RED CROSSBILL 501 



He says of its normal breeding range: "Cliiefly the Upper Canadian 

 zone of North America, east of the treeless areas. Breedmg birds 

 examined from Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, 

 northern New England, northern New York, Michigan, Wisconsin 

 and Minnesota. * * * Breeding most commonly in late winter and 

 early spring, less often in September and October, and still more 

 rarely in May, June and July, such cases involvmg stray pairs only, 

 never a large population." 



Of vagrant breeding, he says: "At irregular intervals invading the 

 Lower Canadian zone and breeding in numbers after southward 

 flights. Has bred m numbers at long intervals in the Berkshire 

 Mountains, Mass., the Catskill Mountains, New York, and the 

 mountains of Pennsylvania (where there is as yet no final evidence 

 of a permanently resident population). Still more rarely breeding 

 in the Transition zone (numerous occasions eastern Mass.), twice in 

 southern New York, once in Maryland, Indiana and Ohio. Abundant 

 in the mountains of North Carolina for several years after two great 

 flights, and may have bred there." 



Spring. — ^Although crossbills undoubtedly deserve their reputation 

 for irregular movements, the following note by Wright and Allen 

 (1910) on the regularity of their appearance at Ithaca, N.Y., in June, 

 is of interest: 



In all we have about 40 records for the species. Of these, none have been 

 made during the fall migration, but six during the winter, five during the spring, 

 from the middle of March to the first of May, and thirty during the month of 

 June. 



* * * The first record was made June 16, 1889, by Mr. L. A. Fuertes who 

 with us in recent years has noticed the regularity of their occurrence. In 1900 

 and 1904 records were also made in June. In 1906 a flock of 10 were seen on the 

 Cornell Campus from June 21 to 24. In 1907 they were first seen on May 28 

 when twelve were recorded, and they continued common until June 24. In 

 1908 they were daily noted from June 10 to 17. In 1909 a flock of fifteen appeared 

 June 6 and the species remained until June 14. 



In reply to my enquiry. Dr. Allen writes to me in June 1951 that 

 the crossbills have not been reported there in June during recent years. 

 WiUiam Brewster (1906) says: "In the neighborhood of Cambridge, 

 where they have been seen during every month of the year, I have 

 repeatedly known them to appear suddenly and rather numerously 

 in May or June * * *." These are good examples of the erratic and 

 unaccountable movements of these nomadic birds, rather than true 

 migrations. 



Courtship. — Mrs. Louise de Kiriline Lawrence (1949) writes: "By 

 the middle of January the pairing of the Red Crossbills became an 

 established fact. Birds then began to appear in single pairs rather 

 than in flock, or in small groups of 2 or 3 pairs. * * * 



