36. ORNITHOLOGY. 
These last named birds are never found associating together, save 
on the approach of winter, after all the other feathered songsters 
have left, and the forest is denuded of its foliage, and everything 
wears a dreary and lonely aspect. Birds that are then the sole 
tenants of the woods, band together in mutual good fellowship, 
and a company of three or four woodpeckers, half a dozen nut- 
haichers, with a dozen, or twenty chicadeedees, may frequently 
be seen going through the woods, keeping up a continual and in- 
cessant chorus, twittering, chirping, and piping, which contrasts 
very singularly with the surrounding solitude, that, at this season, 
pervades the Canadian forests. 
The birds that migrate here during winter, are more numerous 
than the resident birds, and, unlike the true migratory birds, many 
of them are irregular in their visits, as in the case with the Cross 
Bills, of which there are two species, the red, and the white- 
winged. They are quite plenty during some winters, and then 
are not to be seen again for two or three years. The Snow Bun- 
ting is more regular in its migration, and may be seen in large 
flocks every winter. On the approach of spring, they retire to the 
far north to breed, their nest and eggs having been found on the 
coast of Lapland. The Lesser Red Pole, is another winter visi- 
tant, and may be seen in flocks, feeding upon the seeds of the 
different kinds of weeds, left in the gardens and fields. They are 
a sprightly, active little bird, and appear at a distance to be of a 
grey color, but on a nearer approach, the male will be observed 
to have the upper portions of the neck and breast, as well as 
rump feathers, marked with a rich deep carmine. This is more 
noticeable towards spring. Its notes somewhat resemble those 
of the cock yellow-bird, and have led many persons to erroneous- 
ly suppose them to be the yellow-bird, in its winter plumage, but 
the migration of the yellow-bird south, during our winter, is so 
well known, as to preclude any possibility of its being the same. 
The Ptarmigan, or white grouse, frequently migrates from the 
coast of Labrador and Hudson Bay, into the northern range of 
our Townships. In the year 1862, they came within 15 miles of 
Ottawa, and were killed in considerable numbers, while feeding 
upon the willow tops. 
