1883 .] McIlwraith on Winter Birds of Western Ontario. 1 43 
one of the most restless birds I ever saw. You cannot depend 
upon him to be in the same place two consecutive half seconds. 
He runs like a Sanderling, and whenever he keeps his feet still 
by accident, his wings are flirted in^a way that shows his anxiety 
to be off. Several are usually found together, and sometimes a 
loose flock of a hundred or more is seen. They are very strong 
on the wing, sometimes mounting rapidly for several hundred 
feet, if suddenly startled, and after a few moments spent in circl- 
ing like a Snipe, they drop again almost as suddenly as a shot, and 
as if from the very clouds. They became scarce at Concepcion 
during August, and by the 10th of September none were to be 
found there. At Azul, February 1, 1881, they were very plenty 
but in poor plumage, and we continued to see them in all suita- 
ble places until our return to Buenos Aires early in April. 
Their note seemed to be only a sharp chirp. Of their breeding 
habits I know nothing. 
( To be continued .) 
BIRD NOTES FROM WESTERN ONTARIO. 
BY T. MCILWRAITH. 
The winter of 1882-83 will be remembered in Western Ontario 
by those who are fond of observing the movements of our native 
birds as the one in which the Pine Grosbeaks were so plenti- 
ful. The visits of these northern strangers are by no means 
regular ; sometimes a few pairs will be observed during January 
or February, and again they will be absent altogether for several 
years in succession, but on no previous occasion have they ever 
appeared in such numbers or stayed so late in the season as dur- 
ing the winter now drawing to a close. They were first observed 
in the shrubberies in and around the city about the 10th of January, 
and almost simultaneously with their arrival here there appeared 
notices in several country newspapers of the “arrival of flocks of 
strange birds, mostly of a smoky grey colour, but sometimes 
having a leader clad in glowing crimson.” 
