Cambridge, Massachusetts.
1900.
December.
(2).
Been either clam days or light breezes, the prevailing direc-
tion of the wind being west, veering to northwest or south-
west.
  The chief interest attaching to the December birds
about Cambridge centers in the water fowl at Fresh Pond and
in the somewhat unusual number of Northern Shrikes present in
our neighborhood. Most of the notes and observations on
which the record is based were furnished me by Mr. Walter
Deane, I having been absent (at Bethel, Maine) during the
month with exception of Christmas week which I spent at
home. Fresh Pond continued open until the16th when it be-
came covered with a thin sheet of ice. This persisted through
the remainder of the month but a lane of open water appeared
soon after the 16th off the end of Hemlock Point and gradual-
ly extended to the opposite (northern) shore finally attain-
ing a width of at least 200 yards. This combination of con-
ditions - extensive tracts of ice sufficiently firm for the 
birds to rest and sleep on and plenty of open water for them
to swim and bathe in - attracted the water fowl in somewhat
unusual variety and wholly unprecedented numbers.
Water fowl
at
Fresh Pond
  Mr. Deane kept them under fairly close observation
visiting the pond nearly every pleasant morning; I was there
115