A. W. BUTLER. 47 
THE RANGE OF THE CROSSBILLS IN THE OHIO 
VALLEY, WITH NOTES ON THEIR UNUSUAL 
OCCURRENCE IN SUMMER. 
BY A, W. BUTLER, BROOKVILLE, IND. 
In 1838 Dr. Jared P. Kirtland had not met with the 
American Crossbill (Zoxia curvirostra minor) in Ohio or 
Indiana. Dr. R. Haymond omitted it from his “ Birds of 
Southeastern Indiana” in 1856. Dr. J. M. Wheaton re- 
ported it from Ohio in the winter of 1859-60. Evidently it 
was quite well known to Dr. Haymond in 1869. The winter 
of 1868-69 they were very abundant in the vicinity of Cin- 
cinnati, according to ‘Chas. Dury ; this was doubtless the case 
at-other places also. The range of the species, at this time, 
was supposed to be northern North America, south in the 
Appalachian mountains into Pennsylvania, and extending in 
winter irregularly over much of the United States. A letter 
from Mr. C. E. Aiken, of Salt Lake City, Utah, informs me 
that this species became very abundant in Chicago in July 
and August, 1869, and remained until late inthe fall. They 
fed greedily upon seeds of sunflowers and were so sluggish 
that one could approach within a few feet of them, and they 
fell an easy prey to boys with catapults. In the latter part 
of August of the same year, he found them common in 
Lake County, Ind. He also notes that they were not rare 
the succeeding year in the vicinity of Chicago. Dr. F. W. 
Langdon notes the capture of a single specimen from a 
flock of six or eight at Madisonville, near Cincinnati, O., 
Nov. 30, 1874. In the winter of 1874-75 Mr. Eugene P. 
