jCjO Job 071 Massachusetts Winter Birds. [J"'y 



the Heron again, feeding in the same spot. Another bird that I 

 did not expect to see was the Red-headed Woodpecker. Numbers 

 of them had been seen during the fall, but about the first of 

 December most of them disappeared. Still some remained, and 

 were seen in Brookline during the entire winter, not leaving us 

 until the middle of April. 



On February 4, while a severe snow storm was raging, I met 

 another straggler. This was a Fox-colored Sparrow. I never 

 took one before in winter, and think that their appearance in that 

 season is exceptional. Another one, the second that I have 

 known of, was taken February 17, by a friend. 



Of course, even in a very mild winter, no great number of birds 

 such as I have just been mentioning are found. No one notices 

 them except the collector, and he only a stray one or two now 

 and then. Some other instances of such wandering it might be 

 well to speak of. In January, 1880, a friend of mine was skat- 

 ing on a pond where a number of men were engaged in cutting 

 ice, when he noticed a curious looking bird sitting on the edge 

 of the ice in a rather dazed manner, not heeding at all the 

 presence of the workmen. He went for a gun, returned, and 

 shot the bird, which I ascertained was a Black Guillemot. There 

 had been a severe northeast storm the day before, and the poor 

 creature had evidently got lost. 



Another victim to a northeaster was a Woodcock, one day 

 late in November last. This incident was also observed by a 

 friend, who while passing along one of the streets of Boston, 

 while a gale was blowing and the snow falling thickly, saw a 

 Woodcock shoot down the street, borne on the wings of the 

 wind. The unfortunate bird passed within a few feet of him, 

 rendering identification certain. Nothing more was heard from 

 it, so it is probable that it escaped in safety from the city. 



It is not an uncommon thing to meet Kingfishers where open 

 water can be found inland. One was noted last February in 

 Brookline, and I have known of one or two more in about twice 

 as many years. Titlarks were an agreeable surprise on February 

 25, 1883, when I came close upon two as they sat perched upon 

 a rock on Moon Island, Boston Harbor. On February 8, 1879, 

 I found a flock of Rusty Blackbirds in Brookline, where they were 

 feeding in a swamp, there being some ten of them in the flock. 

 Then on the 3oth of December of the same year I saw a party 



