490 NOHTII A.MHKICAN lURDS. 



nntl tame than the amcrinnin, aiul in one instance a pair were taken liy tlie 

 hand, and ulterwanls kept in conlinement. Tiiey ajipeurod around linston in 

 large Hocks, and remained through April. One was shf)t in Newton by Mr. 

 Maynard, June I'.i. It was I'ound in an ai)ple-tree, and its crop was lull of 

 canker-worms. In Eastern Afaine it is resident throughout the year, and, 

 like the other species, breeds in winter. In Western Maine I'rol'essor Verrill 

 has i'ound it a common winter visitant, but it is not known to bo resi- 

 dent. 



Near Springfield Mr. Allen considered this species a much less I'rccpient 

 visitor than the preceding. In the winters of 1804 and 1800 he found them 

 very abundant, occurring in large Hocks. 



Mr. Audubon, on his way to Labrador in 1833, found those birds quite 

 conunon, in May, among the islands of the Bay of Fundy, evidently migrat- 

 ing, on their way to more northern regions. I, however, obs(;rved none there 

 during my visits in the summers of 18a0 and 1851, although a specimen was 

 afterwards obtained on the Murre Islands, on the 30th of June. 



So far as they are known, the habits of this species are exactly similar to 

 those of the preceding. They feed in the same manner and upon like food. 

 Their flight is undulating and well sustained, and their movemejits in the 

 trees are not perceptibly diflerent. 



In the spring of 1809, Mr. Jillson, of Hudson, Mass., sent me a pair of 

 these birds which he had captured the preceding autumn. They were very 

 tame, and were exceedingly interesting little pets. Their movements in the 

 cage were like those of caged parrots in every respect, except that they 

 were far more easy and rapid. They clung to the sides and upper wires of 

 the cage with their feet, hung down from them, and seemed to enjoy the 

 practice of walking with their head downward. They were in full song, and 

 both the male and the female were quite good singers. Their songs were 

 irregular and varied, but sweet and musical. They ate almost every kind of 

 food, but were especially eager for slices of raw apples. An occasional larch 

 cone was also a great treat to them. Although while they lived they were 

 continually bickering over their food, yet when the i'emale was accidentally 

 choked by a bit of eggshell her mate was inconsolable, ceased to sing, re- 

 fused his food, and died of grief in a very few days. 



The White-winged Crossbill was seen more fre(piently by Mr. llidgway 

 among the East Humboldt Mountains than the other species. It was first 

 noticed on the 12th of August among the cedars on the mountains. Its fine 

 plaintive cry of " week " was entirely diderent from the hurriedly uttered 

 notes of the C. aincricanct. 



Several specimens of this Crossbill have been taken in Eurojie, where 

 their occurrence is of course accidental, irregular, and rare. 



A nest of this species (S. I., 13,4r)2), taken at Fredericton, New Brunswick, 

 by Dr. A. Adams, in 1808, is deeply .saucer-shaped, and composed of a rather 

 thin wall of fibrous pale-green lichens, encased on the outside with spruce 



