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Bird - Lore 



feeding stations remain unchanged; but 

 the flocks of birds left shortly after 

 Christmas with the coming of the first 

 real severe weather. 



This is the first winter in the writer's 

 memory that no Harris' Sparrows have 

 remained through January and early 

 February, and in fact they seem not to 

 have passed through in anything like 

 their usual abundance. Tree Sparrows 

 have been unaccountably scarce. The 

 White-crowns seem to have all passed on 

 farther south, and the usual throngs of 

 Red-wings are entirely missing. Song 

 Sparrows, however, are present in some 

 numbers. 



The first restless Robins appeared on 

 January 19, and on the 26th several 

 small flocks, together with a few Blue- 

 birds were seen. Of twenty-one species 

 noted on this date, a Yellow-bellied Sap- 

 sucker and a Kingfisher were the most 

 unusual. 



Among the rarer wintering species may 

 be mentioned a troop of Purple Finches 

 and a flock of a few dozen Cedar Waxwings 

 that have remained in the shelter of Forest 

 Hill Cemetery, and a flock of about thirty 

 Mergansers that have been using a quiet 

 side-channel of the Missouri River some 

 three miles above the mouth of Big Blue. 

 The Waxwings have been feeding largely 

 on an abundant crop of hackberries. The 

 Ducks probably came down with the 

 Christmas storm as they have been under 

 observation since late in December. They 

 are unquestionably in pairs. 



A few Mallards and Pintails began to 

 feel the call of their northern homes 

 during the unseasonably balmy days of 

 late January and early February. The 

 appearance of these early migrants coin- 

 cident with false press notices relative to 

 the unconstitutionality of the federal law 

 called into being more than the usual 

 spring activity among local shooters. 

 Their organization is dying hard, and it 

 is fervently hoped that their long-sought 



court- test is at hand. — Harry Harris, 

 Kansas City, Mo. 



Denver Region. — In so far as the 

 writer's experiences and opportunities go, 

 the two months now in review have seemed 

 ornithologically colorless. While there 

 has been a welcome abundance of Meadow- 

 larks, many unusually exuberant with 

 song, . and also of Red-wings, Bluebirds, 

 various species of Juncos and of Tree 

 Sparrows, many other species, frequently 

 and even regularly seen here during January 

 and February, have been nearly or quite 

 absent. Thus the writer has seen no more 

 Great Northern Butcher-birds, only one 

 American Rough-legged Hawk and but 

 four Marsh Hawks. The Robin was seen 

 in Cheeseman Park on December 29 and 

 30. The new year opened auspiciously 

 in many ways, not least of which was the 

 sight of a Richardson's Merlin just out of 

 the east edge of Denver. It is probable 

 that a few Bohemian Waxwings have 

 been lingering about the hospital region 

 all winter, for several small flocks of birds 

 have been seen resembling this species, 

 but at too great a distance to be posi- 

 tively identified; flight, size and flapping 

 characters, however, all pointed to the 

 correctness of this diagnosis. This question 

 of diagnosis and of the occurrence of 

 unusual species and of possibility of 

 unique experiences are (and have been 

 for years) a source of keen interest to the 

 writer, making for an undying interest in 

 bird-work. For example, it has been 

 rather a unique experience to observe in 

 the immediate neighborhood of the com- 

 manding officer's house at General Hos- 

 pital No. 21, three species of Owls; twice 

 the Great Horned Owl, twice the Screech 

 Owl, and on several occasions a number 

 (perhaps a family) of Long-eared Owls, 

 while the reservation at the same time 

 boasts, in the late fall and early spring, 

 the presence of the Burrowing Owl. — W. 

 H. Bergtold, Denver, Colo. 



