RED CROSSBILL 511 



Enemies. — Predators, furred or feathered, raay occasionally kill the 

 adult birds or rob their nests of eggs or young, but definite reports of 

 such happenings seems to be lacking. Nuttall (1832) saw a northern 

 shrike attack some crossbills. Their fondness for salt may lure them 

 to death on the highways that have been covered with sand and 

 calcium chloride. Gordon M. Meade (1942) reports such a dis- 

 aster, but the evidence is not clear as to whether the birds were 

 killed by passing vehicles or by the chloride. 



The cowbird does not seem to be a serious enemy. Herbert 

 Friedmann (1938) reported only one case of a cowbird laying in a 

 crossbill's nest. 



Fall and winter. — Ludlow Griscom's records show (1937) that after 

 the breeding season is over red crossbills wander northward "appar- 

 ently rarely, into the Hudsonian zone." But southward, "irregularly 

 to Florida (once), Georgia (several times). South Carolina (at least 

 three times in numbers), Tennessee (several times), Alabama and 

 Arkansas (two sight records each, subspecies presumed); western 

 limits, eastern North and South Dakota, eastern Colorado and 

 Kansas. About twice as common in southern New York as Virginia, 

 about four times as frequent in Massachusetts as southern New York. 

 Further west, reaches Missouri more commonly than Kentucky and 

 Virginia, but very much rarer in the Great Plains. Notable flight 

 years m the Atlantic States were 1850, 1870, 1875, 1882, 1884, 1887, 

 1896, 1900, 1903, 1907, 1919, and 1932." 



Distribution 



Range. — Ontario, Quebec, and Nova Scotia to Missouri and northern 

 Florida. 



Breeding range. — The red crossbill breeds, and is largely resi- 

 dent, from northern Minnesota, central Ontario (Lake Manitowick, 

 Canoe Lake, Pakenham), southwestern Quebec (Grand Lac), New 

 Brunswick (Bathurst), and Nova Scotia (Wolfville) south irregularly 

 to northern Wisconsin (Burnett County, Kelley Brook), southern 

 Michigan (Hillsdale), southern Ontario (Toronto), West Virginia 

 (Pocahontas County), eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina 

 (Great Smoky Mountains), Alaryland (Laurel), southeastern New 

 York (Bronx, Miller Place), and eastern Massachusetts (Marblehead, 

 Cape Ann). 



Winter range. — Same as breeding range except for sporadic wan- 

 dering northwest to central southern Mackenzie (Fort Simpson, Fort 

 Smith), west to southeastern Saskatchewan (Indian Head) and 

 eastern Colorado (Limon), and south to Missouri (Shannon County), 

 Georgia (Fulton County, Midway), and northern Florida (Sumner). 



