Notes from Field and Study 



97 



away before we could tell what they were. 

 After they had patronized the food-supply 

 for several days they became much tamer, 

 and we were greatly surprised to see that 

 they were Lapland Longspurs, a very rare 

 migrant, never having been reported here 

 before. They stayed with us while the 

 feeding-station was in operation and were 

 not so shy as the Buntings, but came right 

 up and fed with the Larks. 



The weather now was becoming warmer, 

 since this was the latter part of March, 

 and one day, after the snow had melted 

 somewhat, only a few Larks, no Snow 

 Buntings and no Longspurs showed up 

 for dinner. We thought that they had left 

 for the north, but that night another snow 

 came, and the next day Larks, Buntings 

 and Longspurs, all were back again. But 

 spring was on its way, and soon bare spots 

 began to show on the hillsides. The Snow- 

 flakes and Longspurs left for the north, and 

 the Horned Larks began to be occupied 

 with domestic cares. The feeding-station 

 was deserted. — C. W. Leister, Ithaca, 

 N. Y. 



settled down all around me, and I noticed 

 their swift, dipping flight like that of the 

 American Goldfinch, while on the wing. 

 They remained in the vicinity for some 

 minutes and then flew off in a bunch over 

 the corn-shocks toward the distant hills, 

 with a low, twittering song in unison, as 

 if the birds were talking to themselves. 



It was the first Crossbill of my experience 

 and the earliest, I believe, to be recorded 

 in the vicinity of Pittsburgh. All accounts 

 seem to indicate that it is a winter bird 

 and that it feeds almost exclusively upon 

 the seeds of coniferous trees. Does their 

 early arrival, together with their feeding 

 upon sunflower seed, indicate a scarcity of 

 cone seeds in the far north? In this con- 

 nection it is interesting to inquire, with 

 Mabel Osgood Wright, "If its beak is a 

 development to meet food conditions, will 

 it be gradually modified by the cutting 

 down of the forests of conifers?" Perhaps 

 the Crossbill is changing its habits to 

 meet the changed conditions as a result 

 of the H. C. of L.— Milo H. Miller, 

 Pittsburgh, Pa. 



American or Red Crossbill at 

 Pittsburgh 



On Saturday, October 25, 1910, I 

 happened to be with a friend in the sub- 

 urbs (Brentwood), harvesting some pump- 

 kins and digging potatoes from my 

 Victory Garden, when a flock of Red Cross- 

 bills came chattering overhead and lighted 

 upon the sunflowers left growing among the 

 cornstalks and now quite ripe and dry. 

 There were, perhaps, twenty to twenty- 

 five of them, both male and female. They 

 were quite at their ease, and seemed to 

 be gentle and unsuspicious. There could 

 be no doubt of their identity, as not only 

 the dull brick-red of the male, brighter 

 on the rump and rusty in the middle of the 

 back, shading to red-gray on the wings, 

 but the dull olive-green of the females, 

 as well as the one characteristic mark 

 alike of both male and female — the crossed 

 beak — -were plainly discernible at not 

 over 10 feet distance. They soon took 

 flight but returned a moment later and 



Notes from London, Ont. 



As it is several years since any notes 

 have appeared from London, Ont., the 

 following unusual occurrences may be of 

 interest to Bird-Lore readers. 



On the afternoon of May 4, 1918, while 

 hunting through a large field for Bartram's 

 Sandpiper, we flushed a Short-eared Owl 

 from one of the low, damp spots. The 

 bird flew a little way and lit on a stump. 

 We tried to get closer to it but it flew to 

 another stump. Finally, it rose into the 

 air, and, circling higher and higher, was 

 soon lost to sight in the distance. In the 

 air it looked like a large Hawk, for which 

 we would have, no doubt, mistaken it had 

 we not first seen it on the ground. This 

 bird may be commoner in our neighbor- 

 hood than is generally supposed, but if so, 

 keeps itself well out of the way of the 

 members of our club. 



Just south of the city there is a group 

 of three small ponds which we hope some 

 day may be turned into a bird sanctuary. 



