THE SEASON 



VI. December 15 to February 15 



Boston Region. — The present winter 

 has proved the most severe season recorded 

 from this region by the weather bureau. 

 Low temperatures have been phenomenal, 

 both on account of protracted periods of 

 cold, during which the thermometer has 

 remained at zero or below, and on account 

 of the extremely low temperature (15° 

 and 20° below zero) which has accom- 

 panied the cold waves. The ground was 

 covered with snow and ice from November 

 28 (the first snowfall) until the thaw of 

 February 12-15 removed a large part of 

 the snow. 



Fortunately, there were very few birds 

 here to suffer from these unfavorable 

 weather conditions. Although flocks of 

 Cedar Waxwings continued to appear 

 through the winter and Black-capped 

 Chickadees were present in normal 

 numbers, wintering Juncos and Tree 

 Sparrows were rare. From the observa- 

 tions of several members of The Nuttall 

 Ornithological Club it appears that most 

 of the Tree Sparrows of this region are 

 collected south of Boston, and although 

 many, of course, are wintering along the 

 seacoast, the inland country to the west 

 and northwest of Boston is nearly de- 

 serted. 



The harshness of the winter brought one 

 novelty — during the arctic weather, Snow 

 Buntings, of late years a rarity except on 

 the seacoast, came familiarly in flocks of 

 dozens into the country roadways and 

 even into the streets of Lexington, where 

 they fed on horse-droppings. — Winsor M. 

 Tyler, M.D., Lexington, Mass. 



New York City Region. — Till this 

 winter, the local weather bureau's lowest 

 recorded temperature was -6°, touched 

 several times, but that record has been 

 broken on two occasions, -13° being 

 reached on December 30, and -7° in 

 January. Furthermore, remarkably cold 

 weather has been almost continuous. How- 

 gvetj it has not been an unduly stormy 



(I 



winter, but, in the lack of warm spells, 

 the snow that has fallen has stayed, so 

 that the ground was not bared from the 

 time of the first snowfall, late in November, 

 till a general thaw which began in the 

 second week of February. Naturally, ice- 

 thickness broke all records; people walked 

 across the Hudson from upper New York 

 City. 



On the whole, birds have been scarce 

 these last six weeks, both in species and 

 individuals, so that it has been customary 

 to list about sixteen species in a day's 

 tramp instead of the ordinary twenty-odd. 

 There has been a particular scarcity, at 

 least in northern New Jersey, but less so 

 in the city and eastward, of White- 

 throated and Tree Sparrows and Juncos, 

 and I know of no record since December for 

 Field Sparrow (except one on Long Island 

 by E. P. Bicknell,) Golden crowned King- 

 let, Hermit Thrush (except on Sandy 

 Hook), or Bluebird. On the other hand. 

 Downy Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, White- 

 breasted Nuthatches, Black-capped Chick- 

 adees, and others have been in wonted 

 abundance, and it is remarkable that on 

 Long Island, with so much ice, Canada 

 Geese have been much less scarce than 

 usual in winter. The presence of the 

 Northern Shrike in exceptional numbers 

 has been a feature of the season; in a dozen 

 trips, since December 20, the writer has 

 seen six, whereas he had previously not 

 averaged one a winter. Many Goshawks 

 have been taken around the outskirts of 

 our Region (in Connecticut and north- 

 western New Jersey), but I have heard of 

 none nearer by. There has also been an 

 unusual southward movement of Owls, 

 indicated hereabouts by several Great 

 Horned (apparently of one or more north- 

 ern races), a Snowy trapped at Wilton, 

 Conn., and one claimed to have been seen 

 by a Coast Guard on Long Beach, Nassau 

 County, L. I., and rather more Saw-whets 

 than usual. I know of no record, anywhere 

 near this Region, of Evening Grosbeak, 



63) 



