Nov., 1905 | 
THE AMERICAN CROSSBILL IN MONTANA 
175 
to another, and given several times in nervous repetition. This note is also heard 
when the birds are at rest in the tree-tops, or when diligently rending the seeds 
from the fir and tamarack cones. The male uses this note as the basis of his song, 
which can be suggested by the syllables: “Quit, quit, quit, quit, — preen, preen, 
preen.” Sometimes the last note is given four times, and frequently as many as 
five, while at times there is variation in the number of repetitions of the opening 
note. There is also considerable variation in the enunciation of the two notes, 
making them sound quite differently on various occasions. Once this summer I 
quoted the first note or the regular call as “pweet,” and w 7 rote the full song as 
“preet, preet, preet, — ooree, ooree, ooree.” 
The nuptial singing of the male is generally heard when he is accompanying 
the female and stationed near her in the tree-top. Frequently there are more 
than two birds, probably one female and two or more males, or two adults and 
several young of the spring. Troops of five or six are most commonly seen, the 
male sitting quietly and singing his nervous song while the others are sending down 
spatterings of cone-seeds. Soon something will startle the troop, and away they 
whir to another station, the adults chirping noisily as they 7 fly. 
It is most interesting to watch a troop of crossbills getting down to the water 
to drink and bathe. For such purpose they generally congregate in larger flocks, 
and I have seen as many as thirty or forty use one tree-top. They seem to prefer 
the middle of the forenoon or late afternoon. Most of the crossbills in a small 
locality will collect into a noisy band, and gather in the top of some chosen tree on 
the margin of the water. Then one by one they will flutter downward through 
the midst of the branches, reminding the observer of falling leaves. Thus they 7 
sift downward to the low'est branches of the tree, usually a tall one, sometimes sev- 
eral of the birds flitting dowmvard at one time. From the lower branches of the 
tree they flutter to the edge of the water. 
The crossbills take pleasure in congregating on a small area to feed near a 
cabin door in a forest clearing. I have seen thirty crowding on a space not more 
than two feet square, feeding on refuse from the kitchen. Once a cat crept up in 
the usual feline manner, and made a spring directly 7 into the midst of the troop; on 
that occasion, however, though several of the birds seemed to be quite under her 
paws, the cat was unsuccessful in holding any of them, and in a few 7 minutes they 7 
w r ere flitting back to the same dangerous place. 
The remarkable activity of the crossbill in the late summer seemed very un- 
usual to me, and I felt quite certain that the birds w r ere nesting in the neighbor- 
hood. 1 had read, however, that the regular nesting time is late winter, when 
snow is on the ground; and while I made a mental note that there must be a mis- 
take somew’here, I did not then give the subject due attention. This season, liow- 
ever, the same condition of affairs prevailed in the economy of the crossbills, and I 
decided that the nuptial singing of the males must be explained. 
On July 19 a pair of crossbills flitted down to the ground almost at my feet, 
quite overlooking my presence, the male chattering to his spouse. To my sur- 
prise she began picking up fragments of twigs in the edge of the clearing. Present- 
ly she flew away with a suitable twig, and carried it into the top of a tall tama- 
rack in the outer part of the adjacent woods. I watched her while she made sev- 
eral similar errands. The site was near the extremity of a horizontal branch, 
about 100 feet from the ground. Frequently she made trips to a neighboring tam- 
arack tree, and gathered pieces of small twigs, breaking them from their places 
and carrying them to the nest. 
The next day the pair did not seem to be working on the nest. The male 
