300 PERCHERS AND SINGERS 



The American Cross-Bill 1 is a dull- 

 red bird with brown wings and tail, and 

 its bill is so emphatically crossed it seems 

 like a deformity which must necessarily 

 be fatal to a seed-eater. But Nature has 

 her own odd ways; and it seems that the scissor arrangement 

 of this bird's beak is to promote the husking of pine cones 

 and the cracking of the seeds. 



This is a bird of the North, and in the East comes 

 no farther south than a line drawn from Colorado to Wash- 

 ington, D. C. In the West it descends to Arizona, but 

 everywhere in the United States it is only a winter visitor. 

 With an opera-glass it is always easily recognized by its 

 crossed bill. 



The American Goldfinch 2 is a conspicuously yellow 

 bird, though quite small. It is a plump-bodied, fluffy little 

 bird, all sulphur yellow except a circular black cap atop of 

 its head, and black trimmings on its wings and tail. It is 

 exquisitely pretty, and, like a feathered coquette, loves to 

 pose on the steep side of a tall mullen stalk, with no leaves 

 about to cut off the admirers' view. It is sociable, also, and 

 loves the garden, orchards and meadows of the self-elected 

 "lord of creation," man. 



As a weed-destroyer, this bird has few equals. It makes 

 a specialty of the seeds of members of the Order Compositae, 

 and is especially fond of thistles, ragweed, wild lettuce and 

 wild sunflower. (Sylvester D. Judd.) 



1 Lox'i-a cur-vi-ros'tra minor. Length, 6.50 inches, 



2 As-trag-a-li'nus tris'tis. Length, 5 inches. 



