Notes from Field and Study 



95 



pared for the great favor done us today 

 by the call of such exclusive guests as 

 the Evening Grosbeaks. 



The morning was bright and clear, and 

 the snow-covered trees made an admirable 

 background for the beautiful yellow 

 plumage of these handsome birds. So 

 perfect was our view that every mark of 

 identification was seen, even without the 

 aid of a glass. They remained with us for 

 nearly two hours, apparently making a 

 fine meal upon the maple seeds still 

 clinging to the tree. They then disap- 

 peared as silently as they had come. — 

 Members of Sussex County Nature Study 

 Club, by Blanche Hill. 



[As this is the second record for New 

 Jersey, as well as the second record sent 

 Bird-Lore this season, we requested 

 further details, which Miss Hill gives 

 under date of Decemberig, as below. — Ed.] 



Your letter asking for additional in- 

 formation concerning the Evening Gros- 

 beaks is at hand. 



Five persons, four of whom are members 

 of our Nature Club, and who have been 

 studying birds for several years, saw them 

 during their first visit to us, that is, on 

 the 13th. Two or three specimens were 

 not more than fifteen feet from the win- 

 dow, while the others were seen at dis- 

 tances ranging from twenty to forty feet. 

 My father, who has been a nature student 

 all his life, and I, stood under the large 

 maple tree in which they were feeding, 

 when one, presumably a male, because of 

 his brilliant coloring, flew to one of the 

 lower branches and lighted not more 

 than ten feet above our heads, where he 

 remained long enough for us to give him 

 careful inspection. 



Since my first letter to you, they have 

 visited us twice, — once on the 17th, and 

 again on the i8th. Once the whole flock 

 (ten were counted) were feeding on the 

 ground beneath a spruce tree standing 

 about twenty feet from the house. — - 

 Blanche Hill. 



Newton, Sussex Co., N. J., January 

 6, 191 1. — Would it interest the bird-lovers 

 to know that a flock of Evening Grosbeaks 



have been about here? Walking on the 

 outskirts of the town, Saturday morning, 

 I heard quite a chirping in a maple tree 

 and saw twelve or fifteen of these beautiful 

 birds. In the afternoon they were about 

 my home, and yesterday morning favored 

 us with another visit. They were feeding 

 in the maples; then they perched in the 

 Norway spruces, about twelve feet from 

 the house. They were quite tame. Each 

 member of the family was called to see 

 the visitors, and a few neighbors came for 

 an introduction. We went close to the 

 trees where they were, but the best view 

 was from the second-story windows. — 

 Mary F. Kanouse. 



Newton, Sussex Co., N. J. — While 

 spending Sunday, February 5, at my home 

 in Newton, I had the pleasure of watch- 

 ing for a long time a flock of some 

 twenty-five or thirty Evening Grosbeaks. 

 The birds were in a yard on the out- 

 skirts of the town and were so little dis- 

 turbed by my presence that I was able 

 to observe them at a distance of not 

 more than thirty feet. — Stephen D. 

 Inslee. 



Plainfield, N. J. — A flock of thirteen 

 Evening Grosbeaks were seen by me in 

 the Washington Valley, near Plainfield, 

 N. J., on January 29. On February 12 

 and 19, and on other days between these 

 dates, they were again observed by the 

 writer and by several other bird students. 

 Somewhat larger numbers were seen than 

 on the first occasion, there being at least 

 twenty birds, three or four of which were 

 adult males. They are found in a grove of 

 red cedars, feeding on the berries of the 

 flowering dogwood, which are plentifully 

 interspersed among the cedars. The crop 

 of dogwood berries last fall was remark- 

 ably abundant and, as a result, the Robins, 

 Hermit Thrushes and Purple Finches have 

 wintered in unusual numbers. These 

 species can use only the soft meat of the 

 berries, but the Grosbeaks reject this 

 part and crack the stone with their strong 

 bills to get at the enclosed kernel. — W. 

 DeW. Miller. 



