228 
BIUDS OF PENNSYLVANIA. 
quent the elm trees, feeding on the slender but sweet covering of the 
flowers ; and, as soon as the cherries put out their blossoms, feed almost 
exclusively on the stamina of the flowers ; afterwards, the apple blossoms 
are attacked in the same manner ; and their depredations on these contin- 
ued till they disappear, which is usually about the 10th or middle of May.” 
I have have never found the nest of this bird. According to different 
writers it is usually placed in evergreens or orchard trees, and is com- 
posed of grass, strips of bark and various vegetable fibers. The eggs, 
said to be, usually four in number, are described as being dull-green, 
spotted, chiefly about the larger end, with very dark-brown ; they vary 
considerably in size, but average probably .86 long by .65 wide. 
Genus LiOXIA Linn^us. 
Loxia curvirostra minor (Brehm.). 
American Crossbill. 
Description {Plate 98). 
Male dull red ; wings and tail blackish ; female brownish-olive, tinged with yel- 
low and streaked with dusky. Immature birds, often considerably different from 
the adults, can always be recognized by their sickle-shaped bills and the absence of 
white wing bands. Length about 6 inches ; extent about 11. 
Habitat. — Northern North America, resident sparingly south in the eastern United 
States to Maryland and Tennessee and in the Alleghanies ; irregularly abundant in 
winter ; resident south in the Rocky mountains to Colorado. 
Two species and one geographical race,* of the genus Loxia are found 
in North America. Both species occur in Pennsylvania. Crossbills, as 
the name would indicate, can, by their bill alone, be known from all 
other of our feathered visitants. The American Crossbill and the White- 
winged species may be distinguished without difliculty, if you remem- 
ber that the first-named never has white bands on the wings, and the 
other species, wiiether in adult or immature plumage, has, as its specific 
name signifies, white wing marks. The Crossbills, inhabitants chiefly 
of pine and hemlock forests, are frequently met with, during autumn 
and winter months, in various sections of this commonwealth. 
The American Crossbill breeds regularly in Clinton, Clearfield, Lu- 
zerne, Lycoming and Cameron counties, and also doubtless in the higher 
momitainous regions in other parts of the state. Dr. W. L. Hartman, 
of Pittston, has taken the nest and eggs of this bird, in March, in Lu- 
zerne county, and Prof. August Kock has observed the old birds with 
their young early in May feeding on the buds and blossoms of apple 
trees about Williamsport. Dr. Yan Fleet informs me they are found at 
all seasons about Benovo. In nearly all the mountainous regions of 
Pennsylvania the Crossbills are quite common in winter, and are found 
of ten in large-flocks, which number- sometimes two hundred, frequent- 
* The Mexican Crossbill {Loxia curvirostra stricklandi, Ridgw. ), found in Colorado, southern Arizona 
and the table lands of Mexico, is said to differ from the American Crossbill in being brighter in color and 
having a slightly larger bill; the lower mandible especially is heavier than that of L. c. minor. 
