BIRDS OF FERGUS COUNTY, MONTANA 49 



of the common fir or Douglas spruce, and several birds will feed together 

 in a tree-top, uttering their clinking notes and dropping a shower of loose 

 cones which they detach in their energetic movements. Occasionally a 

 crossbill will utter a chattering song not unlike that of the American gold- 

 finch. The usual note is a syllable like "preen," repeated three or four 

 times after the clinking call. The song of the crossbill can be suggested 

 by the syllables, "Quit, quit, quit, quit, preen-preen-preen." 



Distinguishing features: Plumage dull red, wings and tail darker; 

 female has grayish olive instead of red; length about 6 inches. 



522. WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. Loxia leucoptera. 



An irregular winter visitant in the mountainous regions. 



Distinguishing features: Plumage dull red, frequently with a tinge 

 of yellow; shoulders, tail, and wings black, the latter varied with two 

 broad bands of white; female has olive instead of red; length 6-7 inches. 

 524. GRAY-CROWNED LEUCOSTICTE. Leucosticte tephrocotis. 



A regular winter resident at Lewistown, where it is known as "brown 

 snowbird." It generally appears about the first of November, though in 

 pleasanter weather it may not be observed before the 8th or 10th. It ia 

 gregarious, moving about daily in flocks of varying size, usually scattering 

 about town in smaller troops until severe weather, when most of the troops 

 unite into one large flock, often containing as many as two or three hun- 

 dred individuals. 



The leucostictes are our English sparrows in social manners. They 

 feed at the door-steps, or in the yards. On a warm winter morning I have 

 seen from forty to fifty of these birds sitting on a wood-pile in the door- 

 yard, sunning themselves and gleaning from refuse. In the late afternoons 

 the individuals of a flock scatter out to accustomed nooks for the night. 

 A particular male, and sometimes a female, have regular sleeping-nooks in 

 the porch of the writer's home, and long before nightfall the birds seek 

 their quarters. I have seen one enter a tubular eaves-trough, there to spend 

 the night. Frequently they flutter under projecting eaves, and cling to 

 some projecting support for the night. 



In 1899, I first noted the leucostictes on October 30, when a flock 

 of fifteen was seen gleaning on a vacant lot on Main street. When dis- 

 turbed, they arose with sharp, metallic scolding notes, keeping together 

 and flying away in irregular, undulating, capricious flight. By November 

 16, the number of the flock had increased to about sixty. They were 

 feeding near the school building, and were quite fearless and friendly, as 

 individuals frequently alighted within six feet of me. They are extremely 

 restless, flitting in irregular, jerky movements on the wing. They have 

 a trilling chirp which they utter a-wing and on the ground. They alight 

 about the school building very much like English sparrows, preferring 

 projecting parts, gutters, window-sills. Frequently one will alight in the 

 window and even though someone is standing at the window within. 



The leucostictes feed on the seeds of the dwarf sage, or glean from 

 the snow about the bases of such plants. They are fond of gleaning along 



