1920 J General Notes 45 >7 



White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera) in West Virginia. — The 



following notes on the recent occurrence of this species at French Creek, 

 Adrian and Buckhannon, all in Upshur County, West Virginia, have been 

 sent to me by competent observers. These records are as follows, and 

 constitute the first reliable data in regard to the presence of the White- 

 winged Crossbill in West Virginia: 



"I saw the Crossbills at French Creek, W. Va., on the afternoon of 

 January 22, 1920, and the two days following. January 22 was a cold 

 day with a heavy sleet. I walked to the village, and, as soon as I came 

 in sight of the hemlocks, noticed the birds in the trees and on the ground 

 beneath. A nearer view revealed them as strangers, and I at once noticed 

 their remarkable tameness. One finely colored male was working busily 

 at a cone on a branch a foot above my head, and I stroked his side with 

 the tip of my umbrella. Instead of flying he edged away, threw his head 

 to one side and scolded me softly for interrupting his feast. There must 

 have been thirty or forty of the birds present and I looked and puzzled 

 until I was tired. I did not catch a sight of the crossed beak and could 

 not think what they were. An hour later I returned and found the birds 

 still there. A little group of three females were sitting in the road eating 

 from a cone, and I approached them and picked one up in my hand. Then 

 I saw the beak and recognized the birds, I carried the specimen home 

 with me, made sure of the identification, then took it out on the porch and 

 opened my hand. The bird flew about two feet and alighted on a vine. 

 I think I might have picked it up again without any difficulty. 



"Another flock appeared at the same time around the hemlocks near 

 Adrian. I think I heard of a dozen being caught in the hand. Three or 

 four days thereafter all disappeared and have not been seen since." 



The next note was written in reference to a flock of White-winged Cross- 

 bills observed at Buckhannon, W. Va., the same day. It is as follows: 



"On January 22, when passing by a large hemlock tree that stands 

 well down on Kanawha Street, in Buckhannon, my attention was attracted 

 to unfamiliar bird notes. I stopped and found that the birds making the 

 notes were in the hemlock tree and on the ground under it. Just as I 

 looked several of them flew down and began picking at the cones. I 

 walked up closer to get a good look and found that they were very tame. 

 There was a full-plumaged male very close and, by practising a little In- 

 dian stealth, I was able to place my hand over it. It kept prying at the 

 cone scales all the time I was approaching, and only a few times looked 

 up. I saw two or three males and perhaps five or six females or immature 

 birds. The day was stormy and the birds acted as if they were very 

 hungry." — Earle A. Brooks, Everett, Massachusetts. 



An Erroneous Kansas Record for Baird's Sparrow. — In the Oolo- 

 gist for 1907, 1 Mr. Logan Evans has recorded Baird's Sparrow (A?nmo- 



1 Vol. XXIV, Aug., 1907, p. 124. 



