THE TRAVELS OF BIRDS 



they go almost any place where it may be found. 



So in the winter we may have visits from 

 Crossbills, or Pine Grosbeaks. These birds feed 

 on the seeds of cone-bearing trees. When there 

 is an abundant supply of this kind of food in the 

 Far North we see very few or none of them. 

 But when the pines and spruces produce a small 

 crop, then the Crossbills and Grosbeaks come to 

 us in unusual numbers. 



It is said that Herring Gulls have been known 

 to follow a steamer across the Atlantic. They 

 were not attracted by the steamer, we may be 

 sure, but by the food which was thrown over- 

 board from it. 



The great Albatross ranges so far over the 

 southern seas that it is called the Wandering 

 Albatross. In the museum of Brown University 

 there is a mounted specimen of a Wandering 

 Albatross, which shows how well this name is 

 deserved. When captured off the coast of Chili, 

 on December 20, 1847, the bird had a small vial 

 hung on a string about its neck. This vial con- 

 tained a piece of paper, on which was written 

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