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Bird - Lore 



had both feeding together in my 

 garden. » 



In winter I always keep a variety of 

 bird-food on my window-sills, as well as 

 on food-shelters, and whenever the snow 

 covers up the supply of food in the fields 

 the birds come into the yard by the score. 

 Last Sunday was no exception to the rule, 

 and my place was alive with birds, includ- 

 ing White-throated Sparrows, Purple 

 Finches, Juncos, Cardinals, Mocking- 

 birds, Blue Jays, etc., and, as I was stand- 

 ing at a window, there were feeding at 

 the same time on the window-sill a Caro- 

 lina Chickadee, a Black-capped (northern) 

 Chickadee, and a Tufted Titmouse. The 

 Black-capped Chickadee is readily dis- 

 tinguishable from its southern cousin by 

 its larger size and its white-edged wing- 

 feathers; yet, as we are near the line 

 separating the territory of these two 

 species, one has to use caution in this 

 section not to report the Black-capped as 

 the Carolina Chickadee.- — S. W. Mellott, 

 Chevy Chase, Md. 



Winter Notes from Massachusetts 



Since November 7, I have observed 

 almost daily, in locations scattered pretty 

 generally over Southern Berkshire, large 

 flocks of Pine Grosbeaks. They are among 

 the more commoii of our birds at this 

 date (December 6), and have been for the 

 last two weeks. Not since January, 1907, 

 have I seen them in anything like such 

 numbers. Last winter, and the winter 

 before, there were none in this particular 

 neighborhood. Now it is no infrequent 

 thing to come upon four or five flocks 

 within as many miles, each flock number- 

 ing upward of fifteen individuals. But 

 in their daily appearance they are irregu- 

 lar. Several days may elapse with no 

 record, and then for several more they are 

 feeding in the birches within a few yards 

 of the house. The proportion of mature 

 males seems to be less than one in ten. 

 Wherever one finds them, they are much 

 less tame than in 1907, flying off when 

 approached more closely than twenty 

 or thirty feet, going first into the tree- 



tops, and then away into the deeper 

 woods in a straggling flock. In 1907, I 

 succeeded in touching several while 

 feeding, and caught one in the air as it 

 flew directly into me. It would seem that 

 this year's birds are better acquainted 

 with men; their wildness, coupled with 

 the early date of their arrival, seems to 

 suggest that the individual birds we have 

 here now are the vanguard, living in 

 summer on the border of civilization. 

 This fancy of my own creation is strength- 

 ened by the report of a friend observing 

 in eastern Maine, who says thay are com- 

 mon there and very tame. 



I have also recorded several Shrikes, 

 frequently observing them on the out- 

 skirts of a flock of Grosbeaks. I watched 

 one for many minutes, and during that 

 time his bearing was entirely amicable. 

 A little later I returned to see three Blue 

 Jays drive him off. The Grosbeaks, mean- 

 while, had disappeared into the woods. — 

 Hamilton Gibson, Sheffield, Mass. 



Winter Notes from Connecticut 



There has been a scarcity of northern 

 birds, but many most interesting records. 



December 8, Robert McCool shot a 

 Snow Goose at Cedar Point, near West- 

 port, and it has been mounted. 



December 28, there was a flock of 

 thirty-six Red-winged Blackbirds, one 

 Grackle, and one Cowbird, at Stratford 

 Point. 



Through January, Myrtle Warblers 

 were numerous in suitable places, and on 

 February 19 I saw a Shrike chasing one 

 through the trees, the Warbler trying 

 hard to escape, and uttering its alarm 

 note constantly. 



The same day, I found a Catbird in a 

 tangle of cedar, briar, and bayberry 

 bushes. It seemed all right, but stupid, 

 and with feathers much fluffed, and it 

 must have succumbed in the severe cold 

 soon after. 



February 21, in a swamp where the 

 Night Herons nest, I found where the 

 Crows had feasted upon two Night 

 Herons, every particle of flesh having been 



