194 BIRDS OF BERMUDA. 



Hob. — Kortli America generally, coming southward in winter. Resi- 

 dent in the Alleghany and Eocky Mountains. (B. B. & E.) 



Of this species Colonel Wedderburn says : " A specimen of this bird 

 was captured in the dockyard at Ireland Island, January 20, 1850, and got 

 quite tame, and lived for several days in my room ; but i:)oisoned itself 

 by eating part of a composite candle, which it had cut nearly in half 

 with its strong bill during the night. I shot three specimens near Mr. 

 Swing's house, April 5, 1850, and saw a small flock on several occasions 

 near Pitt's Bay, but they were so shy I could not get near them. They 

 disappeared early in May." Mr. Bartram has several specimens. On 

 November 17, 1874, three were observed on some cedar trees at Pros- 

 pect Camp. Two males were shot among some sage bushes, near the 

 shore at Warwick, by Gibbs, on the 25th of that month ; and another 

 male was obtained at Prospect about the same time. These may have 

 been the trio originally seen. The stomachs of the two Warwick birds, 

 on examination by myself, proved to be crammed with small green 

 caterpillars, and contained no trace of seeds. The insectivorous na- 

 ture of the Crossbill is not mentioned by Wilson ; it is alluded to by Dr. 

 Saxby in the "Birds of Shetland." This species must visit Bermuda 

 both going and returning. 



40. Loxia leucoptera, Gm. White- winged Crossbill. 



Loxia leucoptera, Gra., Bp., Sw. & Eicli., Nutt., Aud., Gir., Gould, Lawr., 



Finsch, B. B. «fe R. 

 Currirostra leucoptera, Wils., Bd., and many U. S. authors. 

 Loxia falcirostra, Lath. 

 Crucirostra leucoptera, Brehme. 



Length, G.25; wing, 3.50; tail, 2.60. 



Hah. — Northern parts of North America generally ; Greenland ; Eng- 

 land (accidental). (B. B. & E.) 



A less frequent visitor than the preceding, on its northward journey 

 only. A flue male was killed on May 11, 1852, by a boy who had an- 

 other in his possession ; date unknown. An officer of tlie Fifty-sixth 

 Eegiment shot one, a female, at Somerset, in March, 1852. Mr. Bar- 

 tram lias obtained a pair, male and female. This bird has occurred 

 several times in Great Britain, and it is somewhat remarkable that the 

 l^receding species, C americana^ has not yet paid us a visit. I expect 

 it will find its way across the Atlantic some day, and share the fate of 

 every unfortunate straggler to our inhospitable shores. 



