334 Birds of Colorado 
the country, appearing suddenly at some particular spot 
and staying some time while food lasts, and then dis- 
appearing again for some months. They are noisy birds 
and keep up a continuous chatter, while during the 
breeding season they sing quite sweetly. The food 
consists chiefly of the seeds of coniferous trees, which 
they are able to obtain with the help of their powerful 
mandibles. 
But few ornithologists have taken the eggs of this 
bird ; Breninger (94) found twelve nests near Palmer 
Lake, between January and April. Dennis Gale (Hen- 
derson 07) found a nest in a pine tree on a sheltered 
hillside on the slopes of Buckhorn Mountain; it was 
eighteen feet above the ground, and fixed on a horizontal 
limb. The eggs, which were slightly incubated when 
taken on April 3rd, were three in number; they were 
pale blueish-green, spotted with rusty-lavender, and 
measured on an average ‘70 x 44. The nest was com- 
posed of twigs and grass stems, with a few feathers in 
the lining. 
Mexican Crossbill. Loxia curvirostra stricklandt. 
A.O.U. Checklist 52la—Colorado Records (see records of L. c. 
minor). 
Description.—Very similar to L. c. minor, but decidedly larger and 
with a longer bill. Dimensions of a Colorado male: Length 6-5; 
wing 3-80; tail 2-25; culmen -90; tarsus -60. 
Distribution.—Mountains of New Mexico, Arizona and Old Mexico 
to Guatemala, wandering northwards at any rate to El Paso co., 
Colorado. A pair of Crossbills collected by Aiken, May 22nd, 1874, 
in El Paso co., the dimensions of which are given above, are obviously 
referable to this subspecies, as are those found nesting near Fort Lewis 
in La Plata co., on January 15th, 1887, by Morrison. 
White-winged Crossbill. Loxia leucoptera. 
A.O.U. Checklist no 522—Colorado Records—Drew 81, p. 89; 85, p. 
16; Morrison 88, p. 73; 89, p. 149; Cooke 97, p. 97; Knaebel 07, p. 101 
