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winter of 1868 and 1869 they were uncommonly abundant, appearing early in the fall, and 

 remaining until quite late in the spring. In Pennsylvania it is much more rare than L. ame- 

 ricana, and Wilson only met with a few specimens. Since his day it has been found more 

 abundantly, occasionally in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia." 



Mr. Bidgway says that he saw this Crossbill more frequently than any other species among 

 the East Humboldt Mountains, and in June 1860 met with it on the Wind-River Mountains. 

 It is found also in North-west America. Mr. Dall says that it was not uncommon in winter near 

 Nulato, and several were obtained on the 8th of February and 8th and 9th of April 1867; but 

 on the west side of the Rocky Mountains it has not been known to occur south of British 

 Columbia. 



When in the lumber-woods of New Brunswick I used to see this Crossbill almost daily 

 throughout the winter until May, when we left the forests and returned to the settlements. In 

 general habits it does not differ from its allies, but appears to be much tamer than Loxia curvi- 

 rostra and Loxia americana. Almost all the larger camps used to be frequented by flocks of the 

 present species, which was called by the lumbermen the " camp bird ;" and where not molested 

 they were very tame. They were certainly breeding there ; for, as above stated, its eggs were 

 procured ; but I never heard the males utter any song like that said to be uttered during the 

 pairing-season by its European congeners, and the only note I ever heard them use was a low 

 one not unlike that of Loxia americana. But it seems that the present species does sing ; for 

 Dr. Brewer, writing respecting its habits in confinement, says (N. Am. Birds, i. p. 490) : — " In the 

 spring of 1869 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 heads downward. 

 Tney Avere 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 female 

 was accidentally choked by a bit of egg-shell her mate was inconsolable, ceased to sing, refused 

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



According to Messrs. Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Dr. A. Adams obtained a nest and egg in 

 1868 at Fredericton, in New Brunswick, the latter of which they describe as being " pale blue, 

 the large end rather thickly spotted with fine dots of black and ashy lilac," which description 

 agrees with the fragments of eggs I obtained ; and the nest they describe as being " deeply 

 saucer-shaped, and composed of a rather thin wall of fibrous pale-green lichens, encased on the 

 outside with spruce-twigs, and thinly lined with coarse hairs and fine shreds of inner bark. Its 

 external diameter is a little less than four inches, the rim being almost perfectly circular ; the 

 cavity is an inch and a half deep by two and a half broad." 



The specimen figured, on the same Plate with the male of Loxia bifasciata, is an adult male 

 from North America, and is the bird above described. Both these males are selected as being 



o 



