134 
0HNITHUL0GI8T 
[Vol. 7-No. 17 
Notes from St. John, N. B. 
Dining the "Winter of 1879, ’80, the Ce¬ 
dar Bird {Ampelis cedrorum) weathered 
the rigors of onr climate as late as the 
middle of Januaiw. During the same "Win¬ 
ter I also observed a Golden-winged Wood¬ 
pecker (Cohiptesaurahis) several mornings 
in succession feeding on the berries of the 
mountain ash. 
Large numbers of Robins, (7'urdtis mi- 
f/ratoria), remained here during the whole 
Winter. The latter bird I have frequently 
observed here during the Winter, but 
never before or since have I seen or heard 
of the Cedar Bird remaining in the Prov¬ 
ince later than September, which is their 
usual time for migrating south. 
I give a few causes that may be attribu¬ 
ted to these birds remaining with us through 
this particular Winter, not that it was 
milder than usual, or more broken : rather 
the reverse, for several days the mercury 
reached the cypher. The abundance of 
food the Cedar Birds found in the berries 
of the IMountain Ash was a great attraction 
for them, for on these they fed sumptous- 
ly; in fact, gorging tliemselves to such an 
extent that they would apparently become 
stupid, and when in this state allow them¬ 
selves to be captured by means of a wire 
noose attached to a fishing rod. If the 
wire happened to touch them before you 
succeeded in placing it over their heads, it 
would not alarm them in the least. They 
would pick at it. turn their heads and ex¬ 
amine it, as though it were quite a curiosi¬ 
ty. When one was captured the balance 
of the flock would fly aAvay in great alarm. 
I kept several of these birds in confine¬ 
ment that I had captured in this way; 
they, however, jiroved themselves such 
very uninteresting jiets that I afterwards 
gave them their liberty. 
The abundance of food they found in 
the berries must have been a great attrac¬ 
tion to them, for when the supply was ex¬ 
hausted. and they had entirely stripped 
the trees, they disappeared, and did not 
again put in an appearance imtil Jime, 
which is their usual time of arriving from 
the south. None of the sjjecimens that I 
captured had the usual waxen appendages 
on the secondaries, and were mostly young 
birds which had probablj' bred farther 
north and were only then moving south as 
scarcity of fool and severity' of weather 
compelled them ; but why does not this 
occur every year ? The berries upon 
which they fed have since been as abun¬ 
dant and no Cedar Birds have appeared at 
this late season. Their appearance may 
then be attributed to an enatic migration 
on the ])art of these birds. I was quite 
disappointed on first discovering them to 
find they were not the Bohemian Wax¬ 
wing, {Ampelis //arrula), for which bird I 
have kept a sharp lookout, but have not as 
yet succeeded in securing a single speci¬ 
men. The Golden-winged Woodpecker 
may have been a wounded bird and unable 
to perfonn its usual migration, although 
he appeared perfectly strong on the wing, 
and particularly wild. 
Several instances have been recorded of 
Woodcock having been shot in the month 
of December, but they have invariably 
proved to be wounded birds, which have 
been unable to migrate to their southern 
feeding grounds, and which by the succour 
of an open Spring have been enabled to 
eke out an existence till this late season of 
the year.— Harold Gilbert. 
The Swamp Sparrow 
.Arrives here, (Saratoga Springs), about 
April 1st and departs, if it does at all, 
about the first week of October. I have 
seen it here ^larch 22d, 1879, and Feb. 
27th, 1880. It is a pleasing songster, but 
less voluble than its friend and ally, M 
melodia. It is not at all shy, and when on 
the nest can be apjiroached (piite close, 
when it will fly uj) with a startling whirr 
and an angry chirp, and aft<*r flying a 
short distance, will alight and run like a 
