Page:Bird-lore Vol 01.djvu/197

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Winter Bird Notes from Southern New Hampshire 1^3 Fehruakv 3. There is a little J unco hopping about the path today, in spite of the fact that the mercur}^ has been very near zero most of the time for the last fortnight, and that the snow is drifted eight or ten feet deep in places. He appears to spend a consid- erable portion of his time in the woodshed, poking about among the chips, etc., and I fancy sleeps somewhere about the building. There are also a few Flickers and at least one Meadowlark in this vicinity, and since the last heavy snowfall they have become unusually tame and familiar, coming close about the house for food. Goldfinches and Tree Sparrows are still quite abundant, and there is a flock of fifty or sixty Pine Grosbeaks, mostly in young plumage, in the woods about a mile to the west of us, the first I have seen this winter. February 6. About five o'clock this evening a large Goshawk in rather dark plumage came flying across the field only a few yards above the snow. As he neared a tall elm he rose in the air and alighted near the top of the tree, and after sitting there for a few moments, turning his head in all directions, he opened his wings and tumbled from his perch, falling several yards down among the branches before regaining his balance, when he flew rapidly off toward the west and disappeared among the pines. Just a week ago I noticed where a Goshawk, judging from the tracks in the snow, had killed a rabbit, so that it would seem that they have not been entirely absent at any time this winter. February 7. Have just seen a Goshawk, apparently in young plumage, flying west at a height of perhaps sixty or seventy yards from the ground.