STATE GEOLOGIST. 
373 
'Jvw , Alkt. 1 4 'vuvA riuJ^ Au/sS, 7?) x^vr>. /T 7d (/ rj 
t i » \ * /. , 
The Winter Birds of Minnesota 
BY THOMAS S. ROBERTS. 
Prof. N. H. Winchell: 
The question is often asked u How many kinds of birds are there 
m Minnesota in the wintertime?” and supplemented not infre¬ 
quently by the remark "not many, 1 suppose.” There seems to be 
no more appropriate place for the answering of this question at 
length as it deserves than in the annual report of the survey. 
The present article is therefore respectfully submitted as an at¬ 
tempt to list our winter birds so far as they are known to the 
writer at the present time, with the introduction of such brief 
notes, mainly of a popular nature, m regard to the occurrence, 
habits or appearance of each species as may assist in its identifica¬ 
tion or be of interest otherwise. 
The much greater abundance and attractiveness of birds in the 
summer season is very apt to entirely absorb the attention of the 
casual obseiver and to lead to the almost complete neglect of our 
wintei biids; especially as the latter are greatly diminished in 
numbers, are comparatively silent and are largely shielded from 
observation by the many drawbacks to outdoor investigation in 
the winter time. But because the birds do not force themselves 
upon oui attention in winter as they do m summer we ought not 
to conclude either that there are no birds present or that they are 
of little interest. The fact is that while birds are generally far 
fiom abundant in the cold season, particularly in respect to indi¬ 
viduals, there are yet a goodly number of species to be found with¬ 
in the limits of the State. And among these every lover of birds 
cannot fail to find a number which are of much more than aver¬ 
age mteiest. Birds which are attractive either in themselves on 
account of their beautiful or varied plumage, or by reason of 
