April 13, 1882,] 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



207 



tni[d W*$i° r U+ 



WINTER NOTES. 



The Winter of 1881-2 in Lewis County, Northern 

 New York. 



BY C. HART MKRBIAM, M.D. 



THINKING that a brief summary of the peculiarities of 

 the pa9t -winter in Lewis county might prove of interest 

 to some of your readers, I have condensed, for their benefit, 

 the following notes from my journal : 



In Northern New York' the winter of 1881-3 has been 

 remarkable for its mildness. Not only has the temperature 

 averaged much higher than is usual at this season, but there 

 has also been a marked absence of those rapid extremes of 

 temperature which are so characteristic of this region in 

 winter. This is best shown by an outline of the climatic 

 conditions during each winter, and it is hardly necessary to 

 observe that in this latitude the winter embraces four full 

 months, and generally laps over at both ends. 



DECEMBER. 



The last month of 1881 was, in many respects, a most 

 extraordinary one, and, taken all in all, resembled an average 

 April more than any other month. During the early part of 

 December there was some fair sleighing on the hills, hut 

 none in the Black River valley. Rain fell almost continu- 

 ously on the 13th and 14th, and left bare ground throughout 

 the county. From this time on, the weather was particu- 

 larly suggestive of early spring. Between Christmas and 

 New Years there were so many heavy rains that the rivers 

 and streams overflowed their banks as in our spring freshets. 

 At the close of the month the temperature fell in the morn- 

 ing of the 31st, the rain had changed to snow, and at night 

 four inches covered the ground. The mercury did not fall 

 below zero of the Fahrenheit scale (17.77 C.) during the 

 entire month, and only reached this point once — on the night 

 of the 10th (a clear, cold night, illumined by a light aurora. 

 I counted twelve meteors in half an hour that evening 

 The highest temperature -was 4odeg. Fah., and was attained 

 twice. 



Crows remained here in considerable numbers throughout 

 the month. I shot an adult male butcher bird {Laniua 

 bomO.is) on the 3d, and saw a handsome black rough-legged 

 hawk (Arehibuko lagoptis, sartcti-johunni*) as late as Ike 

 21st. Snow buntings {Pkctroplianes niod'U) were first seen 

 on the 11th. 



JANUARY. 



January closely followed December, as is customary about 

 this time of year, and this sequence of events covers the 

 points of resemblance, near and remote, between them. The 

 fact. is. that pretty much all our winter seems to have been 

 crowded and compressed into the one month, and it was not 

 big enough to hold so much, and part escaped, and the result 

 wis that no one complained that January was not wintery 

 (} r ou may leave off the y if you like) enough. The ther- 

 mometer recorded a minus temperature for five consecutive 

 days, as well as for several that were not consecutive. As 

 early as the 4th of the mouth the mercury got down to — 18i 

 deg. Fahr., and the highest noon temperature that day was 

 fideg. below. But this was only preliminary. Jan.- 23, the 

 Fahrenheit tube showed a temperature of — 20deg. at 7 A. 

 M., — lldeg. noon, and — 25ideg. at 10 P. M., .and next 

 morning (Jan. 24) of — 31deg. (or 85deg. below, centigrade) 

 at 7 A. M. These temperatures are by no means low for this 

 section of country, and almost every winter the mercury 

 Falls to or below — 40deg. Fahr. in our neighborhood, and it 

 (the mercury) has been known to freeze. Still, the balance 

 of this particular winter has been so warm that even — 31 

 deg Fahr. seemed quite chilly. 



There was not a foot of snow on the level at any time dur- 

 ing the month — nor indeed during the entire winter. But 

 the wind kept pace with the temperature, and storm followed 

 storm, and gale, followed gale, till what little snow did fall 

 was piled up in drifts alongside fences and in other suitable 

 spots. On the 11th inst. about six inches of snow fell during 

 a gale from the west, and it lay in drifts across the roads on 

 the hills six and eight feet deep! 



