318 BIRDS—FRINGILULID A. 
scarcely have been more conspicuous, being close to the intersection of several roads 
(all of them more or less bordered with ornamental evergreens), in plain sight of as many 
residences, and constantly exposed to the view of passers-by. The materials of its com- 
position were of rather a miscellaneous character, becoming finer and more select from 
without inwards. An exterior of bristling spruce twigs loosely arranged surrounded a 
mass of matted shreds of cedar bark, which formed the principal body of the structure, 
a few strips of the same appearing around the upper border, the whole su ceeded on the 
inside by a sort of felting of finer material, whieir received the scanty lining of black 
horse-hair, fine rootlets, grass stems, pieces of string, and two or three feathers. This 
shallow felting of the inner nest can apparently be removed intact from the body of the 
structure, which, besides the above-mentioned materials, contained small pieces of moss, 
leaves, grass, string, cottony substances, and the green foliage of cedar. The nest meas- 
ured internally two and one-half inches in diameter by over one and a quarter in depth; 
being in diameter externally about tour inches, aud rather shallow in appearance. 
‘‘ The fresh eggs are in ground color of a decided greenish tint, almest immaculate on 
the smaller end, but on the opposite side with irregular spots and dottings of lavender- 
brown of slightly varying shade, interspersed with a few heavy surface-spots of dark 
purple-brown, There isno approach in the arrangement of these to acircle, but between 
the apex of the larger end, and the greatest diameter of the egg, is a fire hair like sur- 
face line; in two examples it forms a complete though irreguiar circle, and encloses the 
principal spots. In the other egg, which is the largest, this line is not quite complete, 
and the primary blotches are wanting, but the secondary markings are correspondingly 
larger and more numerous. In another egg there are two perfect figures of 3 formed on 
the sides by the secondary marks, one of them large and singularly symmetrical. The 
eggs measure respectively .74 by .56, 75 by .58, .73 by .59.” 
Loxia LEUCOPTERA Gm. 
W hite=-winged Crossbill. 
Curvirostra leucoptera, WHEATON, Ohio Agric. Rep. fur 1860, 366, 346; Reprint, 1861, 8, 18. 
Loxia leucoptera, WHEATON, Food of Birds, etc., Ohio Agric. Rep. for 1874, 566; Reprint, 
1875, 6.—LANGDON, Cat. Birds of Cin., 1877, &; Revised List, Journ. Cin. Nat. Hist., 
i, 1879, 175; Reprint, 9. 
Loxia leucoptera, GMELIN, Syst. Nat., i, 1783, 844. 
Curvirestra leucoptera, WILSON, Am. Ora, iv, 18i1, 4%. 
Wings in both sexes with two conspicuous white bars; male rosey-red, female brownish- 
olive, streaked and speckled with dusky, the rump saffron. Length, about 6; wing, 3$; 
tail, 2h. 
Habitat, Northern North America, south in winter to the United States. Greenland. 
Accidental in Europe. 
‘Rare and irregular winter visitor. Not given by Dr. Kirtland or Mr. 
Reed. Inserted in my catalogue of 1861, on the authority of Mr. Kirk- 
patrick, who informed me that it had been taken at Willoughby, Lake 
county. Mr. Dury informs me that it was abundant in the vicinity of 
Cincinnati in the winter of 1868-9, in company with the preceding 
species, and even more numerous than they. 
