FINCHES, SPARROWS, ETC. 309 



THE WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL* 



The common name Crossbill, or, as the bird is some- 

 times called, Crossbeak, describes the peculiar structure of 

 the bill, which marks them as perhaps the most peculiar of 

 our song birds. The bill is quite deeply cut at the base and 

 compressed near the tips of the two parts, which are quite 

 abruptly bent, one upward and the other downward, so that 

 the points cross at an angle of about forty-five degrees. 

 This characteristic gives this bird a parrot-like appearance. 



Their peculiar bills are especially fitted for obtaining 

 their food, which consists to a great extent of the seeds of 

 cone-bearing trees, such as the pine, the hemlock, and the 

 spruce. 



The two sexes vary in color, the body of the male being 

 a dull carmine-red, which is brighter on the rump, and that 

 of the female is brownish, tinged with olive-green and with 

 brownish-yellow on the rump. The young males are simi- 

 lar in color to the females, but pass through a changeable 

 plumage while maturing. 



The crossbill usually builds its nest in a cone-bearing 

 tree and does not always choose the most inconspicuous 

 locality. The nest is generally constructed of rather coarse 

 twigs and strips of birch or cedar bark and lichens. This 

 is lined with hair, the softer fibers of bark, fine rootlets, 

 grass, and feathers. The whole nest is saucer-shaped and 

 about four inches in diameter, outside measurement, by one 

 and one-half in depth. Authorities tell us that the eggs are 

 usually three in number. In color they are a pale blue, 



