M ia minor 
Lake Umbagog, Maine. 
1895. which at once recalled the prominent ones in the song of the 
Aug. 30. Seaside Pinch. As a whole the song was short, loud, decidedly 
Finch-like in character, and rather musical and pleasing. It 
was wholly unlike the low, confused strain we sometimes hear 
from this Crossbill in Mass, in spring. Whether it is the 
full song or not I cannot tell, but in addition to the fact 
that the birds were singing so freely, I saw one pair engaged 
in copulating . Hence it seems only reasonable to assume that 
the flock—which by the way was evenly divided as to sexes— 
represented a little colony of breeding birds. 
The White-winged Crossbills uttered their usual chatter¬ 
ing flight notes. 
Sept.I. On getting back to the Mill I went to the cellar of the 
Umbagog Hpuse and found a number of Crossbills on the exact 
spot of bare ground where I saw them two days ago. There were 
four i.. leucoptera (three 6 6 and a £ ) and about a dozen L.. 
minor crowded thickly together on a space of less than a square 
yard all busily engaged in scooping up and swallowing large 
mouthfuls of the soil. I made sure this time that they were 
really eating it. On examining the spot closely after they 
had f1own I found innumerable holes and short furrows made by 
their bills. When they flew up into the dead birches the Hod 
Crossbills sang freely as on my first visit. There are no 
