Lake Umbagog, Maine
1895
Aug.30
(no 3)
Crossbills, as I convinced myself by a close & systematic inspection
of each member of the flock in turn, were old birds and the
males were in full red plumage. When, as happened every few
minutes - for they were very restless and unusually shy for Crossbills;
the flock took alarm at some real or imaginary danger and
flew up into the scorched and leafless paper birches which
used to shade the Umbagog House but which are now all
nearly or quite dead the Red Crossbills would begin singing
and keep it up with brief intermissions for several minutes sometimes
only one singing at a time but usually two or three mingling their
voices in a medley like Goldfinches in early spring. This song
was new to me. It began with three or four full, sweet notes
very much like those of the Goldfinch and ended with an equal
number of comparatively harsh yet by no means unpleasing notes
which at once recalled the prominent ones in the Song of
the Seaside Finch. As a whole the song was short, loud,
decidedly Finch-like in character, & rather musical
and pleasing. It was wholly unlike the low, confused
strain we sometimes hear from this Crossbill in Mass. in spring.
Whether it is the full song or not I cannot tell but
in addition to the fact that the birds were singing so
freely I saw one pair engaged in copulating! Hence it
seems only reasonable to assume that the flock - which
by the way was evenly divided as to sexes - represented
a little colony of breeding birds.
[margin]Crossbills[/margin]
[margin]Copulation[/margin]
  The White-winged Crossbills uttered only their usual
chattering flight notes.
[margin]Loxia leuoptera[/margin]
The old elm by the river is half dead (a Kingfisher sat
perched on it as of yore) and the fine, tall white
pine near it died only a month or two ago & has
not yet shed its brown & withered foliage.