SPARROWS 223 



cold winters. L. S. Golsan states that a flock of 25 or 30 ap- 

 peared in a juniper tree near his home, 4 miles from Autauga- 

 ville, about 1883; several were shot and caused considerable 

 comment by their crossed bills.** E. W. Graves observed a 

 flock of about 8 at his home on Sand Mountain, near Car- 

 penter, the last of January, 1913. 



General habits. — The crossbills are birds of curious habits 

 and are very erratic in their movements. They breed usually 

 late in winter or very early in spring, when snow covers the 

 ground, but occasionally later in spring or in summer, and 

 wandering companies of nonbreeding birds often remain south 

 of their breeding grounds until May or June. 



The birds are usually rather shy, but, on the contrary, are 

 sometimes so tame as to permit of their capture with the hand 

 or a butterfly net. They travel in small flocks and always 

 seem restless and nervous, flying frequently from place to 

 place, uttering the while a sharp chipping note. They are 

 very partial to evergreen trees, upon the seeds of which they 

 feed. The crossed bill is used not only to tear open the cones, 

 but also, after the manner of parrots, to aid in climbing. 



Food habits. — This species feeds mainly on the seeds of 

 various evergreens — pines, firs, spruces, tamarack, arbor- 

 vitae, and hemlock; Knight states that he has seen the birds 

 eating larvae of a butterfly (Vanessa antiopa) and small green 

 lice, and has known them to take the buds of elm, maple, 

 birch, poplar, and willow.* 



REDPOLL : Acanthis linaria linaria (Linnaeus) . 



State records. — The redpoll occurs only very irregularly in 

 Alabama. F. T. Park records the capture of a specimen near 

 Stevenson, in September, 1874,t but the early date of this 

 record suggests the possibility of error. F. W. McCormack 

 tells me that on January 20, 1893, during a severe cold spell, 

 he observed two redpolls at Florence. These are the only 

 records of the bird in the State. 



General habits. — This hardy little bird, a member of the 

 sparrow family, visits the United States only in winter. In 



♦•Golsan and Holt, The Auk. vol. 31, P. 227, 19U. 

 *Knight. O. W., Birds of Maine, P- 378, 1908. 

 tPark, F. T., The Auk, vol. 10, p. 205, 1893. 



