iSS6.| Dyche 0)1 the Ned Cross/'/'// hi Kansas. 



259 



January 26, 1SS6, at which date I saw them for the last time, just at 

 sunrise, sitting on the top of a tree. Notwithstanding the fact 

 that January, 18S6, was the coldest month (mean temp. 14.32°) 

 recorded bv Professor Snow, who has kept a record for nineteen 

 years, the birds might be seen ahnost every day feeding on the 

 hemp stalks near the University. During stormy weather they 

 would take sheltei- in the cultivated evergreens which stood in 

 neighboring yards. At such times it was possible to approach 

 within a few feet of them, and when disturbed they would only fly 

 to the next tree. When the weather was pleasant, and when they 

 were not feeding on the hemp stalks, the birds would spend most 

 of their time flying from the high trees of one grove to those of 

 another. At night they would roost in the evergreens, apparently 

 preferring the pines. I never saw the birds on the ground but 

 once, and that was when I found them in the road. They re- 

 mained with us almost tlnee months, during which time I col- 

 lected forty specimens, twentv males and twenty females. The 

 specimens are in the University Museum. All the birds were 

 dissected and carefully examined in order that their food habits 

 might be accurately ascertained ; but not a trace of any kind of 

 food except hemp seed was found in the entire fortv specimens. 



Rarity of the Birds in the State. — Although the Cross- 

 bills have been common in this locality during the past three 

 months, the species has never been reported, before this winter, as 

 taken in tliis State, Mr. V. L. Kellogg reports taking a pair 

 December 23, out of a flock of about a dozen, at Emporia, sev- 

 enty-five miles southwest of Lawrence. Professor D. E. Lantz 

 reports taking two November 21, at Manhattan, about a hundred 

 miles west. On December 25 I saw a small flock thirty miles 

 west, on tiie Wakarusa, which I think were of the same species. 



Identity of the Species. — I have not hesitated to call the 

 birds Strickland/, because I think the measurements, particularly 

 those of the length of the hill and its depth at base, prove the 

 birds to be the Mexican form beyond all doubt. 



Believing that the measurements of such a large number of 

 specimens from one locality will be of interest to ornithologists 

 for comparison, etc., I give the following carefully prepared list 

 of the forty specimens, representing an equal number of males 

 and females : 



