FAMILY FringilUdce 



When the young are able to leave the nest 

 they accompany the parents in small flocks to 

 swarm over the weed patches in search of 

 food. At the approach of cold w^eather most 

 of them move to the more southern part of 

 their range, a few how^ever remaining in the 

 protected valleys along the Pacific Slope. 



Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra minor. 6.00 

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Distribution: Northern and eastern 



North America, breeding in coniferous forests 

 from the southern Alleghanies in northern 

 Georgia, Maryland, Virginia and Michigan, 

 north to Nova Scotia and west to western 

 Alaska. South in the mountain districts 

 through the Pacific Coast states to Cali- 

 fornia. 



Although crossbills generally breed in the 

 mountains they are sometimes found in the 

 coast valleys in small flocks, a few remaining 

 to nest in the firs on the big hills. They are 

 particularly abundant however in the Coast 

 Range mountains wdiere they find a congenial 

 home in the tall spruces, and one may see 

 them, and hear their querulous call notes, all 

 day long as they fly from the top of one giant 

 tree to another. The crossbills have a fond- 

 ness for salt and may be seen along the 

 beaches picking at the encrusted salt on the 

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