490 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



and tcame than the amcricmw, and iu one instance a pair were taken by tlie 

 hand, and afterwards kept in confinement. They appeared around Boston in 

 large flocks, and remained through April. One was shot in Newton by Mr. 

 Maynard, June Ki. It was found in an apple-tree, and its crop was full of 

 caiiker-worm.s. In Eastern Maine it is resident throughout the year, and, 

 like tlie other species, breeds in winter. In Western Maine Professor Verrill 

 has fouml it a common M'inter visitant, but it is not known to be resi- 

 dent. 



Near Springfield Mr. Allen considered this species a much less frequent 

 visitor than the preceding. In the winters of 1854 and 18G0 lie found them 

 very abundant, occurring in largi; Hocks. 



Mr. Audubon, on his way to Lal)rador in 1833, found these birds cpiite 

 common, iu May, among the islands of the Bay of Fundy, evidently migrat- 

 ing, on their way to more northern regions. I, however, observed none there 

 dui'ing my visits in the summers of 1850 and 1851, although a specimen was 

 afterwards obtained on the Murre Islands, on the 30th of June. 



So far as they are known, tlie habits of this species are exactly similar to 

 those of the preceding. Tiiey feed in the same manner and upon like food. 

 Their flight is undulating and well sustaini'd, and their moveuients in the 

 trees are not perceptibly ditlerent. 



In the spring of 1800, Mr. Jillson, of Hudson, Mass., sent me a pair of 

 these birds which he liad captured the preceding autumn. Tliey were \'ery 

 tame, and were exceedingly interesting little pets. Their movements in the 

 cage were like tliose of caged parrots in every respect, except that tliey 

 were far more easy and rapid. They clung to the sides and upper wires of 

 tlie cage with their feet, hung down from them, and seemed to enjoy the 

 practice of walking with their head downward. They were in full song, and 

 both the male and the female were quite good singers. Their songs were 

 irregular and varied, but sweet and musical. They ate almost every kind of 

 food, but were especially eager for slices of raw apples. An occasional larch 

 cone was also a great treat to them. Although while they lived they were 

 continually bickering over their food, yet when the female was accidentally 

 choked by a bit of eggshell her mate was inconsolable, ceased to sing, re- 

 fused his food, and died of grief in a very few days. 



The White-winged Crossbill was seen more freipiently by Mr. Eidgway 

 among the East Humboldt Mountains than the otlier siiecies. It was first 

 noticed on the 12tli of August among the cedars on the mountains. Its fine 

 plaintive cry of " iveek" was entirely different from the hurriedly uttered 

 notes of the C. amcricana. 



Several specimens of this Crossbill have been taken in Europe, where 

 their occurrence is of course accidental, irregular, and rare. 



A nest of this species (S. I., 13,452), taken at Fredericton, New Brunswick, 

 by Dr. A. Adams, in 1868, is deeply saucer-shaped, and composed of a rather 

 thin wall of fibrous pale-green lichens, encased on the outside with spruce 



