_Loxia leucoptera. Case 2, Figs. 51, 52_
Both sexes 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.
Washington, 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.