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Bird - Lore 



are marked b; dates when a Towhee was 

 heard, but not seen, are marked H. Janu- 

 ary 22 B, 29B; February 5, 6 or 7, 8b, 9, 

 10, I2B, 13, IS, i6b, 17B, 21B, 23B, 25B, 

 27, 28b; March 1, 2B, 3B, 4, SB, 6, 8, 9, 

 10, II, 12, 14B, 15, i6b, 17H, 2S, 26; 

 April 9H (after a late snow-fall), 17H. 



The first three dates are Sundays. If 

 the writer had not been out of town during 

 the week, he doubtless would have had 

 intermediate ones. Later, as the sun rose 

 earlier, the birds were in evidence before 

 he started for town in the mornings. 

 Still later, as the dates become irregular, 

 it may be that the birds were about before 

 he was up; but probably they did not 

 come near the house so regularly, as the 

 season opened. It may be questioned if 

 the April dates were the wintering birds, 

 and not migrants, as they are such a short 

 time before the regular invasion of 

 Towhees from the South. Towhees were 

 noticed shortly afterward, but not about 

 the house in the regular haunts of the 

 wintering birds, and April 17 would be 

 very early for a migrant in this latitude. 



A point worth emphasis is that these 

 wintering individuals of the migratory 

 Towhee stayed in one locality for so long 

 a period. Their both being males is inter- 

 esting, as most of the records of northern- 

 wintering Towhees which have come to 

 the writer's attention have been for this 

 sex. The fact that the two birds kept 

 together through the winter is evidence 

 of a certain social instinct in these non- 

 flocking, directively colored birds. — John 

 Tread WELL Nichols, Efiglewood, N. J. 



Pine Grosbeaks in Southern Maine in 

 August, 1911 



Pine Grosbeaks were first observed on 

 August 10. I first saw them on August 27. 

 On two occasions, I was able to observe 

 them from very near at hand. On Septem- 

 ber 2, on Baker Island, about five miles 

 from Mt. Desert Island, I saw two — an 

 adult male and an adult female. They 

 were at the top of a twenty-five-foot 

 spruce tree, and were quite easy to 

 approach. 



On September 7, on Mt. Desert Island, 

 I saw six Pine Grosbeaks — one adult male, 

 two adult females, and three young ones, 

 and these were also at and near the top 

 of a spruce tree. 



The accompanying photograph of a 

 Pine Grosbeak was taken by my brother 

 on September 7. — B. Franklin Pepper, 

 Philadelphia, Pa. 



PINE GROSBEAK 



Notes on Hawks 



On October 8, it was my fortune to 

 have an unusual number of experiences 

 with birds of prey. The locality was part 

 swampy, part heavily wooded, and rather 

 remote — facts which probably accounted 

 for the presence of the Great Horned Owl. 

 His deep 'Hoo-hoo' bore a fancied resem- 

 blance to the far-off howling of a dog. 

 Two Marsh Hawks were seen at intervals, 

 beating low over the fields, and a single 

 large Red-tail. 



More interesting, however, was the 

 pursuit of a Flicker by a Sharp-shinned 

 Hawk. A number of these Woodpeckers, 

 together with a few Bluejays, were flying 

 in and about a small tree near the fence- 

 row, on a post of which the Hawk was 

 perched. Suddenly he set out after a 

 Flicker, and the pair raced across the 

 field in our direction, the Flicker giving 

 full voice to his terror as they flew. The 

 Hawk veered off, and his intended victim 

 escaped. Later, as we were emerging 

 from the woods into the open swamp, we 



