'LOGIST. 
89 
Nesting of the American Crossbill. 
A short time ago I wrote an article for the 
O. & O. in reference to the nest and eggs of 
the White-winged Crossbill (Loxia leucoptera). 
Since then I have been so fortunate as to find 
the nest and eggs of the American Crossbill 
(Loxia curvirostra minor). I had observed for 
the past two weeks a male bird frequenting 
a pine and spruce wood in the neighborhood 
of our city, and watched him closely, but 
never having seen a female in the vicinity I 
had about concluded to abandon the search 
for the nest. 
While sitting on a log on the morning of the 
30th of March, however, I observed the male 
bird on top of a spruce tree busy picking at 
the cones. After a time he flew directly to a 
large spruce, and having taken an observation 
from the top proceeded along a branch into a 
suspicious looking clump on the end. After 
remaining a few moments he flew off. There 
was the nest. The female was on the eggs, 
and I am under the impression that she seldom, 
if ever, left it during incubation, and that the 
male bird carried to her the food he had col- 
lected from the spruce cones. 
I am led to this conclusion from the fact 
that the female was never once seen during the 
two weeks that the male was being watched; 
and from the persistency with which she re- 
fused to leave the nest, although a person 
ascended the tree, and with a stick endeavored 
to dislodge the sitting bird, she would not 
move, but pecked at the stick that touched 
her. It is possible that this is a wise provision 
to secure the eggs from the cold, as the temper- 
ature the night before was 30° lowest, 46° high- 
est, and ice formed in a pond within fifty 
yards of the nest to the depth of half an inch ; 
and two days after (the first of April) we had one 
of the heaviest snow storms of the winter. 
Should the eggs be left for even a short space 
of time in such weather they would perish. 
Owing to the inaccessible position of the 
nest I had to leave it for a time, and returned 
in the afternoon with appliances for securing 
it. By passing a rope with a hook attached to 
it over the branch above the nest, and then 
making fast the hook to the branch on which 
the nest was built, I was able from the ground 
to support the end. My son, who had ascended 
the tree, then, with a saw, cut the branch 
close to the main trunk, and both ends were 
then lowered simultaneously. During all this 
time the female bird retained her position on 
the eggs, and before the nest had come within 
reach, owing to the intercession of other 
branches, I found it impossible to keep the 
unwieldy branch level, and the eggs would 
have fallen to the ground had not the parent 
bird been on the nest. Anticipating some such 
disaster I took off my overcoat and had it held 
under the nest, and when the female left the 
nest one egg dropped out and was caught un- 
injured in the improvised blanket. The other 
egg was soon secured, and the nest and branch 
lowered to the ground. The female bird was 
secured without much difficulty, and when the 
male (who was away) returned he also was 
shot. 
I now have the branch containing the nest 
and eggs, and the parent birds, and they form 
a most interesting group. On examining the 
two birds I was confirmed in my impression 
that the female was fed on the nest by her 
mate, for while he had a crop full of fine seeds, 
the female’s crop was empty. 
The tree on which the nest was found was a 
large spruce about seventy-five feet high. The 
nest was on the end of a branch about thirty 
feet from the ground. A small branch had 
been partly broken at some time and had 
turned back on the main branch. It had con- 
tinued growing, and had formed a snug, well- 
sheltered clump. In the little bower formed 
by the secured branch, the Crossbills had built 
a neat nest of fine grass and moss. 
The nest contained two eggs, which were 
partly incubated, showing that the number 
was complete — another wise provision for a 
cold climate, as the bird would have difficulty 
in covering a larger number. 
The eggs (which were a little larger and 
about the same shape as those of the Common 
Snowbird, Jitnco hyemalis) were of a greenish 
tint. One of them is covered with small (al- 
most indistinct) light brown spots, the other 
with the large end only covered with larger 
dark brown irregular shaped spots. The eggs 
were alike in size but very different in mark 
ing. 
The nest differed from that of the White- 
winged Crossbill in being deeper and not 
having any twigs woven in it. There were a 
few feathers, apparently from the females, 
about both nests, but not any used in their 
construction or lining. The nest of the Amer 
ican Crossbill was admirably concealed, but 
that of the White- winged was easily discovered. 
There was no mud or clay of any kind about 
either nest. Thomas J. Egan. 
Hallfa 5ffio. A-IV’.J un». 1889 p . 89-90 
