KNOWING THE 
The parrotlike 
crossbills are about 
the only ones of 
our winter-flocking 
birds among which 
we do not hope to 
find greater rari- 
ties; they are of 
sufficient interest in 
themselves as they 
climb about among 
the cones, using 
bills and feet like 
parrots. 
If a flock of 
“blackbirds” is seen 
in winter, it may 
prove to be one of 
European starlings. 
At present they are 
mostly found from 
southern Connecti- 
cut to New Jersey, 
but they are gradu- 
ally and surely ex- 
tending their range. 
It is characteristic 
to see a large bunch 
of them clustered in 
the elms over a 
street and to hear a 
chorus of high- 
pitched, rather faint 
whistles. “They also 
descend to feed in 
the streets and gar- 
dens, but are shyer than their imported 
predecessors, the house or ‘English’ 
sparrow. “Those who meet a “blackbird 
with a yellow bill” have found the 
starling. 
One boreal fellow who, though he 
does not flock, deserves more than bare 
mention is the Northern shrike. If one 
should see a solitary gray bird with 
blackish wings and tail, nearly as large 
as a robin, perching on the topmost 
twig of some tree in open ground, this 
is the shrike or “butcher bird,” waiting 
for the chance to pounce upon some 
sparrow or mouse. He is useful when 
he thus thins out the mice and English 
sparrows, but unfortunately he is just 
as liable to attack our chickadees, tree 
sparrows, and the rest. 
If we live on the latitude of Maine 
AS APT TO 
RUN HEADLONG DOWN A 
WINTER BIRDS 
WHEN THE NUDHATCH LEAVES THE DINNER TABLE, It IS 
REE SAS) UIP ik. 
or northward we may add to our win- 
ter list the Canada jay, spruce partridge, 
and three woodpeckers—the arctic and 
the American three-toed, and the pil- 
eated. “The latter is a big black fellow 
with a red-tipped crest, about the size 
of the crow and is not only a Northern- 
er, but may be seen in wild wooded 
regions as far down as Florida. 
Occasional hawks and owls make an 
interesting variation in the regular win- 
ter “bill of fare.’ A few individuals of 
various species stay in one place the 
year round, but most species either mi- 
grate or wander to some extent. Al- 
most as steadfast as any are the great 
horned owl and the red-tailed hawk. 
Now and then we see one of these big 
hawks perched on some _ conspicuous 
tree in a field or along a road. It may, 
