Identifier: birdlifeguidetos00chapman (find matches)
Title: Bird-life; a guide to the study of our common birds
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Chapman, Frank M. (Frank Michler), 1864-1945 Seton, Ernest Thompson, 1860-1946
Subjects: Birds
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton and company
Contributing Library: Smithsonian Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Smithsonian Libraries

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rerarely seen in trees. Snowflakes nest within the Arctic Circle, and, likeother of our winter birds that come from the far Kortli,are irregular in their movements. As a rule they do notwander much south of Long Island and northern Illinois,but occasionaJly they go as far as Virginia and Kansas,and are thus among the possibilities which add so nniclito the pleasure of winter days in th.e field. The Ci-ossbill is a ^possibility at any season. None of our l)irds is more erratic in its migrations. As a rule, it ^.„ is found in the Middle States only be- American Crossbill, i t» r i i j. t Lo.r/a currirostra twceu JSlovemljer aud March, but i minor, havc sceu it in Central Park, New Plate LI. Y^^^ ^.^^^^ ^^ j^^g ^^ j^^.^y j^ j.;^g higher parts of the Alleghanies and in northern NewEngland it is resident throughout the year. Crossbillsusually wander as far south each winter as Connecticut,but beyond this are of irregular occurrence. They feed almost entirely upon the seeds of pines, and
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Plate LI. AMERICAN CROSSBILL. Length, 6 20 inches. Adult male, dull red ; back brownish ; wings and tailblackish. Adult female and young, greenish ; back more or less mottledwith brownish ; the under parts grayish. PINE GROSBEAK.Length, 910 inches. Adult male, rose-pink ; back brownish ; lower bellygray ; wings and tail brownish black. Adult female and youiui, gray ; crown,upper tail-coverts, and breast washed with deep yellow. 197 198 PINE GROSBEAK. are not often seen far from coniferous trees. Their sin-gular bill might, at first glance, be considered misshapen,but if you will watch a Crossbill push his crossed mandi-bles beneath the scale of a pine cone, and with a quicktwist force it off and secure the seed at its base, you willreadily admit that for the birds purposes his bill couldnot be easily improved. In hunting for Crossbills it is a good plan to lookthrough the woods for falling scales of pine cones, andwhen you see a shower of them whirling softly down-ward it behooves you

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