203 



and begin to sing, as if from pleasure or excitement. Thej- destroy 

 young buds, and, together with the Rose- breasted Grosbeak, eat large 

 quantities of the stamens and petals of cherry and apple blossoms. 

 In April, blossoms of the maple are eaten. Females in high condition, 

 like those of the Pine Grosbeak, sometimes have a distinct red suflu- 

 sion over the plumage. 



In his "Revised List of Birds of Central New York," Mr. Rathbun 

 gives, concerning this species, the following : " An abundant summer 

 resident. Arrives in March —March 9, 1878. Common the second 

 week in April. Breeds. ])eparts in October." I think that it will in 

 time be found there, at least occasionally, in winter; for I saw a few 

 at Locust Grove, in Lewis County, N. Y., during the last of December 

 and tirst of January, 1877-78. 



Dimensions. — Average measurements of thirty-eight specimens: 

 length, 6-22; stretch, 10-16; wing, 3-24; tail, 229; culmen, -40; gape, 

 •b^\ tarsus, -68; middle toe, -58; its claw, -19. 



70. Loxia leucoptera, ihwlin. AVihtk-winged Ckossbill. An 

 occasional visitor from the North. 



Early in the winter of 1874-75, these birds appeared sparingly near 

 Cold Spring, where Mr. William K Lente saw them first, in the early 

 part of December, soon after the Pine Grosbeaks became numerous. 

 Mr. Frederic S. Osboru found them quite common during the winter, 

 at Garrisons; the earliest record of its occurrence noted in his journal 

 being December 28, 1874. I did not meet with any belore January 14, 

 1875, when I found an immense flock near Fort Montgomery, in a 

 dark grove of hemlocks. They were in company, but not mixing, 

 with flocks of Red Crossbills {Loxia curvirostra, var. americana). 

 As they flew from tree to tree, they uttered a loud, rattling cry; and 

 they were fur shyer than the Common Crossbill. After this the spe- 

 cies was frequently seen in difterent-sized flocks, and remained until 

 March 10, when they were in full song. Their flight is strong and 

 swift; and they are so active and noisy, that a flock of a dozen 

 makes a tree appear as if filled with them. In spite of an apparently 

 malformed bill, their song is one of remarkable beauty. 



Wilson found a few White-winged Crossbills in the great pine for- 

 ests of Pennsylvania; and Bonaparte, in his "American Ornithology" 

 (Vol. II, p. 276, 1828), furnishes the following: "During four years 

 it had escaped my careful attention, and now writing (in the first 

 week of November, 1827) they are so abundant, that 1 am able to 

 shoot every day great numbers out of flocks that are continually 

 alighting in a copse of Jersey scrub-pine {Pinus inops), even opposite 

 my window." Giraud observes:^' "In this locality [Long Island] 



15 Birds of Long Island, p. 131, 1844. 



