74 rill'- WliriH-WlNGED CROslbll.L. 



Wlieii we recall tiiat tlic iiunuai f<M)d nf tlie CrosshiJl is piiic-seeils, this 

 cravinjj fur Natures solvent is readily understandable. 



Crossbills j^ive out an intermittent rattlinjj cry, (^r excited titter, Iczc. 

 /iTi', lezi\ while fcediufj. They have also a flight note which consists of a 

 short, clear whistle; and a flock composed of separately unflulating indi- 

 viduals alTords a ])leasing sensation to lH>th eye and e:ir. as it cipidly passes. 

 The male is said to have sprightly whistling notes of a most agreeable char- 

 acter, generically related to that of the I'ine Grosl)eak, or Purple P'inch, but 

 their exhibition must be rather rare. 



.\fter all, there is something a bit uncanny alxnit these cross-billed 

 creatures, and their eccentricities show nowhere in greater relief than in their 

 nesting habits. The (|uasi migrations oi the bird are determined by the local 

 abundance of fir (or pine) cones. Like their food supply, the birds them- 

 selves may al>>und in a given section one year and l)e conspicuously absent 

 the next. Moreover, l)ecause there is no choice of season in gathering the 

 seed cro|), the birds may nest whenever the whim seizes them; and this they 

 do from January to July, or even Octoljer. The communal life is maintained 

 in spite of the occasional defection of love-lorn couples; and there is nothing 

 in the appearance of a tlock of Crossbills in .\pril to suggest that other such 

 are dutifully nesting. 



Mr. I'owles has never taken the eggs near Tacoma, altho he has encoun- 

 tered half a dozen of their nests in twelve years, the only occu|)ied one of 

 which we have record being found by a friend on the .25th of .April, 1899. 

 It contained three half-incubated eggs, and was placet! in one of a group of 

 small firs in the |>rairie country, at an elevation of some twenty feet. The 

 nest rather closely resembles that of the California Purple Finch, but is more 

 comi)actly built and much more heavily lined. It is com|)osed of twigs and 

 rootlets closely interwoven, and boasts an inner quilt of felted cow-hair nearly 

 half an inch in thickness. The female Crossbill exhibits a singular devotion 

 to duty, once confessed, and in this case the collector had actually to lift her 

 from the eggs in order that he might examine them. 



No. 2(1. 



WHITH-WINGED CROSSBILL. 



.\. O. I'. Xn. 5j_>. Lo.xia Icucoptcra linn.!. 



Description. — Male: Rosy-red or carmine all over, save for grayish of 

 nape and black of scajjulars, wings, and tail. 'I'lic black of scapulars sometimes 

 meets on lower back. Two conspicuous white wing-bars are formcil by the tips 

 of the middle and greater coverts. Hill slender anil weaker than in preceding 



