368 Certain Phases of Bird-Life . [July, 
most drear. One question now arises, and we naturally ask, 
“ What has become of the birds so lately here ? ” 
During the winter of 1874-75 (the coldest except one — 
i 835-36 — since 1780) I endeavoured to determine to what 
extent these birds sought shelter, and the character of it, 
not only as a protection against severe storms, but as regular 
winter quarters — i.e., for roosting-places. I was led to do 
this from the faCt that these winter residents, as the blue- 
bird, the cardinal redbird, and the titmouse, do not roost in 
the trees, as in summer, and it seemed probable that, seek- 
ing warmer quarters in ordinary weather, they should seek 
shelter from severe storms, and not temporarily migrate to 
some point beyond the limits of the storm ; not only this, 
but that some spot is selected early in the season as such 
roosting-place and refuge, and occupied as such throughout 
the season. So far as my observations extend, I was correct 
in my surmises. 
I have on my farm a deep “ gully,” or ravine, thickly 
wooded, and with overhanging banks, extending a consider- 
able portion of the entire length. This overhanging earth 
is held in place partly by the character of the soil, and more 
by the roots of the trees growing near the margins of the 
gully. In this locality, under the overhanging earth, in 
some instances at a distance of 3 feet from the open ground, 
I found the snow-birds, song and chipping sparrows, occa- 
sionally a flock of cedar-birds, the arCtic snow-bird, and 
horned larks roosting ; and, judging from the amount of 
excreta upon the ground, this had been the accustomed 
roosting-place for many weeks. A little before sundown, 
during January, I would find these birds, some or all of 
of them, congregating in the adjoining fields and in the trees 
of the gully, and quite suddenly they would all disappear. 
Searching every possible hiding-place, 1 finally found them 
as above described. If the following day proved very cold 
or stormy, many of them would remain in their snug retreat, 
the arCtic visitors being the first to venture out. The birds 
just mentioned all build open nests, either in trees or upon 
the ground. On the other hand, the titmouse, nuthatch, 
brown tree-creeper, and bluebird, all of which build nests in 
hollow trees or sheltered spots of that character, I found 
regularly roosted in the hollow trees or in the outbuildings 
of the farm. The cardinal redbirds, however, which nest in 
trees and brier-patches, usually took refuge in dense cedars 
to roost, but sought other shelter during severe storms. For 
instance, during the remarkable wind-storm of February 9th, 
when the air was filled with dust, and the thermometer 
