This is a common summer resident all over town except the wooded sections. I have known him to arrive on April 27 but he seldom comes before May 7, or later. The kingbird delights in attacking and driving from the locality hawks and crows and his value in this respect is great. His food consists almost wholly of flying insects. His nest is placed sometimes in an apple tree in the open fields and sometimes in a tree overhanging the river. Three to five white eggs, spotted with umber.

This large flycatcher is rather rare. I have recorded its spring arrival May 9 to 18. It is larger than the kingbird and takes insects on the wing in the same manner. It is likely to be found in apple orchards remote from buildings, where it nests in the hollow trees. I have found nests in such places containing six beautiful cream-white eggs streaked all over with purple lines. The crested flycatcher goes south the latter part of August.

Phoebe arrives early (I have seen him on March 19) and remains into October. Almost every bridge and culvert has its pair of nesting Phoebes; open sheds and barn cellars are also favored. Bulky nest of moss and mud with white eggs, sometimes showing reddish-brown spots on larger end.

The Wood pewee is a summer resident from late May till September. It resembles the phoebe somewhat but is smaller. Its drawling, plaintive note is a familiar sound in the woods. The nest is generally found on a horizontal branch of a tree, with three to four white eggs marked in a wreath about the larger end.

Common summer resident. My earliest date is May 1; they depart in August. This little flycatcher is found mostly about the shade trees of the lawn, and in orchards. He is also called Chebec from his notes which resemble that word.

This lark has extended his range in the last few years and is now seen at all seasons of the year. He is strictly a ground bird and has a preference for the plains. I have seen horned larks many times between the village and Parker Station.

This well-known bird is a common permanent resident. He lives on a varied diet including caterpillars and insects, eggs and young of small birds, and in the fall, nuts and grains. The nest is usually placed in a thicket of pine ten to 20 feet up; eggs four to six, pale olive green, quite thickly marked with cinnamon-brown spots.

The crow is abundant during the spring, summer and fall and a few individuals remain here through the winter. He is troublesome to the farmer by his taste for sprouting corn, though experience shows that tarring the seed before planting discourages him from pulling it. He has another bad habit of eating the eggs and young of small birds, though he also consumes harmful insects, particularly grasshoppers. The nest is usually placed in a pine; eggs four to six laid early in May.

The starling was introduced into this country about1890. In the fall of 1918 I noticed a flock of eight or nine in the tall trees of the village. They spent the winter in a hollow tree near the river and were seen daily about the church belfry or weather vane. They nest early in hollow trees and holes in roofs, often usurping the sites of our useful native birds, as the bluebird and flicker. In fact they are likely to become a worse pest than the English sparrow. They are 8 to 9 inches in length and may be known by their long pointed wings and short, square tail. The call of the male is a high, clear whistle.

Bobolinks come early in May--my earliest date is May 3. The males precede the females by several days and start southward in September. They are not abundant hereabouts, but each year a few can be heard in their favorite localities. This summer (1919) they have been plentiful about the intervales at Parker Station.

The nest is placed on the ground in a grassy meadow. The male has a beautiful song, delivered either in flight or while perching on a swaying reed.

Cowbirds arrive in March. Individuals may very often be seen in the pastures with the cattle, walking about the feet of the herd. They build no nest, depositing their eggs in the nests of other and small birds. I have found the cowbird's egg in the nest of the chestnut sided warbler. They remain here until October.

The male red-shouldered blackbird arrives in March--my earliest date is March 8. The female follows two or three weeks later. The male has crimson epaulets which show conspicuously in flight. The nest is placed in flags or low bushes in marshes and swamps frequently surrounded by water.

I have seen this beautiful bird on March 24. It is fairly common on the intervales along the river. It can be distinguished at some distance by the outer tailfeathers which are white. The nest is hidden in the tall grass in the field; unfortunately the lark nests late in the season and a great many of the young are destroyed by mowing machines in July. They lay four to six white eggs, spotted with cinnamon-brown.

The Baltimore oriole or golden robin is a fairly common summer resident, particularly in neighborhoods having large elm trees. He usually appears early in May. His pendant nest is attached to the swaying branches of a tall elm tree, and contains four to six white eggs, scrawled with fine obscure black marks as if done with a pen.

Grackles appear about March 14 and live about the river near the village. They find nesting-places in the pine trees along the river bank. They are birds of ill-repute and show a rather alarming increase in numbers this year (1919).

This grackle has the same general habits as the last. All the grackles are similar in appearance, the colors varying even among individuals of the same species. They also have similar destructive habits.

