6o PROCEEDINGS MANCHESTER INSTITUTE 



July 20 to 25, it was plain that most of the Red Crossbills were 

 in the valleys, below 1,500 or 2,000 feet. In course of a trip 

 from Intervale over the Presidential Range from August 2 to 5, 

 the same fact was again observed, that practically all the Red 

 Crossbills were left below us when the woods at 2,000 feet 

 were reached, though numerous pairs and a few single birds 

 were found along the Glen road nearly to this altitude. At 

 about this same time, Red Crossbills were common in the low- 

 lands just north of the great range, which they must have passed 

 by following through the various notches and valleys. The first 

 White-winged Crossbills were noted on the 20th of July, when 

 a small flock of six birds was found feeding among the spruces 

 at some 2,400 feet on Mt. Bartlett, and on the following day sev- 

 eral were heard as they flew past overhead while we were going 

 through mixed woods at over 2,000 feet on the Carter Notch 

 trail. A single bird was seen on July 22d at Carter Notch 

 (3,360 feet), but there seemed to be only a few scattering birds 

 on the upper levels at this date. About the middle of August 

 the number of Red Crossbills seemed to be falling off in the val- 

 leys, and at the same time small flocks began to gather in the 

 lower woods to feed on the ripening seeds of the red spruce and 

 hemlock. This gathering into flocks continued during August, 

 and by the first of September numbers of small bands of from 3 

 to a dozen birds were found, with sometimes a White-whiged 

 Crossbill or two among them. One or two small flocks of the 

 latter had already appeared in the valley also. From Septem- 

 ber 4 to 6 was again spent in the higher woods of the Carter 

 mountains, the greatest elevation being the summit of Carter 

 Dome (4,860 feet). Throughout the lower country, a fair num- 

 ber of Red Crossbills was seen on our trip in, but after getting 

 above 2,000 feet or so. White-winged Crossbills became com- 

 mon in flocks of from seven to fifty birds, to the complete exclu- 

 sion of the Red species. It will be remembered that on the pre- 

 vious trips to these upper levels in late July and early August, 

 only a very few White- wings were seen, while now they were 

 abundant. They were extremely restless, and flocks were con- 

 stantly in sight or hearing, now pitching down into a spruce or 