During the severest and most tempestuous weather, I no- 

 ticed the red-headed woodpeckers at work amongst the 

 beeches, with no diminution in their numbers. Crows were 

 seen from time to time, and flocks of snow-buntings {Pkrtro- 

 phanes nivalis) every few days. The only other birds seen in 

 January were the chickadee {Parus atricipillus), white-bellied 

 nuthatch (St'tta c-arolinonsis), downy and hairy woodpeckers 

 {Picus pubescent and P. villoaus). and partridge {Bonasa umbt !- 

 ius). 



Black 'and gray squirrels {Sciunis earolinensis, var. kucotis) 

 were "out" except during the severest weather, and on the 

 morning of January 26 I saw seven grays and one black 

 picking beechnuts together from the trees about our house. 

 They were often persecuted and driven off by the red-headed 

 woodpeckers {Melein-erpes erylhrocepkabtt), who evidently re- 

 garded them as trespassers upon theirfeeding ground. I have 

 previously called attention to their habit of pestering squir- 

 rels, and "mentioned an instance where I saw a pair of these 

 handsome birds knock a full-grown black squirrel from the 

 top of a high elm tree (Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, Yol. III., 

 No. 3, pp. 125-6,' July, 1878). Red-squirrels (Sciun/.i hwho- 

 nius) were common throughout the month. Skunks {Mephiti* 

 vupiiiikn) were out a few tim« when the weather moderated. 



FEBRUARY. 



As already observed the change from December to January 

 was sudden and great, but not so marked was it. as the dif- 

 ference, between January and February. Never before, 

 "within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant," has a Feb- 

 ruary in Lewis county been so mild and springlike, and in 

 every way uuwintery as the past. During the" middle part 

 of the month warm rains were of frequent occurrence, and 

 left almost, no snow along the Black River Yalley. Even on 

 the hills, plots of bare ground were so large and so numer- 

 ous that sleighs were of necessity abandoned, and wheeling 

 became the only means of terrestrial navigation. This state 

 of things continued till the 30th, when a snow storm com- 

 menced, and within forty -eight hours a foot of snow covered 

 the ground. This made excellent sleighing for a few days, 

 but it settled, melted and evaporated, till in a week's time 

 little was left. 



This unprecedented mildness of the weather had, as would 

 be expected, its influence upon the mammals and birds to be 

 found here. Both skunks and 'coons {Procyon lotor) were 

 roaming about nights during nearly the entire month, and 

 even chipmunks [Tmdas atrial us) and woodebucks {Anstomys 



monux) were seen at various times. Black and gray squirrels 

 (color varieties of the same species) were out almost every 

 day, stealing beech nuts and running away from the red- 

 headed woodpeckers, that phased them with commendable 

 perseverance and energy. Indeed, the. redheads evidently 

 claim, as their exclusive monopoly, the privilege of gathering 

 beech nuts from the trees in winter, and attack with great 

 fury all intruders. 



Flocks of snow buntings {Phetrophanes nivalin) have been 

 common all the month. In one of them I saw true Lapland 

 longspurs (P. lapponkut) on the loth. Horned Ian 

 ophibi alpexlri:!) were first observed by me on the 12th, and 

 were seen nearly every day afterward. Several were some- 

 tunes found together, but they generally went in pairs, and 

 were commonly met with in the fields and on the fences 

 bordering the roads. Often they would run along for some 

 distance on the snow and ice and mud in the road, in front 

 of one's horses, before taking flight. They are not at all wild, 

 and usually sit quietly on a fence rail while wagons are pass- 

 ing. They make a harsh, squeaky noise that can be heard 

 at quite a distance. It sounds very much like the noise made 

 by a sliding barn door when the wheels squeak. In driving 

 about the country one often hears this note, and finds its 

 utterer perched on some rock or fence post near by. To us 

 inLewis countythere iasomething i tUliai ya1 tractive about 

 the horned lark. It is only six years sine- it was first ob- 

 served in our section, and it must be that the novelty of its 

 appearance here has not yet worn off. 



