The sun., 1881-01-16
AMONG THE WINTER BIRDS.
How Some OF the Members OF the Feathered
Tribe Pass the Cold Weather.


The present winter has been a hard one
for the birds. and tho observer who knows the
haunts OF the featheIed tribe grieves over tho
evdsnces OF great mortality that he sees on every
hand in the thickets OF upper Central Park and
in the suburban meadows. The meadow larks
and the song sparrows that have ventured to
.,,,, -'n In the Park through the mild winters OF
,,,s, ,o.ro ,o "a d.Rappsnred-whethe By treez-
ino 10 doo,b or bv ,.'> migration a thaw will
toll. The robins that fingered i. the surround
ing country after winter set In have .e"1hereu
in flocks and. emboldened by hunger have in
somo instances made incursions into the door
Yards in the upper wards. A few yellowbirds
that have wntered in the Park in past seasons
occasionally join the Englis sparrows in .heir
usually successful quests Tor food
canary bird, OF which there are several at
large in the Park. was seen in Twenty. second
street on Wednesday feeding on grain in COM
pany WIN The m co.hars hnssm ssa
| to be- remarkably thick. and he WAS punched up
| in a little round ball. He had apparently lived
| liberty. and knew how to take care OF himself.
| The crows have their share Of the rough win
eC food on the a' snow covered Ground and ore
| driven to nll sorts Of shifts to get living
few days ago score OF them were seen on the
| wero small. and tho weight oi crow would
| sometimes submerge his slippery platiSrm.
| causng him to raise his wings to keep ailqat.
| They were at too great distance to show what
they were feeding upon bnt they enjoyed II
| with such keen rel Sh that the tldO would some
| times float them far down stream bcfGro they
would leave tho particular ice eake on which
| they had perched.
Amocking bird probably escaped from cage
| although wild ones sometimes como here. has
spent two winters in Central Park.
Birds OF prey arc unusually abundant In the
vicinity of the city, partly because driven from
their usual haunts by severe weather. and part
ly for the reason that they have followed hither
| the smaller bruB that have gathered here for
| food and shelter. Tho great snowy owls. the
handsomrSt membors Of tho owl family; have
| ter in which they have been abundant for four
years. They arc in good demand for ornaments
and fetch good prices, hunter had doad one
With some birds and SQUIRRELS In Washington
idermist bought It for dollar, and the t.. c.sider-
The buried, Of. gray owl. the short cared. and
| the saw-whet owl are among our present winter
sOlourners in this vicinity
The hawks are out In strong force, and mako
ag0od iyiRg Ing @ on shS 9id nice mice Wh17s mo-
country around Now York at tho ~ ssnnt II timn 1e
BIRDS was as seem 9 pepsbed "qsb on Of our winter
the outskirts OF Jersey r.ly on the bord"r ~ ~
the meadows the other day, 1t was on a cross g.
watching something in the neli Below probaI S''
hsmSll snoweird. 1t was about as large .
shape; and was OF erayish while color" Ter
with brown. 1t was butcher bird nike
| wise known as tho Great American SL :, otheI
rtHeqIsst and most bloodhirsty Of thei IKE. a
II II Kills % its prey by swooping DOWN Jltd trlni
beak instead of IN its legs. as isl .oug, curve
en tnS haTR. The butcher bird ki no case WI
from hearty breakfast ne VII . has just rise
passing snowbird and mi idart down upC
rss he % ne hsppsns aes TSm bS snS
! But he is moro likely TO ictim ana leave hi
| head of and drop the tear tho little bird
| pens to be. Jody wherever no ha
| The snowbird famil
| well represented. 4 is lust now unusual
| Within u radius
| there are probably a ton miles from City III
| birds spendingt not less than forty speceA
species have be- ae winter. In mild winters n
| sylvan la and IN ,nenumerated, In eastern Pen
| seventy odd Jaw Jersey DIR, Turnbull fou
| list. howevc .inter residents or visitors. j
! not oitens 4. contained some OF the coast biz
aen il this Immediate vicinity.