WIIITE-WTNOET) CROSSBILL. dd 



|ialor bonoath and Hliudud lo hiiiiiMh yuUow on tho nimp. The 

 iiiiiimture iitulu in liku the fuiiiulu, hut [mlur uliovu uiul with h yellow 

 tint on bruHst and bully. In habita our two HpuciuH are similar, 

 though the white-wingud ia more northerly in diHtribution, and while 

 the American iH more abundant in Ontario its congener in in the 

 majority in the more EaHtern ProvinceH. 



Their crosHed billH — both mandibles are curved at the points and 

 cross or overlap — Hcpurate those birds from their fellow Hnches, 

 but they have still another distinguishing cliaracteristic, that of 

 hatching their young during tho winter — in February usually. 

 The nesting site is a coniferous tree in the midst of a thick grove, 

 generally in a deep forest. The nest is placed amid the thickest 

 foilage and is made as warm ca twigs, shreds of bark, moss, hair 

 and feathers can make it. The walls are high and thick, and are 

 made firm and compact, so that the frost is well excluded. The 

 birds evidently realize that care is required to protect the eggs, for 

 as soon as one leaves the nest the mate at once steps on. Three or 

 four eggs are laid, of a pale blue ground color, marked near the 

 larger end with streaks and spots of reddish brown and lilac. 

 These birds are gregarious and a number of nests are generally 

 found in a grove, with several on the same tree. As soon as the 

 broods are able to fly the parents and young join in large flocks and 

 proceed northward, where they spend the warmer months. 



The song of the crossbill is a sweet, cheerily whistled strain, very 

 similar in tone and theme to that of the thistle-bird — American 

 goldfincn — and like the latter's song is delivered on the wing, the 

 voices sinking and swelling in rhythm with tho undulations of their 

 flight. When heard from mid-air, on a clear winter's day, as a 

 flock goes sailing by, the eflect is delightful. 



