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Snow-Bathing 



Everyone who has observed the birds in 

 winter knows that they use snow as a sub- 

 stitute for drinking-water, but it may be 

 as new to other readers of Bird-Lore as it 

 was to me, to learn that they use snow as 

 a substitute for bathing-water also. This 

 morning a female Downy Woodpecker 

 that I was watching flew to a horizontal 

 branch and proceeded vigorously to bathe 

 in the loose snow lying there. Like a Robin 

 in a puddle, Mrs. Downy ducked her head, 

 ruffled her feathers, and fluttered her 

 wings, throwing some of the snow over her 

 back and scattering the rest to the winds. 

 As all the snow fell off one part of the 

 branch, she moved along to another, until 

 she had cleared a place about two feet long. 

 Two forks held more snow than the straight 

 limb, and apparently Mrs. Downy en- 

 joyed herself immensely when she came to 

 them. At first, I thovight that she was 

 searching for food under the snow, but 

 though I watched her closely during the 

 two or three minutes that she remained on 

 that branch, I did not see her peck at it 

 once. — R. Owen Merriman, Hamilton, 

 Canada. 



Bird-Notes from Dutchess County, N. Y. 



Some Pine Grosbeaks were first seen by 

 the writer in this vicinity on December 13, 

 1918. There were a dozen of them in some 

 maples and in a white-ash tree, the seeds 

 of which they seemed very fond of. The 

 birds were mostly in gray and white 

 plumage, a few showing rosy feathers, and 

 one was quite resplendent in bright rosy 

 red. Some of these birds, of the same flock 

 it would seem, were around about every 

 day for three weeks, and on January 31 

 the Grosbeaks were seen for the last time 

 in our neighborhood. These Pine Gros- 

 beaks were a decided novelty here, and I 

 watched them whenever possible. Their 

 uncommon tameness was demonstrated in 

 an amusing manner when three of these 



birds alighted in a choice little cherry tree 

 and began nipping off buds. One of our 

 household, not liking this procedure, walked 

 toward the tree and when about 6 feet 

 away took off his cap and waved it at 

 them. This the Grosbeaks did not notice 

 in the least, nor did a clapping of hands 

 serve to startle them. He then took hold 

 of the branch whereon the birds were feed- 

 ing and shook it vigorously. Then the Gros- 

 beaks flew away. We regretted not having 

 the camera there on that occasion. 



I admired the musical and rather plain- 

 tive song of these Grosbeaks. Their notes 

 seemed quite similar to those of the Even- 

 ing Grosbeak. The latter I have on record 

 as first appearing at our station on Decem- 

 ber 29, 1916, and they, too, caused a sen- 

 sation here by their handsome plumage and 

 large size. I did not see more than three 

 at a time, but they were around for nearly 

 a month. The first one identified appeared 

 on an apple tree close by my window, and 

 as he bent to peck at a frozen apple, the 

 rich yellow and black of his head was 

 glorious to behold. 



The absence of the Brown Thrasher 

 from our neighborhood during the spring 

 and summer of 1916, and again this bird's 

 complete disappearance during 1918, has 

 been a puzzle that we cannot solve. The 

 Thrashers were never abundant here, but 

 we have always been favored with the 

 songs of one or two at least every spring 

 and early summer. 



Purple Martins disappeared from this 

 town of Stanford about forty-five years 

 ago, so the old residents say. The increas- 

 ing scarcity of birds is quite noticeable and 

 is not a very cheering prospect. 



The little Screech Owls are rather plenti- 

 ful here, as we are near a woods, and we 

 usually see a brood of young Owls around 

 the house-yard in summer. An apple tree 

 quite near the house usually shelters a 

 Megascops each winter, and we wonder if 

 these Screech Owls do persecute the smaller 

 birds or rob their nests, thus making our 

 native song-birds scarcer here. Can any- 



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