THE OOLOGIST'S EXCHANGE. 



VOL. II. 



NEW YOEK, JUNE, 1889. 



No. 3. 



The Crossbills. 



by E. B. Webster. 



The Crossbills are among the most 

 remarkable' and noteworthy of North 

 American birds, owing to the peculiar 

 crossing of the upper and lower mandi- 

 bles, from which they derive their name. 

 To the ordinary observer, this would 

 seem to be a deformity ; but to the stu- 

 dent of ornithology who considers the 

 nature of the food chosen, this arrange- 

 ment is at once seen to be a great ad- 

 vantage. The seeds of the pine and fir, 

 and others enclosed in hard cones, form 

 the principal food of this remarkable 

 species and by inserting the points of 

 the beak, which cross each other at an 

 angle of about forty-five degrees, under 

 the scales of the cone, by a lateral motion 

 it spreads them so that the tongue can 

 readily extract the seeds. By using the 

 bill as scissors an apple can be cut into 

 in a short time and the seeds extracted. 

 They also possess the power of bringing 

 the points of the bill together, so that 

 the points of the seeds can easily be 

 picked up and shelled. 



Of North American Crossbills there 

 are three species, the American, Mexi- 

 can, and the White-winged, the first and 

 last being residents of the northern 

 portions of the continent, visiting the 

 United States only in winter. AJ1 the 

 species are medium sized, quite robust 

 in form, with strong jaws and large 

 head. The wings are quite long and 

 considerably pointed ; the tail is forked, 

 and the feet and claws, which are of 

 a brown color, proportionately large 

 and strong. 



The first named species (Loxia cur- 

 virostra minor) is reddish in color, with 

 wings and tail dusky brown. The fe- 

 male and young are greenish olive, 

 tinged with yellowish-brown. Length, 

 6 ; extent, 10.20 ; bill, 70. This species 

 is often seen in the United States in 

 Winter, flitting and creeping among the 

 thick branches of fir and other conifer- 

 ous trees, or it may be often observed 

 hanging by its feet, head downwards, 

 or grasping the twig above with its bill 

 and swinging in air, until it secures 

 another perch. The nest is composed 



of spruce twigs and roots and is lined 

 with finer substances, usually horse- 

 hair. The four eggs are greenish-white, 

 spotted irregularly with lavendar ; size, 

 .85 x.50. 



The adult male White-winged {Loxia 

 leucopterd) is of a rosy red color, some- 

 times carmine, fading into ashy white 

 on the crissum. The wings and tail are 

 black, the former being marked with 

 two wing bars of white caused by the 

 white tips of the coverts and inner 

 secondaries. The females resemble the 

 young, and are a dusky-brown or yel- 

 lowish, spotted and streaked with dusky. 

 Length, 6.40, extent, 10.20. The eggs 

 are pale bluish, spotted, principally at 

 the larger end with lilac, sometimes 

 black. Nidification similar to that of 

 the American Crossbill. This species 

 is seldom seen in this portion of the 

 United States, owing to its more north- 

 ern distribution, though like the Cedar 

 Bird it may be quite common as a winter 

 resident in one locality for a few years 

 and then may be seldom or never seen 

 for a season or two. 



Both species nest twice a year in win- 

 ter and fall. Occasionally the first 

 brood is raised in the United States 

 before they return in spring. They are 

 gregarious and like the Pine Grosbeaks 

 are very unsuspicious. When they are 

 perching on a cone one may approach 

 quite close and will often observe them 

 carrying the seeds to the mouth with 

 one foot while they stand up on the 

 other, resembling a Parrot in this re- 

 spect. They have a sweet song. It is 

 said that the bill is not curved in the 

 young birds until they are fledged and 

 surely the crossing is not uniform. In 

 the specimens in my collection, how- 

 ever, the ujoper mandible crosses the 

 lower on the right side. 

 Cresco, Iowa, May 14, 1889. 



Our Supplement. 



This month we present, at a consid- 

 erable expense, a supplement containing 

 a portrait of that distinguished natural- 

 ist Linna?us. Other new features will 

 soon appear. Now send in your sub- 

 scriptions. We lead the amateur natural 

 history press. 



