390 
PASSERIFORMES 
Manitoba to the mountains, is postulated to be pallidus. However, corroborative speci- 
mens have not been seen by the writer. Late autumn and winter specimens are greatly to 
be desired from this area. The bird of the southern British Columbia coast is the Willow 
Goldfinch (le Chardonneret jaune des saules) Spinus trisiis salicamans, which has a 
slightly darker coloration even than tristis, and the saddle of the summer male averages 
a more olive-green. The distinctions shown by Canadian specimens, except in the case of 
the winter plumage of pallidus, are very fine indeed. 
One of the merriest of summer birds. It is a great lover of fluffy white 
thistle and dandelion seed-heads and may often be seen plucking the down, 
cutting off the fruiting end, and letting the airy tops float away on the 
wind. Its song is as pleasant as its bright appearance as it sits on some lone 
elevation and sings “ Sweet-sweet-chewit-chewit-chewit ” or as it goes speeding 
off through the air in a merry flock repeating a cheerful “ Per-chic-o-pee 
The American Goldfinch, though a relative of the Old World bird of the 
similar name, is an entirely different species, named, as the original settlers 
named many birds, from various fancied or real resemblances to the 
familiar forms known at home. 
Economic Status. A bird of no bad habits and many good ones. 
Weed seeds are its staplef food, and grain is rarely touched. If the English 
Sparrows do not exhaust the supply prematurely, sunflower seed-heads 
are a never-failing attraction to goldfinches and a supply of these along 
the back fence will ensure their constant attendance through the autumn 
and winter. Insects are taken more or less and some fruit, usually wild 
species, as no complaint is made of any damage done to cultivated varieties. 
521. Red Crossbill. American crossbill, crossbill, le bec-croise rouge. 
Loxia curvirostra. L, 6-19. A small or medium-sized sparrow with the bill-tips prolonged 
and crossing each other when closed (Figure 473). The 
male is dull red, brighter on rump; females and juveniles 
similar, but the red replaced by greenish or yellow. No 
wing-bars. Many mixed and intergrading plumages 
between the green and red are to be met with; the red 
may vary from yellowish orange to pure brick-red, and 
a series of specimens may show a bewildering array of 
different shades and tints. 
Distinctions. The crossed bill is distinctive of the 
crossbills; the lack of white w'ing-bar designates this 
species. 
Field Marks. Small birds, usually in winter, often in large flocks, some individuals 
showing red coloration. Notes somewhat similar to those of goldfinches. Climbing, 
almost parrot-like, habits. 
Nesting. Usually in coniferous trees; nest of twigs and grasses lined with moss and 
rootlets. May nest almost any month of the year from January to September. 
Distribution. Europe, northern Asia, and northern North America. In America, the 
coniferous forests across the continent, south in the western mountains to Mexico. 
Migrates irregularly south in winter. 
SUBSPECIES. The Red Crossbill of most of Canada is the American Crossbill 
(le Bec-crois6 rouge d’Amerique) Loxia curvirostra pusilla, breeding from Quebec to central 
Alaska. The Newfoundland Crossbill (le Bec-croise rouge de Terre-Neuve) Loxia curvir- 
ostra percna is the bird of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia as Bendire’s Crossbill (le Bec- 
croise rouge de Bendire) Loxia curvirostra bendirei is of interior British Columbia southward. 
The crossbill of the west coast is the Sitka Crossbill (le Bec-crois6 rouge de Sitka) Loxia 
curvirostra sitkensis. 
The crossbills are winter birds throughout most of settled Canada, 
and come irregularly out of the north for successive seasons, and then are 
not seen again, perhaps for years. In the mountains, where altitude 
brings northern conditions in close proximity to cultivation, they are more 
Bill of Crossbill; 
natural size. 
