ET 
THE RECORD OF BIRD-COMINGS 
cept by Miss Grace L. Pettis of the 
| Science Museum for Six Years. 
the Editor of The Republican:— — 
During the past six years, at the sugges- 
on, and under the guidance of Miss Grace 
. Pettis, the assistant curator of the 
‘useum of natural history, valuable statis- 
es have been gathered, showing thé first, 
ival here of each of the various common 
secies.of birds that migrate up the Gon- 
ticut valley during the spring. A ‘very 
y representatives of the kinds that first 
pear occasionally make this vicinity their | 
sinter home; this part of the country be- | 
ag the extreme northern limit of their | 
jnter range. For instance, there are cer- 
in spots within a few miles of Spring-} 
‘eld where most any guiet day in January | 
he call note of the song sparrow can be | 
ard, and there are places here where, 
ome winters, one will be pretty sure to 
ee the meadow lark, and in other localities 
flicker. Care has been taken to try | 
aot to confuse these residents ‘with the 
migrants. The season just: past has been | 
unusual one. In January we had a | 
aumber of days when conservative ther- 
mometers registered from 50 to 60 degrees 
ti the shade. Then we had a slight awak. | 
sping of insect life. Hepaticas were found 
n bloom, and the piping of the tree frog 
sr hyla was said-to have been heard, but 
he number of birds here during this un- 
mally warm period in January was very. 
small. A few herring gull wandered: up 
e river, and owing to the meadows being. 
se from a snow covering the mice-eating 
yawks were here in greater numbers than 
a ual, but there was no migration from 
the South, and the northern birds were not 
us numerous as commonly; so, notwith- 
standing it was an open winter,. such -per-' 
haps as the-average one in Virginia, there 
were fewer birds here than there were. 
during the two previous winters, which - 
were extremely. cold: The last ‘of Feb- 4 
rary we had a warm week, when a few 
igrants appeared from™the South, but: 
‘after that: came a succession. of severe 
snowstorms, and for nearly a month there 
was hardly any addition made to the -list. ' 
nnexed is the record as made for the’ 
st six years; . Rosert O. Morris: . 
_ Springfield, April 16, 1906. — ee 
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