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Bird - Lore 



did not appear to notice us. . . . The 

 birds are there several times a day, and 

 feed perhaps half an hour. . . We call 

 them very strikingly marked, particularly 

 the males, with the bright yellow stripe 

 between the wings and the large, square- 

 cut, white wing-patch, edged with the 

 narrow line of velvety black." 



Reports also came in of the Evening 

 Grosbeak at Meshanticut Park, R. I. — 

 Alice Hall Walter. 



Taftville, Conn., February 15, 1911. 

 It is a pleasure to be able to report that, 

 on February 13, a flock of Evening Gros- 

 beaks took up their abode in this vicinity. 

 This is the third day that they have fre- 

 quented our school premises, and it would 

 seem that they have found comfortable 

 quarters for at least a short stay with us. 

 We have been able to count twenty-six 

 in the flock — eight males and eighteen 

 females. They were first discovered in an 

 ash-leaved maple {Acer negimdo), eating 

 the seeds with great relish. They are not 

 in the least timid, approaching the 

 building within twenty-five feet, and 

 allowing us to watch them as we stand 

 about in groups on the playgrounds, 

 immediately under the trees, and not over 

 twenty feet from the branches upon which 

 they are sitting. We consider it a rare 

 treat, and we trust that other bird-lovers 

 may be accorded a similar privilege. — 

 F. J. Werking. 



Canaan, Litchfield Co., Conn., Jan- 

 uary 13, 1911. — Bird-lovers in this village 

 are much interested in watching a flock 

 of Evening Grosbeaks that have recently 

 appeared here. In your 'Handbook of 

 Birds of Eastern North America,' you 

 mention that there was an incursion of 

 these birds, in 1890, in New England. 



Have any been seen since then? I am 

 anxious to know if they are in other parts 

 of New England this winter. Are they 

 getting to feel at home in the eastern 

 states? 



The flock in my yard numbers eight — 

 three males — and they feed on dried crab- 

 apples and maple seeds. — Sarah W. Adam. 



Hartford, Conn., February 12, 191 1. 

 — ^Today, Mr. Arthur G. Powers, Vice- 

 President of our Bird Study Club, and 

 myself, saw at the foot of Talcott Moun- 

 tain, in West Hartford, a pair of Evening 

 Grosbeaks. We easily approached them 

 within fifteen feet, and watched them for 

 fifteen minutes. There was no possible 

 doubt as to the identification. They had 

 the great yellow bills, the black wings 

 with the large white markings, black 

 crowns, greenish brown cheeks, and necks 

 with yellow reflections, and, in fact, all 

 the characteristic markings, though both 

 were distinctly duskier in color than the 

 illustrations given by Reed and Blanchan. 



I may add that the birds were the same 

 species, without doubt, that I saw within 

 twenty rods of the same place on October 

 17, 1909 — a record which I suppose was 

 considered doubtful because so early in 

 the season and without confirmation. — 

 Edward Porter St. John, President, 

 Hartford Bird Study Club. 



Port Chester, N. Y., January 9, 1911. 

 — On this day, the undersigned observed 

 five Evening Grosbeaks. The birds were 

 feeding on maple buds and were watched 

 for ten minutes at a distance of twenty- 

 five feet. — Cecil Spofford, and Samuel 

 N. CoMLY. [Mr. Spofford subsequently 

 visited the American Museum and con- 

 firmed his identification by an examination 

 of specimens. — Editor.] 



Andover, Sussex Co., N. J., December 

 13, 1910. — Today we have had the pleas- 

 ure of seeing from our window what are 

 claimed to be rare bird visitors to this 

 section. We refer to the Evening Gros- 

 beak, at least eight of which visited our 

 banqueting tree, which stands not more 

 than twenty feet from the house. 



Owing to preparations we have made 

 for feeding birds in and near this tree, we 

 are favored by calls from nearly all the 

 winter birds to be seen in this locality. 

 Other years, besides the more common 

 birds, we have seen here the Pine Gros- 

 beak, and the White-winged and Ameri- 

 can Crossbills. But we were hardly pre- 



