^2 THE AMERICAN CROSSbAl. 



grown yinin^^ in tlocks. Xo red males were seen, thougli many gray males 

 were singing in the early mornings from the topmost s]>ray of some Ixilsani. 

 In the writer's opinion the red i>lumagc in the male is acquired at the 

 first moult or immediately after the juvenal dress, and is usually only retained 

 for one season; in some males a duller red dress is carried thrrmgh the second 

 summer, or more rarely a salmon-pink one; but in most cases the dress of the 

 second summer is a gray one like the females, with yellow head and rump. 

 Females mav sometimes l)e seen with decidedly red heads and rumps, — from 

 the size and shai)c of the bill these seem to l)e very old birds. The alx>ve 

 remarks as to the red dress in the male apply also, in the writer's ex|)erieiice, 

 to the genera Lo.via. Carpodacus ami Acanthis. 



Ai.i.AN Brooks. 



No. 25. 



AMERICAN CROSSBILL. 



A. O. U. No. 521. Loxia cur\irostra minor 1 Urchin. K 



Synonym. — Rkd Ckossiui.i.. 



Description. — .Idult male: Tips of mandibles crossed cither way; plumage 

 red, briglitcst on rump; feathers of back with brownish cciUers ; wings and tail 

 fuscous. Shade of red very variable, — orange, cinnabar, even vermilion, some- 

 times toned down by a saffron suffusion. Immature males sometimes ])resent a 

 curiously mottled appearance with chrome-green and red intermingled. Female 

 and \ouuy: Dull olive-green, brighter and more yellow on head and rump; 

 below grav overcast by dingy yellow, .\dult male, length 5.50-6.25 (139.7- 

 158.8) ; wings 3.40 l8().'4) ; tail 2'.05 (52.1) ; bill .70 ( 17.8) or under. 



Recognition Marks. — Sparrow size; crossed mandibles; male red and female 

 olive-grccn ; both 7>.-ittiout white wing-bars. 



"Nest: in forks or among twigs of tree, founded on a mass of twigs and 

 bark-stri])S, the inside felted of finer materials, including small twigs, rootlets, 

 grasses, hair, feathers, etc. Egc/s: 3-4. 0.75 x 0.57, pale greenish, spotted and 

 dotted about larger end with dark purplish brown, with lavender sbell-marknigs" 

 (Cones ). .\v. size, .85 x .53 (21.6 x 13.3 ) ( Hrewer). Season: erratic. Feb.-Oct. ; 

 one brood. 



General Range. — \i>rthern North .\merica, resident s])aringly south in the 

 eastern Initcd State-^ to Maryland and' Tennessee, and in the .Mleghanies. irregu- 

 larly abundant in winter. Of irregiilar distribution thruout the coniferous forests 

 of the West, save in southern California, .Arizona, and New Mexico, where 

 replaced by /.. c. stricklaildi. 



Range in Washington. — Found tbruont the coniferous forests of the State: 

 of irregular c ccnrrence locally. Non-migratory but nomadic. 



Authorities. — Curzirostra americana Wils. Baird, Kep. I'ac. R. R. Surv. 

 IX. pt. II. 1X5S, 42G |)art. 427. T. C&S. L'. D'. Ka. 1)-'. J. 1'.. E. 



Specimens. — U. of W. Prov. E. B. 



