38 The Wilson Bulletin. 



Winter gives up many secrets of the birds which must 

 otherwise be always hidden from us. It would be rare in- 

 deed that the birds which walk much should write their 

 activities so we could read them, without snow. But about 

 what can be read from bird tracks we are not concerned 

 in this paper. At no other time of year do the purely 

 social instincts of the birds show themselves so well, and can 

 be read so easily. Birds are far more approachable than 

 at any other time except when nesting. The nesting sea- 

 son, however, presents the other side of the bird nature — 

 the egoistic or the family life as distinct from the social life. 

 But it is not about this side of the winter study that I wish 

 to speak now. Rather let us first see what and how many 

 birds there are about us during the winter months. 



In the deductions which follow it must be understood 

 that they are based upon strictly winter records. Generally 

 that means December, January and February; but some- 

 times winter did not begin until mid-December, and 

 sometimes it ended a week or more before the close of Feb- 

 ruary. In only one instance did it begin in November and 

 in only one extend into March. It is comparatively easy to 

 determine the end of winter by the appearance of the first 

 migrant birds, but it is often difficult to know at what time 

 the winter begins. In every case of doubt the record has 

 been thrown out. 



The work upon which this paper is based began in 1896, 

 and has been carried on uninterruptedly every winter since. 

 After a very little experiment it became apparent that the 

 plan to make a complete census of even a quarter of the 

 county was impracticable. Consequently several represen- 

 tative regions were selected and these were as thoroughly 

 worked as possible. The accompanying map of a part of 

 Lorain county will serve to show the general outlines of the 

 ground covered. No. 1, may be known as the Chance Creek 

 route; No. 2, Beaver Creek route; No. 3, north overland route; 

 No. 4, Oberlin south-east route; No. 5, Oberlin north-east 

 route. Of course other parts of the county were traversed and 



