157 
Sept., 1882.] AND OOLOGIST. 
Field Glass. 
During our Winter’s walk, besides the 
Pine Linnet, we shall find in this 2 )art of 
Eastern Connecticut the Slate-colored 
Snow Bird, Tree Sparrows, Black-caj) 2 )ed 
Chicadees, occasionally Shrikes, Blue Jays, 
Goldfinches, Golden-crowned Kinglets,Gol¬ 
den-winged. Downy and Hairy Woodpeck¬ 
ers, Nuthatches, Brown-tree creej^ers. Blue 
Birds. Partridges, Quails, Crows and 
Hawks. Now and then White-throated 
SiDarrows, Cedar Birds, Song Sjiarrows, 
Robins and Purple Finches may be seen, 
and the Gulls will move up and down the 
river as long as it remains open. 
The above is a fair list to begin with. 
Some of those already known may be 
studied for descrijDtive jioints, and to fa¬ 
miliarize one with the text book or key. 
The method of study is soon acquired, 
and it is but a stejj from the known to 
unknown birds. 
There are some constant features about 
all birds, and these are to be sought for in 
watching the bird on the ground, bush or 
tree, and at the same time we can ascer¬ 
tain what it feeds upon. If the ground 
has been long covered with snow, and 
somewhat cold, every shrub or tree with 
berries, and every i^atch of dry weeds and 
grasses has a particular value not quite so 
noticeable at other times. Chicadees, and 
even Crows, when hard pushed, as well as 
Pine Linnets, will feed on bayberry wax. 
Quails will now leave their bushy coverts 
and seek the green smilax vines that over¬ 
run our walls and outlying shrubbery, and 
feed on their blackish berries, which are 
somewhat nauseating to the taste, and 
after a meal of this kind, quail flesh, though 
not poisonous, is not very palatable food, 
and often causes severe cases of sickness. 
Of all the Ijerry bearing trees the juni¬ 
pers are most valuable to many Winter 
birds, and a section of country without 
these will be a j)oor })lace for out door 
study. Purple Finches, Goldfinches, Ce¬ 
dar Birds and Robins are often found 
among them when seen nowhere else. A 
flock of Robins may be frequently seen 
eating these berries, ai)23aiently so fam¬ 
ished as to j^ay but little attention to a 
2 :)erson a dozen feet away. Sometimes 
during very cold weather our vine-clad 
verandas are visited by Bhxe Birds in 
quest of the Virginia-cree 2 :)er berries, and 
in localities where these berries are abun¬ 
dant, we may look with some success for 
Blue Birds. On warm, sunny days, when 
the ground is bare, we find them around 
old orchards, exj^loring old (piarters, as if 
anticipating the coming season ; then they 
are on the alert for stray insects and the 
young grasshopper. Frequently grass¬ 
hoppers may be seen in several hours from 
the time a jiatch of grass ground is denud 
ed of snow. 
There is a familiar weed that grows in 
every garden and on 2 :)lowed ground, or by 
the road side, called ambrosia or ragweed, 
sometimes j^igweed, which affords an am¬ 
ple supply of small seeds. The same may 
be said of the evening jirimrose, and the 
many varieties of Panicum, and other 
dried grasses, that grow ujjon com 2 :)arative- 
ly waste jilaces. We shall find Tree Sjiar- 
rows. Goldfinches and Slate colored Snow 
Birds frequenting these jilants during the 
Winter months often when the ground 
is covered with a hard crust of snow. 
Then one may fully aj) 2 U’eciate the value 
of the uin-ight stalks with their beneficent 
harvest of seeds. Goldfinches will jfick the 
seeds out of the cajjsule of the evening 
ju-imrose, and Tree Sparrows will give the 
stalk a gentle shake and 2 )ick the seeds U 2 ) 
as they fall. 
All cone bearing trees fiirnish more or 
less food for birds in Winter. Cross-bills 
resort to hemlocks and 2 iines, and Gold¬ 
finches and Puiqfie Finches are sometimes 
found at work on the cherry or black birch. 
There is a s 2 )ot on the river just below 
Thamesville where the gulls re.sort in con¬ 
siderable numbers, and are often seen 