Small flocks of tree sparrows [Spi:eUa monticobi) were 

 noticed at different times on and after Feb. 8. Robins were 

 seen in the Black River Valley as early as the middle, of the 

 month, and occasionally afterward, but were decidely rare. 

 A few yellow birds {Adrei-ia'.lnus tritt'*) were here on the 

 18th and 24th. They wintered in the evergreen forests 

 along our eastern border. I saw a couple of male bluebirds 

 on the 28th. 



MARCH. 



So far as temperature is concerned March has been unusu- 

 ally mild, and it has lacked the sudden and rapid extremes 

 which generally characterize it in this climate. The ther- 

 mometer has only been as low, even as zero, of the Fahren- 

 heit scale (17.77deg. C), twice during the entire month (Odeg. 

 F. on the loth, and 2deg. F. on the 25th). The highest noon 

 temperature in the shade was oOdeg. Fah. (March 2 and 37). 

 There w r ere seven days during which the mercury remained 

 above the freezing point, of water for the entire twenty -four 

 hours, and ten days during which it remained at or "below 

 this point, (Odeg. C., 33deg. F.). The average noon temper- 

 ature (taken in the shade at 1 P. M.) for the entire month 

 was 34deg. Fah., and the average temperature, for the whole 

 twenty-four hours for the entire month was 26deg. Fah. 



March brought with it a flood. Rain commenced falling 

 before midnight the last day of February, and kept on con- 

 tinuous^ and without intermission till the following night. 

 How much water fell I do not know, but, with the snow 

 which it melted and carried off, it created a general flood. 

 All low lands bordering our streams and rivers were over- 

 flowed, and in many places huge masses of ice were heaped 

 upon the roads and'meadows, 



We had several snow storms in March, but at most a 

 couple or three inches only fell at a time, and the ground has 

 been mostly bare during the greater part of the month. 

 There has not been enough snow for really good sleighing 

 for a single, day of twenty-four hours in the entire month, 

 and the wheeling has been execrable. Of blustering storms 

 and gales we have had no lack, and in this respect alone 

 have we had a veritable March. 



Chipmunks have been common, and woodchucks have 

 been seen from time to time. I am inclined to think that 

 1 visitors, the snow-bunting, (Pkctrop/ianes nivalis) 

 enjoy a little warm weather occasionally, for they have been 

 particularly abundant throughout, the month, and I saw a 

 flock as late as the 28th. Horned larks {JSremopft&a) were 

 common until the 25th, since which date, far some unac- 

 countable reason, I have seen none, and 1 have been constantly 

 on the road, too. A partridge {Bonasa wmhtVm) that has 

 remained about our house for several years commenced 

 drumming on the 25th. Robins were seen every now and 

 then, but did not really become common till the 25th. The 

 little colonies of the red-headed woodpeckers that have 

 wintered with us commenced breaking up into pairs about 

 the middle of the month. On the morning of March 3, dur- 

 ing a piercing northwest wind, I saw a flock of thirty 

 pigeons {Edopistcs niigreUorius) flying westward. Large 

 flocks of them were seen on the 31st and 33d, and at other 

 times by other parties. March 5 I saw a small flock of male 

 red-winged blackbirds, (Agelmis phmnkeus) and on the 10th a 

 flock of thirty-two, also all males. They have been observed 

 several times since. I saw two meadow larks {St n nulla 

 magna) on the 27th, and three more on the 31st. Did not 

 happen across any crow blackbirds (Quiscalus) till the 38th, 

 but they were probably here some time prior to this date. 

