14 BULLETIN 1240, I". S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICrLTTEE. 



cankerworrus. Many other observers have recorded white-winged 

 crossbills as feeding on the seeds of conifers and weeds: and the 

 birds are also reported to have eaten frozen apples, but no evidence 

 of this was found in the stomachs examined. 



s ' s. — It is apparent that the white-winged, as well as 

 the red. crossbill depends to a large extent upon seeds of conifers 

 for its sustenance throughout the year. The beak is especially 

 adapted for extracting these seeds from the cones in which they 

 grow, and it is probable that the bird could subsist entirely upon 

 such food. In the great coniferous forests the eating of pine seed 

 is of no economic importance, and as the few insects the bird eats 

 are harmful the balance would seem to be slightly in its favor. 

 The only source of complaint against the white-winged crossbill is 

 found in the bud-eating habit, and in view of the comparative rarity 

 : :"_:e species any injurious effect would be improbable even if buds 

 furnished a far greater percentage of its diet than is shown by 

 this study. So long as this bird continues as harmless in its food 

 habits as at present known, it fullv deserves the protection accorded 

 it. 



Foo'i items of the white-winged crossbill, identified to the genus or specie*, as 

 determined by the e rami nation of 52 stoma 



[The figures indicate the number of stomach.* in tcftich the iten\3 icere found.] 



Vegetable Food. 



Pinace 



Picea sp. i spruce > 19 



sis < hem- 

 lock! S 



I - : m fir) _ 1 



(juniper > 1 



Poace 



C h a e t o c h l< 5] I foxtail Asteraceae. 



gi as) 1 Helianthus sp. (sunflower) 



Empetraceae. 



Empetmm nigrum (crow- 

 berry* l 



Vaocimaeeae. 



Gaulujsacia sp. i huckleberry ) _ 1 

 Ambrosiaceae. 



Ambrosia sp. ( ragweed* 2 



HOARY REDPOLL (Acanthis hornemanni exilipts). 



Only 11 stomachs of this rare straggler from the north were avail- 

 able for examination, and 6 of these were from Fort Simpson, Can- 

 ada. E. A. Preble : - reported the hoary redpolls of this region as 

 feeding on the seeds of dwarf birch [Betida r>ona). canoe birch 

 (Betuta pajnjrifera) , and two alders [AIntu inco.no and A. olno- 

 — -' ' The six stomachs collected by Preble contained 



seeds of birch and alder. The remaining live from Michigan and 

 Maine contained seeds of knotweed {Pohjoonum) . stink grass (Era- 

 ft*),sedg , pigweed (Amanmtkw), and an unidentified 



seed. 



The food of this redpoll probably differs little from that of the 

 common redpoll (Acanthis Uruaia)^ which is discussed at greater 

 length in the succeeding section. 



. biological investigation of the Athabaska-Muekenzi. region : U. S. Dept. Agr.. 

 No. 27 118, :908. 



