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Great Black-backed Gull and the Horned Lark. The Great 

 Black-backed Gull is a common winter resident along our 

 coasts, becoming abundant in severe weather, and at such 

 times entering the harbor and penetrating up the river as 

 far as Yonkers, where of course it is a rare bird. This Gull 

 was decidedly scarce until after the cold spell in early Feb- 

 ruary, during which it appeared in its normal numbers. 

 The Horned Lark was unusually scarce the entire winter, 

 it being exceptional to see more than half a dozen individuals 

 during a day's walk on one of the beaches. Largely as a result 

 of this, the Prairie Horned Lark was not recorded, this sub- 

 species associating with its relative, and not occurring unless 

 the latter is unusually common. 



A few words should be said at this point as to what consti- 

 tutes a ''winter record." Roughly speaking, the winter season 

 is from December 1 to March 1. Birds, however, with a fine 

 contempt for the chronology of man, by no means fit in to 

 this convenient division. If the autumn be a mild one, many 

 species, such as the Blackbirds, Grackles, and Hermit Thrush, 

 regularly linger with us well into the middle of December* 

 The migration of waterfowl is rarely concluded until the 

 first of January. Canada Geese, for instance, are reported 

 almost yearly from Long Island around Christmas, but the 

 number of records for the end of January is comparatively 

 small. Another fact should be noted. Make a thorough 

 search of your locality some day during the end of December. 

 The birds seen will consist of a greater or less number of the 

 common winter residents of your locality plus a few other 

 species represented for the most part by isolated individuals. 

 Repeat the same trip in the end of January, and you will in 

 all Hkelihood notice the following difference. The number 

 of the commoner species will have greatly decreased, and the 

 isolated individuals of the less common species will have 

 disappeared altogether. This is by no means an arbitrary 

 rule, and there are plenty of exceptions, but every field ornitho- 

 logist knows the experience of taking a friend to some choice 

 spot without success and exclaiming, ''Well, there were plenty 

 of birds here earlier in the winter." The reasons for this 



