ORNITHOLOGY OF GUADALUPE ISLAND. 297 



14. Loxia curvirostra stricklandi. 



Mexican Crossbill. — This specie^ found only through 

 the narrow pine belt, I estimated to number about a score. 

 They remained high up in the pines, flying hurriedly among 

 the tree tops, uttering what seemed to me a frightened note. 

 Occasionally a pair, seldom a single bird, would be seen on 

 the top of a fallen tree, but never upon the ground. The 

 only food which dissection proved them to have been feed- 

 ing upon, was pine seeds. No nests were found, although 

 several were no doubt being built, if not already completed 

 by the middle of February. A comparison of the island 

 cross-bill with typical examples of minor and stricMamU, 

 shows it to belong to the latter variety, although the upper 

 mandible is nearlv or quite one-third thicker than the lower. 



If we assign all Eastern birds to minor and Western ones 

 to strickhmdi, an exception must be made of No. 78,186, 

 which in the Smithsonian Institution is labeled minora 

 although it came from Santa Cruz, California. 



"The diversity in general size, size and shape of bill, and 

 color which they present is enough to convince any one that 

 these characters are subject to a wide range of variation and 

 are not dependent, except within broad limits, on geograph- 

 ical considerations. ^ ^ ^ -'^ ^ ^ J^ seems obvious 

 that the variations just referred to are either purely indi- 

 vidual or dependent on age."^ 



In the following tabulated measurements, the length of 

 the exposed culmen is given on account of having been 

 oftener measured, although it is more difficult to determine 

 accurately than the distance from nostril, which is also in- 

 cluded. The bill is found curving to the right as often as 

 to the left. 



Note «— William Brewster in Auk. Vol. VIII. No. 2. p. 261. 



