THE OOLOGIST 



98 



743a California Bush-Tit 



744 Lead-colored Bush-Tit 1 



758 Russet-backed Thrush 4 



761a Western Robin 



763 Varied Thrush 1 



767 Western Bluebird 8 



W. A. Strong, 

 San Jose, Cal. 



Bohemian Waxwings In Kansas. 



Prompted by the several notes in 

 regard to the unusual wintral pres- 

 ence of the Bohemian Waxwing, I am 

 disposed to send a few notes on the 

 occurrence of this erratic creature in 

 a region wherein it has always been 

 credited as "very rare." Only about 

 four winters out of fourteen, covering 

 my residence in Kansas, have I ever 

 seen the Bohemian Waxwing. In the 

 majority of these cases, the birds 

 seen have generally numbered only 

 about from ten to forty in a flock; 

 with the (apparently-identical) flock 

 of forty occurring, statedly, during a 

 period of some two months. (At Irv- 

 ing, five miles away, I saw, during a 

 single winter, a flock of about twenty 

 birds, three or four times). This pres- 

 ent winter I have seen flocks of vari- 

 ous sizes — ranging from ten to sixty. 

 In most cases, I have been led to feel 

 that the flocks observed were differ- 

 ent flocks. They have appeared, with 

 one exception, invariably at Blu3 

 Rapids, the only exception be a flock 

 of about twenty, seen at Marysville, 

 fifteen miles away. A number of 

 of people have inquired about these 

 interesting birds; one man, from the 

 country, six miles to the Northeast, 

 reporting a fiock of fully 200, feeding 

 on his cedar-berries. My first flocks 

 of the Bohemian Waxwings were seen 

 in December. The last flock, to date, 

 appeared about the twentieth of Feb- 

 ruary. 



The sporadic wintral occurrence of 

 this erratic bird, whose food appears 



to be greatly variant, is quite parallel- 

 ed by its breeding variances. The 

 scattered records covering what has 

 been learned of southerly breedings 

 of this wierd creature make interest- 

 ing reading. 



P. B. Peabody. 



In Defense. 



Last October, the issue of The 

 Oologist included a list of species ob- 

 served at Lexington, Missouri, by 

 several bird students, including my- 

 self. Many of the species listed were 

 collected there. I am prepared to 

 explain just why each species listed 

 is on the list, and therefore take some 

 little interest in any criticism pub- 

 lished concerning it. 



In the January issue, Mr. P. B. 

 Peabody of Blue Rapids, Kansas, 

 writes: "There are often items coming 

 into print that require some modiflca- 

 tion or explanation," and he cites my 

 reference to the occurrence of the 

 Long-tailed Chickadee as an example 

 of that fact. "Of course, Missouri is 

 quite out of the range of this Chick- 

 adee," are his words of "explanation." 

 A rather broad statement, I would say. 

 It might be well to prove its fallacy 

 in order to show the correctness of 

 my statement. 



In the flrst place, let me say that 

 Lexington is only forty-flve miles 

 from the Kansas line, and is located 

 on the Missouri River. These two 

 facts are of primary importance in 

 understanding the range of P. a. sep- 

 tentrionalis. 



Fortunately for Missouri ornitholog- 

 ists, Mr. Otto Widmann (1) of St. Louis 

 and Mr. Harry Harris (2) of Kansas 

 City have published data on the birds 

 of the state. There are perhaps no 

 more capable ornithologists in the 

 state than these two men. Their lists 

 are full of valuable data, and I shall 

 use their references freely in my "ex- 



