470 MICHIGAN BIRD LIFE. 
soiled white. Many young males (perhaps all) wear the plumage of the female until at 
least » year old, perhaps longer, and they sing freely and breed in this plumage. Adult 
males in winter are darker and more purplish, but at best the bird is never purple, but 
rather crimson. . 
Length 5.50 to 6.25 inches; wing 3.15 to 3.40; tail 2.30 to 2.50. Female slightly smaller 
than male. 
209. Red Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra minor (Brehm.). (521) 
Synonyms: American Red Crossbill, American Crossbill, Common Crossbill.—Cruci- 
rostra minor, Brehm, 1846.—Curvirostra americana, Wilson.—Loxia americana, Bonap. 
—Loxia curvivostra minor, Ridgw., 1885, A. O. U. Check-list, 1886. 
Figure 111. 
Size of the English Sparrow; both mandibles curved and crossed at the 
tip (Fig. 111); no white on the wings. General color brick-red (either 
dull or bright), greenish-yellow, or brownish-yellow, the rump always 
either red or yellow. 
Distribution.—Northern North America, resident sparingly south in 
the United States to Maryland and Tennessee in the Alleghanies. Irregu- 
larly abundant in winter. 
In Michigan the distribution of the Red Crossbill is similar to that of the 
Pine Grosbeak except that it is more common. In other words it is a 
frequent winter visitor to most parts of the state, occurring 
often in large flocks and being most abundant in regions ‘ 
where conifers are plentiful. Unlike the Pine Grosbeak, A 
however, the Red Crossbill often spends the summer in 4* 
the more northern portions of the state, especially in pine 
and spruce regions, and it probably nests within our Higa tlle 
limits not infrequently. acca 
It often appears in the middle and southern counties, in flocks of fifty 
or more individuals in October and November, moving restlessly from 
place to place, feeding mostly on the seeds of cones and buds of evergreens, 
but also eating weed-seeds and wild fruits of various kinds. Often it is 
remarkably unsuspicious, and with care specimens may sometimes be 
caught in the hand, or more readily with a butterfly net. It is very fond 
of the seeds of the arbor-vita (Thuja), as well as those of tamarack and the 
various spruces, firs and pines, and the peculiar structure and great strength 
of the bill enable it to tear open the strongest and toughest cones and 
pick out the nutritious seeds. A flock of a hundred or more of these 
birds tearing open the cones of the Norway Pine makes noise enough to 
attract the attention of the most careless observer, and the commotion is 
increased by the chattering of the birds, which, however, whistle more 
loudly while on the wing than when at work on the trees. 
Although the species is almost universally distributed through the state, 
it is by no means equally common in all parts, or even in the same place 
in successive winters. In the southeastern part of the state it seems to 
be rather rare, while in the central and northern portions of the Lower 
Peninsula, and much of the upper Peninsula, it occurs in some numbers 
almost every winter and sometimes in enormous flocks. On the other hand, 
there have been occasional winters when apparently no specimens were 
noted in any part of the state. 
