What Bird is That? Part 18

Crossbills have the mandibles crossed; the absence of wing-bars distinguishes this species from the usually less common White-winged Crossbill. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests from northern New England to Canada and southward in the Alleghanies to northern Georgia. Winters irregularly southward, rarely as far as Florida and Louisiana.

Was.h.i.+ngton, irregular W.V., sometimes abundant.

Ossining, irregular; noted in almost every month.

Cambridge, of common but irregular occurrence at all seasons. N. Ohio, irregular, often common, sometimes breeds. Glen Ellyn, uncommon and irregular, Oct. 20-June 11. SE. Minn., W.V., Oct.

25.

Crossbills and Grosbeaks are among winter's chief attractions. While the latter, as I have said above, will leave their summer homes in coniferous forests to feed in winter on the seeds of deciduous trees, the Crossbills are less adaptable. They are specialists in cone-dissecting. Their singularly shaped bills prevent them from eating many kinds of food available to other birds, but no other birds can compete with them in extracting the seeds from cones. Having had too limited an experience with man to have learned to fear him, they are so surprisingly tame that I have known birds to be plucked from trees as one would pick off the cones on which they were feeding. In March, while the ground is still snow-covered, they lay 3-4 pale greenish, spotted eggs in a well-formed nest, 15-30 feet up in a coniferous tree.

WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL

_Loxia leucoptera. Case 2, Figs. 51, 52_

Both s.e.xes have white wing-bars and the male is of a paler, more rosy red than the male of the American Crossbill.

_Range._ Nests from northern New England to Canada; winters irregularly to southern Illinois and North Carolina.

Was.h.i.+ngton, casual. Ossining, rare T.V., Oct.

29-Dec. 6, Cambridge, irregular W.V. N. Ohio, rare W.V. Glen Ellyn, rare, fall records only, Nov. SE.

Minn., W.V., latest record Mch. 4.

A rarer bird than the American Crossbill which, however, it resembles in habits. Both climb about the branches of cone-bearing trees like little Parrots, while feeding keep up a low conversational chatter, and take wing with a clicking note. They have been found nesting in Nova Scotia as early as February 6.

REDPOLL

_Acanthis linaria linaria. Case 2. Figs. 47, 48_

Any little sparrow-like bird with a red cap is a Redpoll. Adult males have the breast also red. L.

5.

_Range._ Nests in Canada and Alaska; winters irregularly south ward to Ohio and Virginia.

Was.h.i.+ngton, very rare and irregular W.V. Ossining, regular W.V., Nov. 25-Mch. 26. Cambridge, irregular W.V., often very abundant, Oct. 25-Apl.

10. N. Ohio, rare W.V. Glen Ellyn, irregular W.V., Nov. 6-Mch. 7. SE. Minn., common W.V., Oct.

31-Apl. 7.

A winter visitor from the far North whose coming never can be foretold.

Years may pa.s.s without seeing them, then late some fall, they may appear in numbers. They are usually in flocks and feed upon seeds as well as birch and alder catkins. In notes and general habits the Redpoll resembles the Goldfinch.

Holbll's Redpoll (_A. holblli_) is a slightly larger race, with a longer, more slender bill. It is a more northern form than the preceding, and rarely visits the United States. The Greater Redpoll (_A.

l. rostrata_) is also larger than the common Redpoll, but has a shorter, stouter bill. It nests in Greenland and is of casual occurrence in the northern United States. The h.o.a.ry Redpoll (_A. hornemanni exilipes_) is a whiter bird than the preceding with no streaks on the rump and comparatively few on the underparts. It nests within the Arctic Circle and rarely visits the northern United States in winter.

Satisfactory identification of these races of the Redpoll can be made only by expert examination of specimens. The field student, however, may call any Redpoll he sees the Common Redpoll with the chances of being right largely in his favor.

GOLDFINCH

_Astragalinus tristis tristis. Case 2. Figs. 35, 36; Case 4, Figs. 50, 51_

While he wears his 'Goldfinch' costume, the male will be known at a glance, but in winter, when he takes the dull yellow-olive dress of his mate, several glances may be required to recognize him, and this remark, of course, applies to the female at all seasons. L. 5.

_Range._ North America; the eastern form nests from Arkansas and northern Georgia to Canada and winters from the Northern to the Gulf States.

Was.h.i.+ngton, common P.R. Ossining, common P.R.

Cambridge, very common P.R. N. Ohio, common P.R.

Glen Ellyn, common P.R. SE. Minn., P.R., common in summer, uncommon in winter.

A beautiful, musical, cheerful bird, as sweet of disposition as he is of voice. To hear a merry troop of Goldfinches singing their spring chorus is to hear the very spirit of the season set to music. Their call-note is a questioning _dearie, dearie_, their flight-call _per-chie-o-ree, per-chie-o-ree_, as in long undulations they swing through the air.

Their song is suggestive of a Canary's. They are late housekeepers, not nesting before the latter half of June, when 3-6 pale bluish white eggs are laid in a nest warmly lined with plant down.

PINE SISKIN

_Spinus pinus pinus. Case 2. Fig. 55_

A streaked, sparrow-like bird, with yellow markings in wings and tail which show in flight.

L. 5.

_Range._ North America; nests from northern New England north to Canada and in the mountains, south to North Carolina; in winter southward to the Gulf States.

Was.h.i.+ngton, irregularly abundant W.V., Oct. 24-May 20. Ossining, irregular P.R. Cambridge, irregular W.V., Oct. 15-May 10; sometimes very abundant; one breeding record. N. Ohio, tolerably common W.V., Sept. 20-May 15. Glen Ellyn, irregular T.V., Apl.

8-May 24; Sept. 8-Nov. 29. SE. Minn., uncommon T.V., and W.V. Oct. 20-Apl. 9.

The Siskin belongs in the group of winter visitants whose coming cannot be foretold. Some years it is rare or wanting, others abundant, a flock sometimes, containing several hundred birds. In general habits it resembles the Goldfinch, feeding on weed seeds and catkins, particularly of the alder, and on the seeds of conifers. The call-note is a high _e-eep_; its song like that of the Goldfinch but less musical.

SNOW BUNTING

_Plectrophanes nivalis nivalis. Case 2, Fig. 57_

The prevailing tone of plumage is white, particularly when the bird is on the wing; the long, hind toe-nail should be noted. L. 6.

_Range._ Nests in Arctic regions, winters irregularly south to Kansas and Virginia.

Was.h.i.+ngton, W.V., casual, one instance. Ossining, irregular W.V., Oct. 25-Mch. 22. Cambridge, common W.V., Nov. 1-Mch. 15; abundant in migrations. N.

Ohio, tolerably common W.V., Dec. 10-Mch. 15. SE.

Minn., common W.V., Oct. 9-Mch. 14.

Snow Buntings live in flocks and love open places, such as Horned Larks frequent, and are often found with them in fields or along the sh.o.r.e.

Like the Horned Larks they are walkers, not hoppers, and like most walkers, it is exceptional for them to perch in trees. Hoffman described their notes as "a high, sweet, though slightly mournful _tee_, or _tee-oo_, a sweet rolling whistle, and a harsh _bzz_."

LAPLAND LONGSPUR

_Calcarius lapponicus lapponicus_