28o Bird - Lore 



birds found and have their field-marks and distinguishing characteristics 

 pointed out if they do not already know them. Slow, quiet walking, no quick 

 movements, modulated voices, eyes and ears alert, are the instructions that 

 should be given before the start. Formality should be done away with, and the 

 opportunity taken for self-introduction and acquaintance-making among the 

 members on the walks. 



Having noted how the schedule is prepared and the duties of the leader, let 

 us now refer to the bulletins for a sample year and see how the program is 

 worked out. We will begin with the walks in quest of winter birds, both resi- 

 dents and visitors. 



For the winter water-birds like the Scoters, Old-Squaw, Bufflehead, Golden- 

 eye and Scaup Ducks, Red-breasted Mergansers, Loons and Grebes, Squantum, 

 Devereaux, Nahant, Lynn, or the beach at Swampscott furnish a wide range 

 of possibilities. Here, too, the Snow Bunting and Horned Lark may be found, 

 and perhaps some of the rarer winter visitors like the Iceland Gull, Dovekie, 

 Murre, Red-throated Loon, or Purple Sandpiper. There is always the chance, 

 too, that even rarer birds will appear, which adds zest to the hunt though 

 wintry winds sweep in over the ocean. When, perchance, a Kumlien's Gull, 

 Snowy Owl, Rough-legged Hawk, or Goshawk is seen, the bowl of happiness 

 runs over. 



For the winter land-birds one walk may be as good as another, though 

 thickets of berry-bearing trees and shrubs offer the greatest attraction. The 

 red cedars, sumac, bayberries, box elder and hawthorns each have their 

 devotees, attracting the Evening and Pine Grosbeaks, Siskins, Redpolls, and 

 Waxwings, while the stubble-fields and weed-patches draw Sparrows, Juncos, 

 and Goldfinches. The common insect-eating birds — Chickadees, Creepers, 

 Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers — are to be found 

 in every favorable place, but there is always the possibility of finding a Shrike, 

 a rare Hawk, a Winter Wren or Mockingbird, or even an Acadian Chickadee 

 or Orange-crowned Warbler. A list of the summer birds that have occasionally 

 wintered here is interesting, including besides the Robins, Meadowlarks, Song 

 Sparrows and Bluebirds, Bronzed Crackles, Hermit Thrushes, Brown Creepers 

 and Baltimore Orioles. 



When the spring walks are planned, they are arranged with the dates of 

 various arrivals in mind so that the migrants may be found before they pass 

 along on their northward journey. Since they remain longer in some places 

 than in others on their migration, and since the weather may retard or hasten 

 them, some of the rarer ones may be missed entirely. Walks near small streams 

 that are well bordered with underbush, or near marshy land where the sun 

 can beat down and arouse the insects as well as warm the air, will be found to 

 contain more birds than the exposed locations. Walks are taken at this season 

 to Arlington, Belmont, Wellesley, and the Felsway. When May arrives with 

 its rush of Warblers, few better places can be found than the Parkway, and, 



