JOURNAL OF MAINE ORNITHOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



In their feeding habits observed at 

 Westbrook during winters that they 

 were not abundant, they have been 

 found to. pursue quite a definite feeding 

 route, often of considerable magnitude. 

 For example, a small flock, or in some 

 cases a pair only, could be found, at 

 certain times of day, about a clump of 

 cherry trees. Leaving these they returned 

 with much regularity to a clump of young 

 pines (Firius strobus) half a mile distant. 

 On their arrival the ash tree receives 

 especial attention, and a tree that 

 has borne seed will receive the attention 

 regularly of a flock or pair, until :ill of 

 its seeds are devoui'ed, when it is aban- 

 doned. 



Many will recall the great flight of 

 these birds which occured in New Eng- 

 land during the winter of 1892 and '93. 

 Thanks to the able memoir of Mr. Wm. 

 Brewster, we are able to understand the 

 movements and route of this great horde 

 of birds quite well, and something of the 

 causes governing them near the southern 

 limit of flight. (Cf. Brewst. Auk XII. 

 245 et seq.) 



Their first appearance in Westbrook 

 that year corresponds very nearly with 

 their arrival in Massachusetts, (though 

 four days later at Westbrook than at 

 Concoid.) The first were recorded at 

 Westbrook, Nov. 25, 1892, numbering 

 four individuals. On the following day 

 twelve were noted. From the fifth of Dec- 

 ember they increased in numbers, flock- 

 ing to isolated trees in fields, especially 

 the ash, and when the seeds had been 

 devoured from these, like the smaller 

 Finches congregating among weed 

 patches. After the ninteenth of the 

 month, when all of the available food 

 seemed to have been eaten, there was a 

 sudden departure of the birds, and from 



the twenty second very few were seen 

 through the remainder of the winter. 



It is here interesting to observe, that 

 they did not invade Cambridge. Mass. 

 until the second week in January, in- 

 dicating that iheir sudden departure was 

 occasioned by a failure of the food sup- 

 ply and that their movement southward 

 was protracted, owing to pauses made at 

 new fields. 



No increase was observed at the time 

 of their return to the north, showing that 

 they returned without visiting that por- 

 tion of their winter route. 



Loxia leucoptera : White-winged Cross- 

 bill. 



Crossbills were quite common along 

 the stage route and at Fort Kent. The 

 only opportunity afforded for settling 

 their specific identity was improved on 

 the seventeenth, when several specimens 

 of this form were secured from a flock 

 containing about 25 or 30. They were 

 feeding on the seed of a black spruce, a 

 tree to which they seem quite partial and 

 in consequence are known as Spruce 

 Birds in some sections of Maine. 



Wherever I had opportunity to ob- 

 serve, I found the snow beneath the 

 trees strewn with the scales of their 

 cones, and the conclusion that birds of 

 this genus were quite abundant seemed 

 most natural. The oesophagus of each 

 specimen was distended with seeds, each 

 cleanly removed from its outer covering 

 and destined to functional annihilation 

 in its passage through the digestive 

 organs of the bird. 



The specimens were taken near the 

 sunset hour, yet they were feeding with 

 the avidity of creatures from a recent 

 fast, thus it would seem that their de- 

 struction to seeds is immense. 



During the winter of 1889-90 this spe- 