 Juncos '{Junto hyemal's) were first noted March 38th, and 

 immediately became very abundant White-throated -par- 

 rows {Zonoirkhia (iMcclUs) appeared with them. During the 

 night, of the 2Sth the south wind brought with it an influx of 

 song sparrows {Mc«>*piz'i faxciata) and other birds, greatly 

 increasing the representatives here of several species, a 

 number of which had previously arrived. Saw two fox 

 sparrows {Pax*, relit iUura) on the 31st. Sparrow hawks 

 {Jfhlco sparmrius) and red-shouldered hawks {Bufao Uneatus) 

 were first seen by me March 29th. The latter had probably 

 been about for a'week or ten days, for I had several times 

 heard people remark that they had >u<-ii a -hen hawk" 

 lately, and I have not seen a red-tailed hawk {Butt ■ 

 yet." I can but believe that both species have been here for 

 some little, time, but they must have been very scarce to have 

 eluded my search, for 1 have been on the road every day, 

 and have traveled many miles in all directions. 1 am 

 informed by Mr. A. M. Church, of Lyon's Falls, that he has 

 seen cow birds {Molothrus air) there since about the 30th. 



On the 10th of March I found, in a small stream that emp- 

 ties into Black River, a large red or Bahnon-coioied ealaman- 

 der (Gyrwophilus porphyritkrus) thai measured seven inches 

 in length. The stream had considerable ice in it, and its 

 banks were covered with snow. The salamander was nearly 

 torpid, and I think it must have been unearthed from it's 

 winter retreat by the force of the water in the freshet of the 

 week previous, forit hardly seems probable that it had dug its 

 own way out so early in the season and while the water was 

 so icy cold. Indeed, the beast, itself .seemed hardly able to 

 move. 



March 30 I explored a small stream, turning over rocks 

 and dredging the bottom with a scoop net. The only things 

 found were a few white grubs, a middle-sized crayfish {Cam- 

 barm) and a couple of young saiamaqjiers about an incii and 

 a half long, with external gills. I heneve them to be Pk- 



ihodrm erythronolus, but they are too immature for positive 

 identification. 



GENERAL SUMMARY. 



The station at which the temperatures mentioned in this 

 paper were taken is Locust Grove, and the entire communi- 

 cation pertains to the middle district, of the county, and 

 does not include, its eastern border, which lies within the 

 confines of the Adirondack region, and is characterized by a 

 very different fauna. 



Tojecapitulate : We find that the past winter, in North- 

 ern 2\ ew York, has been one of unusual mildness, and that 

 at no time has more than a foot of snow covered the ground, 

 while much of the time a large portion of the surface has 

 been absolutely bare. There have been many heavy rains, 

 so that the total precipitation has probably not fallen short 

 of the average. 



The mammals that were to be found in the middle district 

 of the county throughout the entire winter are: 



The common fox {Vulpes vulgaris). 



Least weasel {Putorius vulgaris). 



Ermine {Putorius ermineus). 



Skunk {Mephitis inephitka). 



Hairy-tailed mole {Seapanus brtweri). 



A shrew {Neosorex sp ). 



Flying squirrel {Sduropterus volueeJktj. 



Gray or black squirrel {Sciurus carolinensis, ku(otis) 



Red squirrel (Sriurus hudsoniiis). 



Jumping mouse {Zapus hudsonius). 



Common rat {Mas dec a /nanus). 



House mouse (Mils ?nuscuhis). 



Deer mouse {Hesperomys kucopus). 



Long-eared mouse {Evotomys rutilus, Qapperi). 



Meadow mouse {Arnicola riparius). 



Mitskrat {Fiber zibethicus). 



Porcupine {Erethimn domains). 



Northern hare {Lepus americanus). 



Besides the above, the raccoon {Procyonlcior) was "out'' in 

 December and again in February. Chipmunks were ^een as 

 late as the middle of November, and came out again in Feb- 

 ruary. Woodchucks {Arctomys rnoneix) disappeared, as is 

 their custom, about the 30th of Septemher, but were seen 

 again early in February, since which more and more of them 

 have appeared on the surface. 



The birds that have wintered in the middle section are : 



The chickadee {Parus alricapiih/s). 



White-bellied nuthatch {Siite earolinemis). 



Snow-bunting {PkctropJuims nivalis). 



Crow ( Gorv us frugimrus). 



Bluejay {Gyanociha cristate). 



