RED CROSSBILL 503 



bill itself. Dimensions were 4% inches in breadth by 3 inches in 

 depth. The cavity was 2}^ inches in breadth by 1}^ inches in depth. 



A nest found near Marblehead, Mass., on Apr. 22, 1917, was 

 brought to William Brewster (1918). It had been placed about 18 

 feet from the ground on a branch of a pitch pine. In the lining of 

 the nest were "a few Crossbill feathers at least one of which, brick 

 red in color, must have come from an adult male bird. Their presence 

 affords, of course, convincing evidence as to the original ownership 

 of the nest, thereby, indeed, it is 'self-identifying.' " 



From the more normal breeding range of the species we have 

 numerous records and plenty of information. The first Nova Scotia 

 nest was recorded by Thomas J. Egan (1889b), a well known and 

 reliable Halifax taxidermist and naturalist. He found the nest on 

 Mar. 30, 1889, in "a pine and spruce wood" near Halifax. "The 

 tree on which the nest was found was a large spruce about seventy-five 

 feet high. The nest was on the end of a branch about thirty feet from 

 the ground. A small branch had been partly broken at some time 

 and had turned back on the main branch. It had continued growing, 

 and had formed a snug, well-sheltered clump. In the little bower 

 formed by the secured branch, the Crossbills had built a neat nest of 

 fine grass and moss." 



Harold F. Tufts (1906) published an mteresting account of the 

 nesting of this and the white-winged crossbills in Nova Scotia. He 

 says: 



"The first nests discovered were those of the American Crossbill 

 {Loxia curvirostra minor) Jan. 31, three in number. Of these, two 

 contained young just hatched. The others [sic] held three eggs, ad- 

 vanced in incubation. * * * 



"* * * The sitting female carefully watched my movements as I 

 approached the nest and upon my reaching out to touch her raised 

 the feathers on her crown, opened her biU, and in short made herself 

 look quite ferocious. Finally sliding off the nest, she flitted about 

 within a few feet of me, keeping up an angry chirping, in which she 

 was soon joined by her mate." 



Dr. Tufts's brother, Robie W. Tufts, of Wolfville, has sent me data 

 and interesting notes on the nesting of this crossbill in Nova Scotia, 

 in v/hich the following nesting dates are given: Aug. 4, 1896, nest 

 containing three young birds; Feb. 25, 1906, nest with three eggs; 

 Feb. 28, 1906, two nests with four fresh eggs each; and Mar. 31, 1906, 

 nest with three fresh eggs. About the nests he says: 



"The nests were all bulky affairs and usually were placed well out 

 on a horizontal branch of a thick, bushy spruce tree. Elevation 

 ranged from about 10 feet to say 40. Other nests were found in 

 hemlocks, but when that tree was used, the nests were invariably 



