i 



AMERICAN CROSSBILL. 379 



here than the following species, generally taking, in their irregu- 

 lar incursions, a more interior and mountainous route. In the 

 eastern chain of the Alleghanies, in Pennsylvania, according to 

 Wilson, they appear to be at times very abundant visitors, 

 feeding so steadily on the seeds of the white pine and hem- 

 lock spruce as to be approached without taking alarm. They 

 have also a loud, sharp, and not unmusical note, chattering as 

 they fly, and during the prevalence of deep snows become so 

 tamed by hunger as to alight round the mountain cabins, even 

 settling on the roofs when disturbed, and, like pigeons, de- 

 scending in the next moment to feed as if they had never 

 been molested. They are then easily trapped, and so eager 

 and unsuspicious as to allow an approach so near that they 

 may be knocked down with sticks. In these very familiar visits 

 they are observed even to pick off the clay from the logs of the 

 house, and to swallow the mere earth to allay the cravings of 

 hunger. In cages they show many of the habits of the Parrot, 

 climbing up the sides and holding the pine-cones given them in 

 one claw while they extract the seeds. Like the same bird in 

 Louisiana, they also do considerable damage at times in the 

 orchard by tearing apples to pieces for the sake of getting at 

 the seeds only. They feed likewise on the seeds of the alder, 

 as well as the kernels of other fruits and the buds of trees. 

 Scarcely any of these birds have yet been observed to breed 

 within the United States, as they retire for this purpose to their 

 favorite pine forests in high and more cool latitudes, where in 

 security and solitude they pursue the duties of procreation. 

 Dr. Brewer, of Boston, however, obtained eggs of these birds 

 from Coventry, in Vermont. Like the preceding species, they 

 often breed in winter in more temperate countries, as in 

 January and February, and the young fly in March. 



This bird was not observed by the naturalists of the north- 

 ern expeditions in any part of the fur countries. It is, how- 

 ever, described by Forster. In the winter of 1832, during or 

 soon after a severe snow-storm, a large flock of these uncer- 

 tain winter visitors were seen in a red-cedar grove near to 

 Mount Auburn, in this vicinity. In 1833, accompanied by the 



