196 Tivelve Months With 



I have walked the beach north of this point for 

 several miles, and carefully examined the shore 

 and adjacent clay cliffs without finding any signs 

 of nests. There are thousands of herring gulls 

 along this shore in late summer, and the presence 

 of these large flocks is doubtless responsible for the 

 report that the birds breed in this area. I know 

 of no breeding colonies south of Hat Island in 

 Green Bay. The herring gull is the species com- 

 monly called "sea gull." 



Among other visitants from the north that often 

 come to us in November, may be mentioned the 

 crossbills, redpolls, and pine and evening gros- 

 beaks. The American and the white-winged cross- 

 bills are rare and irregular winter visitants, the 

 redpoll (acanthis linaria) is a common winter resi- 

 dent, and the pine and evening grosbeaks are 

 irregular winter visitants, the latter being the more 

 common. 



Some years ago I obtained several specimens of 

 the American crossbill in northern Indiana, where 

 I found a large flock of them feeding in the woods. 

 They are not infrequently found north of Chicago 

 in the woods bordering Lake Michigan. These 

 little birds are slightly smaller than the English 

 sparrow. Their upper and lower mandibles are 

 crossed at the tip, — ^whence the name. The plum- 

 age is dull red, brighter on the rump, with dark 

 gray wings and tail. They always go about in 

 flocks, and against a back ground of snow a group 

 of these little red birds makes as delightful a winter 



