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Bird - Lore 



as would have been the case had the beak 

 been dosed and the bite completed. The 

 cutting process was always arrested at 

 the point after the casing had been di- 

 vided, but before the meat has been sev- 

 ered. All this, although the process in- 

 volved the nicest precision, was accom- 

 plished with great rapidity, — the wing flut- 

 tering to the ground within a second or two 

 after the fruit was plucked from the stem. 



The big birds are curiously inconspicu- 

 ous when feeding in a box elder tree; their 

 color harmonizes very closely with the 

 dull grayish brown of the faded wings of 

 the fruit, and, as the birds are for the most 

 part silent, a feeding flock might easily be 

 passed unnoticed. In spite of their quiet 

 manner, however, the Grosbeaks are ever 

 on the alert, as was shown when a large 

 bird flew near them. They whirled away, 

 panic stricken, giving their loud 'kerp'call. 



On January 8, the flock of eleven female 

 birds was replaced by a flock of eight 

 Grosbeaks, two males and six females. 

 These latter were all distinctly grayer than 

 any of the individuals of the first flock, 

 whose plumage was washed strongly with 

 yellow. This second flock has remained 

 to the present time, February 19, feeding 

 first upon the box elder seeds until the 

 two trees were practically stripped of 

 fruit, then visiting a Japanese crab-apple 

 tree loaded with minute apples, from which 

 the birds obtained the seeds by munching 

 off the pulp and discarding it. The flock 

 has suffered the loss of two female birds 

 (they were probably caught by a cat); 

 otherwise the company has remained 

 intact for six weeks. As in the case of the 

 original flock, these birds fed early in the 

 morning, again at about 11 A.M., and were 

 rarely seen in the afternoon. On one 

 occasion, they left the feeding-ground by 

 mounting high in the air and taking a 

 long, direct flight to the westward. 

 Besides the box elder and crab-apple 

 seeds, the birds have eaten wild-cherry pits, 

 poison-ivy berries, and gray-birch seeds. 



Evening Grosbeaks have been seen 

 this season at several points in eastern 

 Massachusetts. Mrs. Lidian E. Bridge 

 kindly sent me a report of a flock which 



visited her place in West Medford, four 

 birds on February 8 and 9. These birds 

 fed upon the berries of the honeysuckle, 

 mountain ash, and red cedar. 



The large number of observers who came 

 from a radius of ten miles to see these rare 

 Grosbeaks demonstrated how great the 

 interest in birds is at the present time. 

 For nearly two months, several visitors 

 came every day at the appointed time, 

 and on Sundays and holidays the number 

 often reached thirty or more. The total 

 number of persons who saw the birds must 

 have been hundreds. And each one, thanks 

 to Audubon Societies and proper educa- 

 tion in out-of-doors studies, came armed 

 with a glass instead of a gun. — Winsor 

 M. Tyler, M.D., Lexington, Mass. 



Evening Grosbeaks in Vermont 



On February 14, 19 16, we were visited by 

 a flock of nine Evening Grosbeaks, which 

 were feeding on the buds of sugar maple 

 in a grove of these trees near our place. 



These birds were quite tame, allowing 

 me to look at them through my field- 

 glass at a distance of three rods, making 

 identification positive. 



I heard their call note and saw three of 

 these birds at a distance on January 31. 



On December 8, one was seen and heard 

 too far away to note its markings. — L. 

 H. Potter, Clarendon, Vermont. 



Evening Grosbeaks in Connecticut 



I wish to report a thrilling experience 

 which I had this morning. 



At ten o'clock, I glanced from my win- 

 dow, and saw White-breasted Nuthatches 

 on the bird-shelf. Chickadees, Hairy 

 Woodpeckers, a Brown Creeper, and Blue 

 Jays, close by on two maples, a flock of 

 English Sparrows gleaning on the ground, 

 and two strange birds picking up their 

 breakfast on the outskirts, but a few feet 

 from the window. 



The two rare visitors proved to be 

 Evening Grosbeaks. They came toward 

 me, went away from me, turned about and 

 displayed themselves in every light, and 



