104 AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



WINTER BIRDS SEEN FROM A WINDOW. 



It may be of interest to readers of American Ornithology, especially 

 to beginners in bird lore, to learn that many of our common winter 

 birds, perhaps most of them, can be seen in one's dooryard or from 

 one's window, if only a little pains be taken to allure them. A back 

 door, where a few crumbs, cracked nuts, or a little grain can be 

 scattered, is a good place for this purpose, and one which lies within 

 reach of almost every one. A piazza roof, or that of a bay window is 

 a still better place. 



The birds about to be described, numbering eleven were, with a 

 single exception, seen by the writer, from one window, in the village 

 of Brooklyn, Connecticut, between the dates of December first 1903 

 and January tenth, 1904. The one exception was the Pine Grosbeak. 

 On January ninth a flock of these birds appeared in a larch tree on our 

 lawn. They seemed to be feasting on the tender buds formed for next 

 summer's foliage. In this flock of from twenty to thirty birds, I noted 

 only one or two adult males, these having carmine-red on_, head, rump 

 and breast, while the females and young males were clad in sober 

 livery of ashy-gray, tinged with greenish-yellow or reddish-brown on 

 those parts. 



The window from which the other birds were seen opens upon a 

 bay-window roof. A pear tree stands near by, some of whose branches 

 come almost in contact with this roof. The first winter bird which I 

 saw here, was the Golden-crowned Kinglet, which came into this tree 

 one morning early in December. My attention was at first called to it 

 by its low, sharp, piping note, which it constantly uttered as it darted 

 about from limb to limb, sometimes head downward after the manner 

 of the Chickadee, thus frequently exposing the golden feathers of its 

 crown. The next visitor was a Brown Creeper. So nearly the color 

 of the tree was he, that, had he not been in motion, he might have 

 remained unnoticed, his greyish-brown coat, varied with white, dark 

 brown and dusky, closely resembling the bark of the tree with its 

 crevices. Not infrequently Downy Woodpeckers, in their unchange- 

 able dress of black and white, visit this tree, the bright red spot on the 

 heads of the males distinguishing them from the females. These birds 

 are sometimes enticed to take a meal from a piece of meat fastened to 

 a tree, those previously mentioned having foraged for themselves, 

 seeming neither to expect nor need the human assistance, which many 

 other birds so gladly accept. The Chickadees, with their black 

 crowns, white cheeks and ash-colored backs; the White-breasted Nut- 

 hatches, with upper part of head and neck black, glossed with blue; 

 and the slate-colored Junco or Snowbird, whose under parts are white. 



