bJ WIIITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. 



on the wing, and from other members of the family, by the 

 curved bill. 



General Habits. While in a general way, the White- 

 winged Crossbills resemble the American, they differ in some 

 important particulars, for example, they are not mere wan- 

 derers, but have fixed localities to which they return 3^ear 

 after year to breed, and their movements are more like those 

 of the other occasional winter visitors which come to us, being 

 governed by the food supply. But on the other hand it can- 

 not be doubted that they breed irregularly, for I have seen 

 fully grown young taken in July which must have been 

 hatched from eggs laid in May, and again I have found them 

 about to breed on the Magdalens in July. The White-winged 

 Crossbills do not appear to be quite so dependent upon the 

 seeds of cones as do the Red, for I have found them eating 

 the seeds of grasses and weeds. This food is occasionally 

 varied by an insect diet, for 1 once obtained a specimen in 

 Newtonville on June 13, that had its stomach filled with can- 

 ker worms. 



The most notable visit which we ever had of this species 

 that I have known, was in the winter of 18GS-GJ. That 3'ear 

 they appeared in great numbers at Albany, Maine, as early 

 as October 21st ; during the first week in December they were 

 common at Ipswich, Mass., then a few days later appeared in 

 Newton, where they remained until late in April. 



Song. The call and other notes do not differ much from 

 those of the American Crossbills, and the song is not dis- 

 similar. 



