44 WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. 



mtimated ; for they seem to be quite independent of weather and season. Their diet is 

 not so exclusive as many suppose; the birds may sometimes be seen helping themselves 

 to decayed garden fruits. Mr. Maynard has seen them feeding on the seeds of beach- 

 grass, and has also found the stomachs filled with canker-worms. The eggs are still 

 considered a great prize, few having come to the knowledge of naturalists. They are 

 described as pale blue, with the larger end rather thickly spattered with fine dots of 

 black and ashy -lilac; the size being 0.80X0.56. They thus resemble those of the Purple 

 Finch and are probably indistinguishable from those of the Red Crossbill. Both species 

 of Crossbills have a chattering or rattling note, usually uttered as they fly; but the 

 true song is seldom heard south of their nesting grounds." 



A nest of this bird was found by Mr. A. J. Schoenebeck, on April 27, 1891, on 

 a small branch of Fort River, some ten miles west of Ascanaba, Delta Co., Mich. It 

 was found in dense evergreen woods, and was placed in the top of a small pine about 

 twenty-five feet from the ground. Mr. Schoenebeck saw one of the old birds moving 

 around in the tree top in a somewhat uneasy way, and when his companion, an old 

 trapper, knocked against the tree, he saw two birds flying off'. He at once climbed 

 the tree and found to his great delight a nest with two fresh eggs. Both are now before 

 me. The exterior of the nest consists of fine twigs and within this the nest proper is 

 placed. It is built of hemp-like fibers, bark-strips, some fine grasses, and the inside 

 consists of the same material and a layer of black horse-hair mixed with fibers. The 

 inside diameter is 2.75 inches and the depth 1.75 inches. The eggs measure .82X.60 

 and .Six. 62. Their ground-color is bluish-white, almost white when blown, marked 

 with very fine spots of reddish-brown and a few larger dots of dark brown, especially 

 on the larger end. 



The breeding range ot this Crossbill is found from northern New England and the 

 Northern States northward. In winter it is rarely found south of 40°. Dr. C. H. 

 Merriam found this bird in the Adirondacs, and Prof. R. Ridgway in the East Humboldt 

 Mountains. Near Calais, Maine, Mr. Boardman found a nest in winter. In the Rocky 

 Mountains of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana it is not an uncommon bird. 



Among the branches of pines, spruces, and firs these birds are of great beauty. 

 In all conceivable positions they climb around among the dense branches like Parrots. 

 They are especially attractive in winter when the snow weighs down the branches of 

 the evergreens. Several times I have seen them together in such a snow-covered tree 

 with the Red Crossbills, Pine Grosbeaks, and Red-polls. The partially red plumage 

 contrasts beautifully with the dark green of the pine foliage and the snow that covers it. 



I kept several of the White-winged Crossbills in a cage, and they took food imme- 

 diately after being captured. They were very tame, picking pieces of firuit, hemp, and 

 Canary-seed from my hand. They were almost constantly climbing around in the cage 

 like Parrots, moving up and down on the sides of the cage and hanging and walking 

 with the same ease, head downward, on the upper side of the wire netting. They did 

 not seem to suffer from the summer's heat, for I kept them about three and several 

 four years in perfedl health. 

 NAMES: White-winged Crossbill. 

 SCIENTIFIC NAMES: LOXIA LBUCOPTERA Gmel. (1788). Carvirostra leucoptera Wilson (1811). 



