155 
female white-winged crossbill. 
extending: far to the northwest, as Mackenzie 
Wrd f S to allude to it when speaking of the only land 
"ki r° Un d in the desolate regions he was exploring^ 
»il, enlivened, with its agreeable notes, the deep and 
'he I for ests of those frozen tracts. It is common on 
. ders of Lake Ontario, and descends in autumn 
"'Inter into Canada and the northern and middle 
Its migrations, however, are very irregular, 
four years it had escaped my careful researches, 
W\°' V ’ wh ile writing, (in the first week of November, 
they are so abundant, that I am able to shoot 
great numbers out of Hocks that are con- 
' r '0,, y alighting in a copse of Jersey scrub-pine ( Pinus 
even opposite my window. It is proper to 
that owing perhaps to the inclemency of the 
(5J 0 ’b "’hich has so far been distinguished by rains, 
frost > and violent gales of wind, there have been 
(^ordinary flights of winter birds. Many flocks of 
4^ Purple finch are seen in all directions. The 
D(. v er 'ean siskin, ( Fringilla pinus, Wils.) ot which I 
saw a living specimen before, covers all the 
is^j “°uring pines and its favourite thistles with its 
fii^erable hosts. The snow-buntiug (Emheriza 
th 0 w ,) has also made its appearance in New Jersey, 
1 in small parties, after an absence of several 
Th' , 
'vhite-winged crossbills generally go to Hudson’s 
a'ltw" their return from the south, and breed there, 
lioj.,1 ler oaining during summer even in the most 
parts of the United States, where they are 
"i,n P r °Pcrly transient irregular visitors, than even 
tli an .residents. They arc seldom observed elsewhere 
ex ( .j ! u pine swamps and forests, feeding almost 
a f * s [ v ely on the seeds of these trees, together with 
h'oj , ri 'ies. All the specimens I obtained had their 
1% fo* ei l to excess entirely with the small seeds of 
tifh. in ° ps. They kept in flocks of from twenty to 
■%\‘ '' h «-n alarmed suddenly taking wing all at once, 
a H tt i e manoeuvring in the air, generally 
s ltln g again nearly on the same pines whence they 
