Vermont Botanical and Bird Club 17 



February 21: Six miles, four hours; white-breasted nuthatches, 

 2; red-breasted nuthatches, 1; hairy woodpeckers, 1; chickadees, 1; 

 crows, 2. 



February 22: Two miles, one hour; prairie horned larks, 2. 



February 23: Three miles, two hours; no birds. 



March 1: Five miles, three hours; crows, 1; prairie horned 

 larks, 2. 



March 3: Five miles, two hours; prairie horned larks, 7. 



March 5: Six miles, three hours; crows, 3; red-breasted nuthatch, 

 1; chickadees, 5; prairie horned larks, 1. 



Same Scarcity at Wells River. 



Under date of January 22, 1915, R. G. Brock of Wells River writes: 

 "I would like to know if others have noticed a scarcity of winter birds. 

 We have not had a nuthatch, woodpecker nor tree sparrow at our bird 

 table this winter, and only a very few chickadees have come. What 

 blackcaps did appear were strangers and they did not come until after 

 January 1. Heretofore, we have always had some chickadees that had 

 been here the winter before, as we could tell by their actions. I did 

 not see any of the usual late fall birds during the hunting season." 



A Hartland Report. 



Mrs. Jay G. Underwood of Hartland states that as a whole the 

 number of winter birds there has been less than usual. She writes as 

 follows: "Most noticeable is the scarcity of chickadees. In January 

 they came, but rarely for the suet, nuts and doughnuts which I put out 

 for them and when they did come there would be only one or two at a 

 time. They were shy and easily startled. Now (March 5) they come 

 oftener and act more confiding but I have only three or four at a time 

 where in other seasons I had eight or more. I have a flock of 10 or 

 15 tree sparrows which I feed canary bird seed and they, too, are fond 

 of suet and doughnuts. We have had downy woodpeckers, a pair of 

 white-breasted nuthatches and a male purple finch but not a single 

 hairy woodpecker. There have been no pine grosbeaks this season. A 

 large flock of crows, literally thousands, spend each night in pine 

 woods back of our house, always splitting into three bands which go 

 their separate ways to feed each morning." 



Conditions at Bethel. 



Mrs. G. M. Miller of Bethel writes: "Winter birds are very scarce 

 here. There is a flock of goldfinches that is seen rarely. I saw a 



