222 BIRDS OF ALABAMA 



the males begin to sing ; stragglers seen a month later ."+ At 

 Auburn, March 4 to 7, 1912, I saw 4 birds in a dooryard in 

 town feeding mainly on the lawn, and on the lower Tensaw 

 River, March 20, observed a flock of 20 or more feeding in 

 maple trees in the swamp. Miss Parkhurst reports the birds 

 common at Talladega, especially when the elms are blooming ; 

 they were seen there in numbers, February 14, 1911. Graves 

 reports them fairly common on Sand Mountain between March 

 17 and April 15, and Dr. Avery, at Greensboro, found them 

 common some years, in others, rare. He took specimens 

 there, December 13, 1889, March 2, 1890, and March 19, 1893. 

 Dean reported the bird common at Anniston between January 

 30 and March 26, 1916. 



General habits. — In the South this bird occurs mainly in 

 good-sized flocks. It is most conspicuous during the spring 

 migration, at which season the flocks visit the blossoming 

 fruit, maple, and elm trees and indulge in a medley of music. 

 The song is a prolonged and spirited warble, quite similar to 

 that of the warbling vireo, but louder and richer. In its sum- 

 mer home in the North the bird prefers orchards and door- 

 yards, placing its nest in an evergreen tree. 



Food habits. — The purple finch has a pronounced fondness 

 for the buds and blossoms of various trees, and is often seen 

 feeding on maple, elm, apple, cheery, or other fruit trees. 

 While in some cases slight damage may result from this habit, 

 usually a moderate pruning of the blossoms is a benefit rather 

 than an injury to the fruit crop. Many seeds and berries are 

 eaten also, including juniper, mountain ash, and dogwood ber- 

 ries, beechnuts, thorn apples, frost grapes, mulberries, and 

 the seeds of ash, elm, sycamore, tulip, ironwood, and hemlock. 

 The bird destroys some weed seed, such as burdock and rag- 

 weed. 



CROSSBILL: Loxia curvirostra pusilla Gloger.J 



State records. — There are only two records of the crossbill 

 from Alabama, but the species doubtless occurs frequently in 



■tBrown, N. C, Bull. Nutt. Ornith. Club, vol. 4, p. 7, 1879. 



tlioxia enrvlrostrB minor of the A. O. U. Check-list; for change of name. Bee The 

 Auk, Tol. 40, p. 681, 1923. 



