FINCHES. 175 



nceuvring in the air in the manner of the " Red-polls." They 

 generally fly at a considerable height, and sometimes at a very 

 great elevation, at least great relatively to the powers of flight 

 which belong to this family of birds. In spring, the Crossbills 

 do mischief in attacking the buds of various trees ; and Mr. 

 Maynard speaks of their eating the tops of oats in autumn, at 

 Albany, Maine. 60 They are said to build their nests often in 

 February or March, and therefore their presence in summer 

 may not properly indicate the districts in which they breed, 

 though such immature specimens were obtained by Mr. Horace 

 Mann, at Weston, Massachusetts, in May, 1862, that Mr. 

 Allen thinks it " hardly possible " that they were born far 

 from that place. 61 The nest of the Crossbills has been found 

 at Milltown, Maine, by Mr. Boardman, and these birds may, 

 therefore, breed quite extensively in that State and north- 

 eastern New Hampshire, having been " common at Umbagog, 

 according to Mr. Deane, during the summer of 1870," and 

 according to Mr. Brewster, being " very common at Franconia 

 in summer." 62 Their habitat in the breeding season may be 

 generally considered as the vast hemlock and spruce forests of 

 the north. 



d. As Wilson says, they "have a loud, sharp, and not 

 unmusical note " and " chatter as they fly." They sometimes 

 utter in spring quite a sweet song, which has the character of 

 their ordinary cries, as is noticeable in the music of the birds 

 nearly related to them, the Pine Grosbeaks, " Red-polls," Gold- 

 finches, etc. 



B. LEUCOPTERA. White-winged Crossbill. Much less 

 common in Massachusetts than even the preceding species.* 

 a. Mandibles crossed (as in A). About six inches long. 



60 The Naturalist's Guide, p. 111. Co., Me., etc., 54th species, p. 16, pam- 



61 Notes on Some of the Rarer Birds phlet. 



of Massachusetts, in pamphlet [pp.30, * The White- winged Crossbill is much 



31, 32], and in American Naturalist, less common than L. minor. It visits 



vol. iii, pp. 505-519 ; 568-585 ; 631- southern New England at wider inter- 



648 ; and numbers for Nov., Dec., and vals and seldom in equally great num- 



Jan., 1869-70. bers, and breeds more sparingly, but 



62 C. J. Maynard, A Catalogs of the still not infrequently, in our northern 

 birds of Coos Co., N. H., and Oxford coniferous forests. W. B. 



