A YEAR WITH THE BIRDS 
615 
own, has for some time been furnishing an avi-social prob- 
lem to both England and America. In the first-named country, 
even the investigation of a special committee of the House 
of Commons has failed to ascertain with anything approaching 
certainty, whether this Sparrow’s services as an insect-de- 
stroyer equal his own destructive qualities. 
In Australia, it is said that the fifty birds originally im- 
ported now flock by millions, and make the third of the triad 
of emigrants with which unthinking people have scourged the 
country, the other two being rabbits and the Scotch thistle. 
Heie in America the Sparrow is an absolute and unmiti- 
gated nuisance, but for this, the unwise and superficial theory 
that brought him over is chiefly to blame. 
The state of Connecticut does not protect this bird, and it 
may be destroyed at all seasons, but take care that it is done 
quickly and completely. No animal, even a snake or rat, 
should be tortured or left to a lingering death. 
No living thing was created to be a nuisance, and the ani- 
mals that prove to be such are victims of circumstances and 
must be humanely dealt with. 
American Crossbill: Loxia curvirostra minor. W. V. 
Length: 6 inches. 
Male: General color Indian red. Head shaded with olive. Back and 
shoulders brown with red edgings to the feathers; wings and tail 
brown. Beak crossed at the tip. 
Female: General color greenish yellow. Dull yellowish tints on the 
head, throat, breast, and rump. Wings and tail brown with 
lighter edges to some feathers. 
Song : Winter note; a snapping chirp. 
Season: An irregular winter visitor. 
Nest: Among the twigs or in the fork of a tree, having a base of bark 
and sticks, and being lined with finer materials. 
Eggs: 3-4, greenish, marked with brown and lilac at larger end. 
This bird of evergreens and cold weather, the Red Cross- 
bill, is chiefly a winter visitor here, varying greatly in abund- 
ance. It is impossible to confuse it with any other bird, as 
the color is of a different shade from the red of the Pine 
Finch and Cardinal, and its warped bill is a distinctive mark. 
The beak seems especially constructed for snapping the scales 
from the cones, whose seeds furnish its food. 
