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tains with no cultivated fields, while the 
remainder of the circle is made up of fer- 
tile farms from which almost all varieties 
of grain and insect food could be obtained. 
It had been the habit of these birds for 
eleven years to stay until the October 
and November frosts had taken away their 
nightly covering of maple leaves, and then 
for several days on their evening return to 
tell of their intended departure by circling 
over their accustomed roosting-place, 
making continuous cries, settling in the 
partly bare trees, then rising and going 
through the same program for several 
times. But last year, after gathering in 
their usual numbers and manner, they left 
unceremoniously and took up their abode 
in a valley beyond a mountain four miles 
east, and never ventured back to their 
old haunts. This change was not brought 
about by the shot-gun or season, for there 
was no shooting at their roost and no dif- 
ference in the rainfall of the two places, 
but I attribute it to a scarcity of their 
food-supply in their old haunts.—O. C. 
BREWER, Pulaski, Va. 
Our Duty to Our Bird Tenants 
I wish to second Mr. Bennett’s motion, 
in the last issue of Brrp-LoRE, that a 
movement be inaugurated for obviating 
the feline pest that is so prevalent in our 
cities. The dog, that is acknowledged 
man’s most faithful friend, dare not show 
his face on a city street, unless he has 
a license tag attached to his collar; while 
mongrel cats—black, white, gray, yellow 
and spotted, big, ‘little, old, young and 
indifferent—slink about our alley-ways 
and back yards, their every movement 
emblematic of distrust and thievishness, 
a constant menace to the few birds that 
are emboldened to live in the city, and thus 
indirectly a bane to the small gardener. 
If the cat nuisance is got rid of, we will 
take heart and put some bird-boxes in our 
back yard, where birds come each spring 
in search of a nesting-site, which we are 
now careful to see is not provided; for 
how could we enjoy the exuberant song 
of our little feathered neighbor (at our 
Bird - Lore 
invitation), when we knew that it was 
eventually to become the requiem of his 
little ones, that, in their helplessness, 
must inevitably fall into the clutches of 
the stray cats that daily prowl about the 
premises ? 
One who, under existing conditions, 
as we have found them, would encourage 
birds into his city yard, surely cannot have 
the welfare of those birds at heart.—EDGAR 
Boyer, Sparks, Nevada. 
Pittsford, N. Y., Notes 
On April 13, near here, I saw several 
flocks of Juncos, and among them was 
one with a snow-white head and neck. 
Otherwise it looked like the other mem- 
bers of the flock. On the same day I saw 
a Towhee singing in some lilac bushes, 
very near a house in the village -—Mrs. 
Anna E. AGATE, Pittsford, N. Y. 
Snowbuntings in Vermont 
On February 6, a large flock (probably 
200) of Snowflakes appeared in our village. 
It is the first record for three years, and 
perhaps longer. Last winter, there were 
large flocks of Pine Siskins and Redpolls, 
with a few Goldfinches and White-winged 
Crossbills; but none was seen this past 
winter. The Siskins were first noticed 
May 28, 1907, and they stayed until the 
middle of July, 1908.—E1izA F. MILLER, 
Bethel, Vt. 
A Winter Catbird 
I wish to record the occurrence of a 
Catbird in Brockton, Mass., in winter. 
I first saw it December 19, 1909. Up to that 
time the season had not been very severe, 
the coldest being about 15°, and holding 
steadily near that temperature for some 
time. The bird was in an old, upland 
pasture overgrown with junipers, birches, 
young pines, huckleberry and bayberry 
bushes, with numerous tangles of horse- 
briers. 
During the week before Christmas the 
temperature fell to 12°, with but little 
