The Season 



93 



numbers of northern winter visitors here, 

 as we have had no reports of such birds 

 as the Pine Siskin, Red-breasted Nuthatch, 

 White-winged Crossbill, Snowflake, Amer- 

 can Pipit, Northern Shrike and Swamp 

 Sparrow. It is, of course, possible that the 

 lack of information regarding the occur- 

 rence of these species is due in part to lack 

 of observation in favorable places, but it is 

 nevertheless true that northern birds, such 

 as the Winter Wren, have been of less fre- 

 quent appearance than usual, and the same 

 remark will apply to most species of Hawks. 



On the contrary, some common winter 

 visitors, such as the Junco, White-throated 

 Sparrow and Fox Sparrow, have been as 

 numerous as ever. The Myrtle Warbler 

 apparently has been more often ssen than 

 is the rule during the winter, for we have 

 records in December and January from 

 various localities in this region. The Robin, 

 which is nearly always a rare winter bird 

 about Washington, was seen on January 

 4, 192 1, and also later in the month. 

 Purple Grackles were noted on January 

 25 by Miss M. T. Cooke, and doubtless 

 were present during the entire winter, 

 although we have no other reports. A 

 Catbird was seen by Mr. and Mrs. L. D. 

 Miner near Rosslyn, Virginia, close to 

 Georgetown, on January i, and was kept 

 under observation for nearly ten minutes. 

 This is apparently the only District of 

 Columbia record for the month of January, 

 although the species was noted on Decem- 

 ber 31, 1883. The occurrences just men- 

 tioned may well have been due to the mild 

 winter weather, as was possibly also that 

 of the American Coot, seen near Washing- 

 ton by Mr. J. Kittredge, Jr., on December 

 19, 1920, which date is nearly a month be- 

 yond the previous latest record of the spe- 

 cies in this vicinity, November 26, 1916. 



As possibly worthy of mention, a Pil- 

 eated Woodpecker was observed at its 

 roosting hole by Mr. E. A. Preble on 

 BuUneck Run, near the old Leesburg 

 turnpike, on January 23, 1921. This spe- 

 cies is of considerable rarity about Wash- 

 ington and is confined to the wilder and 

 more heavily timbered parts of the coun- 

 try. The only Crossbills reported are eight 



individuals of the American Crossbill, seen 

 by Mr. F. C. Lincoln on the lower part of 

 Difficult Run, December 16, 1920. It may 

 also be worthy of note that an adult Bald 

 Eagle was noticed on December 3 soaring 

 over the northern part of the city of Wash- 

 ington, for, though the species is of com- 

 mon occurrence along the Potomac River, 

 both below and above Washington, it seems 

 not frequently to visit the city itself. 



It is of perhaps more than passing inter- 

 est that even the relatively mild weather 

 of this winter has not roused the song 

 birds to song, for even such common winter 

 singers as the Carolina Wren, the Cardinal 

 and the Mockingbird have been heard 

 singing very little during either December 

 or January. 



While the various species of Ducks that 

 regularly resort to the Potomac River in 

 considerable numbers during the winter 

 months have been present during December 

 and January, they have been for the most 

 part apparently not nearly so numerous in 

 total numbers of individuals as during 

 last winter, evidently a direct result of the 

 milder weather which has enabled them to 

 remain on good feeding grounds farther 

 north. The list of the twelve species so far 

 observed this winter is as follows: Mallard, 

 Black Duck, Pintail, Shoveller, Greater 

 Scaup, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, American 

 Golden-eye, White-winged Scoter, Ameri- 

 can Merganser, Red-breasted Merganser, 

 Hooded Merganser. Of these the most 

 numerous have been the Greater Scaup, 

 Lesser Scaup, Black Duck and American 

 Golden-eye. Three Shovellers, noted by 

 Mr. F. C. Lincoln, on December 16, near 

 the Potomac River at Difficult Run, form 

 the latest local record that we have, since 

 no one has previously reported the species 

 beyond October 28 (1887). The Buffle- 

 head, noted by Mr. E. A. Preble near 

 Dyke, Virginia, on December 29, is also 

 an interesting occurrence as the species 

 is not very common in this vicinity. 



The Whistling Swan, which for several 

 years past has regularly visited the 

 Potomac River below Washington, re- 

 turned to Widewater, Virginia, about 

 October 20, so we are informed by Miss 



