Loxia c . minor . 
Peterborough, New Hampshire. 
1899. Seen or heard almost daily during both months and at va- 
July % Aug .r ious places but oftenest and in the greatest numbers early 
in July when several good-sized flocks were met with feeding 
on larch cones of which the trees bore an abundant crop this 
year. Host of the birds observed in August were adults in 
pairs although several pairs were often seen in company form- 
ing a small flock. During the latter half of July and the 
first week of August one or two pairs resorted daily to a 
space of bare, hard-trodden ground just behind Hr. Day's barn 
coming usually in the mdrning or early forenoon and at each 
visit spending half-an-hour or more picking up particles of 
loose earth and 1 i eking the ground with their red tongues ex- 
tended between the mandibles which were pressed sideways on 
the ground. At first I supposed that some salt had been 
spilled there but when I put out a small quantity it was ig- 
nored and I finally concluded that the birds were eating the 
plain dirt which was dry and of a gravelly character. They 
moved by elastic bounding hops like English Sparrows for which 
the females might have been easily mistaken. 
I heard Crossbills in what appeared to be full song July 
7, 26, 27, & 28 and on August 2, 3 & 7. One of the males 
which visited Hr. Day's would frequently perch on the ridge 
pole or vane of the barn and sing almost continually for ten 