Chapman says: "This species is an irregular wanderer from the far northwest and does not winter regularly east of Winconsin. There are no records for New England prior to the winter of 1889-90, when the bird appeared in large numbers in every state but Rhode Island. Since 1890 they have been observed in New England on several occasions." However, I did not see them in Goffstown until the past winter (1918019) when they seemed to become almost common.

They appeared about the first of December and were seen in flocks of varying size up to 50 or 60 birds. The adult male has the forehead yellow, crown black; upper parts olive brown, becoming dull yellow on rump; wings and tail black; belly yellow; end half of the secondaries and their coverts white. Length, 8 inches.

The pine grosbeak is a winter visitor from the north, fairly abundant some winters and not seen at all others. I have seen them as early as November 25 and as late as April 1. While here they feed on seeds of such trees as white ash, basswood, and maple, also on the buds. They approximate the robin in size but are plumper; have short thick beaks and forked tails. The adult male is slaty gray, washed with rose-red, strongest on the crown, rump, upper tail coverts and breast.

Common summer resident arriving about April 13. I have found its nest in the spruces in the cemetery and in apple trees; eggs four to six, blue spotted with black. This sweet little singer is about 6 1/4 inches long.

This pest was introduced into this country in 1851-52 and since then has spread over most of the United States and Canada. In the village limits of Goffstown, as in about every other thickly populated section, the native bird music has been almost displaced by this creature's harsh, incessant chirp. Nesting begins almost as soon as the snow is off the ground and lasts until fall.

Crossbills are irregular winter visitors, their presence depending on the seed-crop of the cone-bearing trees, because cone-seeds are their winter fare. The red or American crossbill is a little shorter than the English sparrow. The distinguishing feature is the curiously shaped beak, the tips of which are crossed.

I observed a flock on the Uncanoonuc Mountain the past winter feeding on pine and hemlock seeds. In the adult male the body is dull red, brighter on rump, browner on back, wings and tail fuscous.

The white-winged crossbill resembles the red or American crossbill, except for having two outer wing bars white, and for being a trifle smaller in size. The only time I have observed this species was on December 23, 1906, when I saw a flock feeding on hemlock seeds.

Redpolls are winter visitors, not seen every winter, but abundant when they do come. They have a bright red crown-cap, black chin and upper throat; the adult male has a beautiful flush of pink on the breast and rump. While with us they feed on seeds of the gray birch and also on weed-seeds. I have seen them in company with juncos as late as March 30. Length, about 5 1/4' inches.

Common permanent resident. The summer plumage of the male is bright yellow, with black crown, wing, and tail. Goldfinches are generally found in flocks, except in the nesting season, which occurs late in summer. The nest is a neat structure often in a maple tree or the apple orchard, with four to six eggs, pale bluish-white.

The siskin is an irregular visitant, coming usually in winter, and is found feeding on the seeds of coniferous trees. It resembles the goldfinch greatly in appearance, in song, and in winter plumage.

Snow buntings are usually seen in compact flocks, flying overhead in winter. While here they feed on weed-seeds.

Common summer resident. I have seen the vesper sparrow as early as April 4. This sparrow is not seen around houses but prefers the open fields and upland pastures. It has a sweet song which is heard often in the late afternoon and early evening after sundown. It can be readily distinguished from the other sparrows by the outer tail-feathers which show white when it flies. The nest is on the ground; four to five bluish-white or pinkish-white eggs, specked with rufous-brown or umber.

The white-crowned sparrow I have observed only as a spring migrant, about May 14.

The white-throated sparrow I have recorded in two different years as early as April 17. By the tenth of May most of them have passed north, although some pairs remain here to breed. A large woodlot, recently cut off near the Dunbarton line, contained several pairs of nesting white-throats the past season, in the piles of old brush. Their clear mellow whistles coming from different parts of the lot were heard more freely than on the spring migrations.

Tree sparrows come from the north every fall and a few remain here all winter. About the first week in April the northward movement begins, and for a while they are seen much in company with juncos. They disappear about the middle of April. The distinguishing marks of this sparrow are two white wing bars, chestnut crown, and an indistinct black spot on the center of the breast.

Common summer resident, the first individuals generally coming singly. My earliest date is April 10, latest April 20. This is the slender sparrow, with the reddish-brown crown and notched tail, seen much around the dooryards. He builds his hair-lined nest in the apple tree, the vines of the piazza, or sometimes in evergreens only 4 to 5 feet from the ground. Eggs four to five, greenish-blue, with brown or blackish markings. They disappear through October.