BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



Stained with blood and never tiring 



With its beak it doth not cease; 

 From the cross 'twould free the Saviour, 



Its Creator's Son release. 



And the Saviour speaks in mildness: 



"Blest be thou of all the good! 

 Bear, as token of this moment, 



Marks of blood and holy rood!'* 



And that bird is called the crossbill ; 



Covered all with blood so clear, 

 In the groves of pine it singeth 



Songs, like legends, strange to hear.^ 



Henry W. Longfellow 



THE WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL 



The White-winged Crossbill is similar to the Red Cross- 

 bill, but its body is a dull crimson instead of red, and its 

 black wing-feathers are so tipped with white as to form 

 two broad white wing-bars. The female is olive-green, 

 gray underneath, with a yellow rump, dark wings and tail, 

 white wing-bars, and dark streaks on head, breast, and 

 back. 



This crossbill breeds in Canada, south to the Adiron- 

 dacks, White Mountains, and Maine. Its note is a soft 

 cheep; its song a gentle warble. To see a flock of these 

 birds feeding silently in a grove of spruces or hear them 

 singing their low sweet song makes a memory cherished 

 by bird-lovers. They may be seen in winter as far south 

 as North Carolina. 



- Used with permission of the Houghton Mifflin Co., the authorized pub- 

 lishers. 



[26] 



