Descriptive List 229 



KEY TO SPECIES 



1. Wings without white bars. Crossbill. 



1. W^ngs with two white bars. White-winged Crossbill. 



214. Loxia curvirostra minor {Brchm). Crossbill. 



Description. — Male brick red, female brownish, washed with greenish yellow. No white 

 wing-bars in either sex. Tips of mandibles crossed. Extreme measurements of 5 Raleigh speci- 

 mens: L., 6.00-6.50; W., 3.40-3.70; T., 2.00-2.20. 



Range in A?ncrica. — North America, chiefly far northward, breeding sporadically to ^'irginia 

 on the coast, and to northern Georgia in the mountains. 



Range in North Carolina. — Resident on some of the higher mountains; a winter visitor in the 

 central portion of the State. 



Fig. 179. Cros.sbill. 



The Crossbill has been taken at Raleigh January 16 and 26, and February 8, 1897; 

 March 11 and 23, 1885; May 9, 1907; and June 5, 1887. In Buncombe County 

 Cairns recorded it as a resident, breeiling on the Black Mountains; and Rhoads 

 heard it on Roan Mountain in late June, 1895. 



The nesting period is said to be in -winter or very early spring, while the snow 

 is still on the ground. The nest is usually found in a coniferous tree. The eggs 

 are pale greenish, spotted and dotted about the larger end with various shades of 

 lavender and brown. Size .75 x .57. 



The birds travel in small flocks and feed on various seeds, the peculiarly shaped 

 bills being well adapted for the purpose of tearing pine-cones asunder. 



215. Loxia leucoptera {Gmeh). White-winged Crossbill. 



Description. — Male rose-red; female brownish olive, wings with two white wing-bars; mandibles 

 crossed at tips. L., 6.2.5; W., 3..50; T., 2.65. 



Range. — Northern North America, breeding from northern New England northward. South 

 in winter to North CaroUna. 



Range in North Carolina. — So far, only taken at Raleigh in winter. 



Three specimens of the White-winged Crossbill were killed by Bruner, February 

 23, 1907, while they were feeding on cedar-berries near the Agricultural and 

 Engineering College at Raleigh. Bruner had no gun with him, l)ut in his scientific 

 longing to discover the identity of these queer-looking birds, he picked up three 



