58 THE RANGE OF THE CROSSBILLS. 
The only instance I know of its occurring in the Ohio 
valley in summer is that given by the late Mr. C. H. Boll- 
man. He wrote me that he saw eleven on a fir-tree in 
Bloomington, Ind., June 24, 1886. A few days later he 
several times noted specimens of the other species. Every- 
where in the Ohio valley this species seems to be quite rare 
and exceedingly irregular in its occurrence. Both Mr. E. W. 
Nelson and Mr. Otto Boling note it as much less common 
in Illinois than formerly. With the exception of the winter 
of 1868-9, and the succeeding summer, I do not know of its 
having appeared in any considerable numbers in any of the 
tier of states next north of the Ohio River. 
