

 thirty years ago. It would appear from 

 the increasing number of New England 

 records that the principal southward 

 movement of the species is now directed 

 toward the North Atlantic States. The 

 box elder trees, upon the seeds of which 

 this Grosbeak feeds so extensively in 

 winter, and which formerly lined the 

 streets of most Minnesota cities and 

 towns, have largely died out or been 

 removed. But as this tree is here every- 

 where abundant in the wild state, this 

 fact should not have any material effect 

 upon the food-supply, though, possibly, it 

 would remove from easy observation a 

 considerable number of the birds and 

 make them seem scarcer than they really 

 are. — Thos. S. Roberts, University oj 

 Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn. 



Denver Region. — The weather con- 

 ditions in this region during the past two 

 months have been exceedingly variable^ — - 

 extreme cold in December and mild in 

 much of January and February. There has 

 been no prolonged condition of deep snow, 

 and it appears to the writer that with 



