302 Bird - Lore 



The birds remained until the middle of May, seeming lost and out of place 

 among the summer birds, which were courting and looking about for home- 

 sites. As the weather grew warmer, they became quieter, sitting in the trees 

 and talking softly. The flock became smaller and smaller; some days no birds 

 came at all, or only a few for a short time, but every storm drove them back 

 again. April was warm and the leaves and apple blossoms came out. Then 

 snow fell, and one day we had the odd combination of apple blossoms and 

 Hummingbirds, Grosbeaks and snow, in the yard. 



I have read in several places that the song of the Western Grosbeak is 

 not known. One day, as I was sitting by an open door, a Grosbeak on a branch 

 a few feet above me, after whispering soft little phrases for several minutes, 

 began to sing. It was not a full-throated song, but merely the breath of one, 

 such as Mr. J. William Lloyd mentioned hearing a Catbird sing. It sang for 

 some time, then flew away, only to return and begin all over again. That was 

 the first and the last time I ever heard a Grosbeak sing. 



We could always distinguish the quarrelsome female by her size and actions. 

 Another bird used only one foot, and the feathers were gone from one side of 

 the breast of another (the work of a cat, probably). Then there was the 

 gourmand, which ate longer than the others, retiirning sometimes by himseK 

 to feast on the seed; so we are anxiously waiting to see if our same flock returns 

 this autumn, to make pleasant the winter for us. 



Winter Feeding-Stations at Highland Park, 

 Rochester, N. Y., 1915-1916 



By WM. L. G. EDSON and R. E. HORSEY, Rochester, N. Y. 



HIGHLAND PARK, Rochester, N. Y., justly famous for its collection 

 of shrubs and small trees from the whole world, which furnish an 

 abundance of berries, dry seeds and shelter, with its large pinetum 

 giving cover, juniper berries and cone seeds, makes an ideal place in which to 

 observe the winter birds. At the request of the Superintendent of Parks, C. 

 C. Laney, food-stations have been maintained, where suet and small seeds 

 for the native birds, with corn, wheat, etc., for the introduced Pheasants and 

 the native Ruffed Grouse, are scattered. 



To show the results obtained, it was decided to watch for an entire day 

 the Herbarium Food-Station, situated on the edge of the pinetum among 

 several whitewood or cucumber trees (Magnolia acuminata) and visited by 

 most of the birds. This food-station was originally started for the Chickadees, 

 Woodpeckers and Nuthatches. It was supplied with a 'food-hopper' filled 

 with sunflower seed, hung well up in a cucumber tree, a chunk of suet tied to 

 a limb near the main trunk, a piece of suet suspended by three feet of string 

 from a branch, and a 'food-stone.' A 'food-stone' is made by melting suet 