Hairy woodpecker {Picus villosus). 



Downy woodpecker {Picus pubescem). 



Red-headed woodpecker (Mekimrpes erythroixphalus). 



Barred owl (Strix nebutosa). 



Saw-whet owl {Jiyctek acadica). 



Screech owl {Beapa osw). 



Great horned owl {Bubo cirginiunus). 



Goshawk {Astur alrimpillus). 



Partridge {Bonasa umbdlus). 



A few snowy owls {Ayctea scandiaca) were killed in October 

 and November, but I have not learned that any were seen 

 after November 13. Nor did I see a single butcher bird 

 {Lanius horeedis) between the 3d of December and the 1st of 

 April — saw two males April 1. It is noteworthy that certain 

 species that frequently winter with us have not 'been seen at 

 all during the past season. Among such may be mentioned 

 the red-bellied nuthatch {Sitta canadensis), pine bullfinch 

 (Pinicola inuelmtor), pine linnet {Ghrysomitris pinus), and the 

 common redpoll {JEgiothus linaria). 



There was as much snow here the middle of April last year 

 as during the most of March this year, and the follow ins- 

 table shows the difference in the time of arrival of afew birds 

 for the two seasons : 



1881 1883 



Robin : March 18 February 15 



Bluebird March SO February 28 



Horned larks , . .March IB February 12 



Junco April!) March 88 



Red-shouldered bluekbird April 1 March 5 



Meadow larks April 15 March 27 



Woodcock and Telegraph Wires. — Rutland, Vt., March 

 31, 1882. — The first woodcock of the season was found under- 

 neath the telegraph wire yesterday with a broken winsj. It 

 seems to me unusually early for "them to appear in this lati- 

 tude; is it not so? By the way, who can explain the reason 

 why woodcock above all other birds are so fascinated by 

 telegraph wires? They are found every seasoa in consider- 

 able numbers, killed or crippled by having flown against the 

 wires, but we hear of no other birds suffering from the same 

 cause. My plant of quail are doing finely' in their cages, 

 only one has died so far, and the rest seem perfectly healthy. 

 — Verde Monte. [One reason for the great destruction of 

 woodcock by telegraph wires as compared with birds of 

 other species, is the fact that they migrate by night and fly 

 low, s.o that they are especially exposed to danger. Stilf, 

 other birds suffer, though probably not to any serious .extent. 

 A case is on record in Forest and Stream of a swan being 

 killed in this way during f oggy weather. Those species which 

 migrate by night are often so killed: among them robins, swal- 

 lows, martins, sparrows and other small birds. Dr. Coues re- 

 ports that on the Western plains, where telegraph wires have 

 been newly erected, many species of birds are thus killed; 

 among them shore larks, lark buntings and meadow larks]. 



With Their Tails ln Their Mouths. — Several years 

 since I owned the fishing privilege of a fine trout pond in 

 Connecticut. The pond was some twelve or fifteen feet deep 

 and covered one and three-quarter acres. The latter part of 

 one winter, in a time of freshet, and while the water was 

 covered with a heavy body of ice the dam suddenly broke, 

 allowing the water to rush out in a body, sweeping away 

 with it all my trout, and leaving only a swift running brook 

 where the pond had once been. An examination of the 

 meadows over which the torrent of water; had swept, re- 

 vealed large numbers of dead shiners and minnows, but never 

 a trout. 1 suppose while these little fish were destroyed by 

 the swift rushing water and debris, the more active and saga- 

 cious trout were able to escape without harm. When the 

 ground had settled in the spring the dam was rebuilt, and 

 now comes the curious part of my story. When the water 

 again flooded its former bed, large numbers of eels floated to 

 the surface, all dead, all curled up like hoops, and nearly all 

 with their tails in their mouths. In cases where the tail was 

 not in the mouth it rested against the head or was near the 

 mouth. Whether they pass the winter in this way or had 

 just put themselves in this form as they began to feel distress 

 from the gradually hardening mud in which they were ini- 



