334 Birds of Colorado 



the country, appearing suddenly at some particular spot 

 and staying some time while food lasts, and then dis- 

 appearing again for some months. They are noisy birds 

 and keep up a continuous chatter, while during the 

 breeding season they sing quite sweetly. The food 

 consists chiefly of the seeds of coniferous trees, which 

 they are able to obtain with the help of their powerful 

 mandibles. 



But few ornithologists have taken the eggs of this 

 bird ; Breninger (94) found twelve nests near Palmer 

 Lake, between January and April. Dennis Gale (Hen- 

 derson 07) found a nest in a pine tree on a sheltered 

 hillside on the slopes of Buckhorn Mountain ; it was 

 eighteen feet above the ground, and fixed on a horizontal 

 hmb. The eggs, which were shghtly incubated when 

 taken on April 3rd, were three in number ; they were 

 pale blueish-green, spotted with rusty-lavender, and 

 measured on an average '70 x •44. The nest was com- 

 posed of twigs and grass stems, with a few feathers in 

 the lining. 



Mexican Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra stricklandi. 



A.O.U. Checklist 521a — Colorado Records (see records of L. c. 

 minor). 



Description. — Very similar to L. c. minor, but decidedly larger and 

 with a longer bill. Dimensions of a Colorado male : Length 6-5 ; 

 wing 3-80 ; tail 2-25 ; culmen -90 ; tarsus -60. 



Distribution. — Mountains of New Mexico, Arizona and Old Mexico 

 to Guatemala, wandering northwards at any rate to El Paso co., 

 Colorado. A pair of Crossbills collected by Aiken, May 22nd, 1874, 

 in El Paso co., the dimensions of which are given above, are obviously 

 referable to this subspecies, as are those found nesting near Fort Lewis 

 in La Plata co., on January 15th, 1887, by Morrison. 



White-winged Crossbill. Loxia leucoptera. 



A.O.U. CheckUst no 522— Colorado Records— Drew 81, p. 89 ; 85, p. 

 16; Morrison 88, p. 73 ; 89, p. 149 ; Cooke 97, p. 97 ; Iinaebel07, p. 101 



