584 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



We quote at length the following extract 

 from a paper by Dr. Frank M. Chapman 

 (Vol. XXXVII of the American Museum 

 Bulletin, 1917) : 



"Dr. Abbott's discovery that a race of the 

 White-winged Crossbill inhabits the pine 

 forests of the higher mountains of Santo 

 Domingo, is one of the ornithological sensa- 

 tions of recent years. 



If the bird were a Red Crossbill, its 

 presence, even in a West Indian island, 

 would not be so surprising. This latter spe- 

 cies nests as far south as the Alleghanies of 

 northern Georgia, and its accidental occur- 

 rence in the Bermudas proves its ability to 

 reach an island well removed from the near- 

 est mainland. 



The White-winged Crossbill is not known 

 to nest south of northern New York, and, 

 even in winter, it has not been recorded from 

 south of Virginia. Its fortuitous occurrence 

 in the West Indies is, therefore, not now to 

 be expected. Nor does it seem probable that 

 under existing climatic conditions, a bird of 

 the Canadian Zone would thrive in the 

 tropics, even at an altitude of 4000 feet, if 

 introduced there. 



If this be true, it follows that Loxia has 

 adapted itself to life in the Subtropical Zone 

 through, not a sudden, but a gradual cli- 

 matic change. Such a change we know to 

 have accompanied the wane of the last 

 Glacial Period. Perhaps, therefore, we are 

 warranted in assuming that the climatic con- 

 ditions which brought the Musk Ox to Ken- 

 tucky, the Walrus to the vicinity of Charles- 

 ton, South Carolina, and the Great Auk as 

 far south as Ormond, Florida, are also re- 

 sponsible for the original occurrence of the 

 White-winged Crossbill in Santo Domingo. 



The pines which had preceded it, and 

 which may also be considered as boreal in- 

 vaders forced southward by the Ice Age, 

 offered the food supply the bird's habits re- 

 quire, and in its insular home it has been 

 stranded, after the causes to which its pres- 

 ence is due have disappeared. 



It is not implied that the existence of 

 Loxia in the greater Antilles indicates a land 

 connection between these islands and the 

 southeastern United States. We have seen 

 that the Red Crossbill is of recent occurrence 

 in Bermuda, and it is therefore well within 

 the bounds of probability to believe that 

 during the time when the Glacial Period 

 forced the White-winged Crossbill far beloAv 

 its present range in North America, it might 

 have occurred fortuitously in Santo Domingo. 

 The case is, in a measure, paralleled by 

 that of the Andean Horned Lark (Otocoris 

 alpestris peregrina) . Here we have a species 

 of unquestionable boreal origin confined to 

 the Savanna of Bogota, in the Temperate 

 Zone of the Colombian Andes. Its nearest 

 relative is found in Mexico. It is not con- 

 ceivable that the pioneer ancestors of the 

 Colombian race can have crossed the mde 

 area lying between that country and Colom- 



bia, and, as with the Santo Domingan Cross- 

 bill, we are forced to conclude that the 

 original introduction took place Avlien differ- 

 ent climatic conditions prevailed in the areas 

 concerned. 



The fact that Loxia megaplaga is more 

 nearly related to the European than to the 

 American White-winged Crossbill, does not, 

 of course, imply that it has descended di- 

 rectly from that species. Its characters of 

 comi^aratively large bill and short wings are 

 shown by many island-inhabiting races, and 

 they doubtless indicate parallelism in devel- 

 opment rather than direct descent from the 

 physically nearest form." 



The following is quoted from a letter 

 written by a member of the Canadian Expe- 

 ditionary Force, who was on the firing line in 

 Belgium : 



"It is very strange how the birds stay 

 around right up in the front line. After a 

 terrific bombardment the other morning, 

 which was the worst we had experienced for 

 six months, a skylark soared up from 'no- 

 man's-land' and gave us a lovely song, almost 

 as soon as the firing ceased. A partridge 

 flew over our parapet one evening and set- 

 tled in 'no-man's-land,' quite unconcerned by 

 the rifle fire. The blackbirds give a lovely 

 concert eveiy morning and evening you can 

 just catch a snatch of in temporary lull of 

 the firing." 



This comes in a letter from the western 

 front : 



"On the river Ancre about 600 yards from 

 the trenches, there are numbers of coots and 

 moorhens, who are apparently entirely ob- 

 livious to the tremendous battle all around 

 them. Before the 'push' they were about 400 

 yards from our front line trenches opposite 

 Thiepval, and in front of our field guns." 



And this from the neighborhood of Lens: 



"All through the night the battle of the 

 guns went on and the sky Avas filled Avith the 

 rush of the shells and the moon veiled her 

 face from this horror Avhich made a hell on 

 earth. But in a little wood a nightingale 

 sang all through the night, in a little wood in 

 the curve of a crescent of guns, Avhich every 

 shell flash lit up Avith Avhite light so that the 

 delicate tracery of the boughs and branches 

 Avas ruffled and the tiny green leaves Avere 

 tremulous. In the heart of that thicket a 

 nightingale sang Avith trills and flutters of 

 song, trying to reach higher notes, to rise 

 higher in its ecstatic outpouring, then Avar- 

 bling little snatches of melody." 



Similarly, birds on the Macedonian front 

 are said to return calmly to their usual 

 haunts as soon as the firing ceases, little dis- 

 turbed by the tremendous artillery dis- 

 charges that deluge their homes Avith shot 

 and shell. (From Current Items of Interest, 

 Henry Oldys, Editor.) 



