_Curvirostra americana_, WILS. Am. Orn. IV, 1811, 44, pl. xxxi, f.
1, 2.—BAIRD, Birds N. Am. 1858, 426.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, 198.—DALL &
BANNISTER, Tr. Ch. Ac. I, 1869, 281 (Alaska).—COOPER, Orn. Cal. 1,
148.—SAMUELS, 291. _Loxia americana_, BON. List, 1838.—BON. &
SCHLEGEL, Mon. Loxiens, 5, tab. vi.—NEWBERRY, Zoöl. California and
Oregon Route, P. R. R. Rep. VI, IV, 1857, 87.—BON. & SCHLEGEL,
Mon. Lox. 5, pl. vi. _Loxia curvirostra_, FORSTER, Phil. Trans.
LXII, 1772, No. 23. AUD. Biog. II, 1834, 559; V, 511, pl.
cxcvii.—IB. Birds Am. III, 1841, 186, pl. cc. “_Loxia pusilla_,
ILLIGER” (Bp.). “_Loxia fusca_, VIEILLOT” (Bp.).
SP. CHAR. _Old male_ dull red (the shade differing in the specimen,
sometimes brick-red, sometimes vermilion, etc.); darkest across the
back; wings and tail dark blackish-brown. _Young male_ yellowish.
_Female_ dull greenish-olive above, each feather with a dusky centre;
rump and crown bright greenish-yellow. Beneath grayish; tinged,
especially on the sides of the body, with greenish-yellow. _Young_
olive above; whitish beneath, conspicuously streaked above and below
with blackish. Male about 6 inches; wing, 3.30; tail, 2.25.
[Illustration: _Loxia americana_.]
HAB. Northern America generally, coming southward in winter. Resident
in the Alleghany and Rocky Mountains.
There are considerable differences both in color and size, especially
of bill, in specimens from various parts of North America, and to a
less degree from the same locality. While those of the Atlantic and
Pacific coast have bills of much the same size, in skins from the
mountains of California this member is much stouter; in this character
approaching the _L. mexicana_ of Strickland, in which the bill
presents its maximum of the North American form.
[Line drawing: _California_.
♂ 18034]
It would not probably be far out of the way to consider the European
and all the American common Crossbills as the same species, differing
only as races, and perhaps including _L. himalayana_, which is smaller
even than _americana_.
We have not observed any American Crossbills with two reddish bands
across the wing-coverts, corresponding to the variety _rubrifasciata_
of Europe.
_L. pytiopsittacus_ of Europe is much the largest of all the species,
measuring seven inches in length, and with the bill seven lines high
at base.
[Illustration: PLATE XXIII.
1. Loxia americana. ♂ W. Ter., 6442.
2. “ leucoptera. ♂ Philad., 1215.
3. “ “ ♀ Alaska (Yukon), 27360.
4. “ americana. ♀.
5. Leucosticte griseinucha. ♂ Unalaska, 54244.
6. “ littoralis. Ft. Simpson, V. I.
7. “ campestris. Colorado, 41527.
8. “ tephrocotis. Nebraska, 10255. Winter.
9. “ “ Colorado. Summer.
10. “ arctous. Siberia, 9244.
11. Pyrrhula cassini. ♂ Alaska (Nulato), 49955.
12. Pyrgita domestica. Europe.]
In the intensity, as well as the shade of the red in the males, there
is a great range of variation. Generally it is of a tint almost
precisely like that of _L. curvirostra_, though deeper. The most
highly colored specimen is 54,795, Philadelphia (J. H. McIlvaine),
which is entirely continuous deep tile-red, approaching vermilion on
the rump. The abdomen and crissum are light pinkish. In No. 31,459,
Fort Rae, April, the red is of a curious and very unusual purplish
wine-red shade.
The average of western specimens, particularly those from the
northwest coast of the United States, have bills scarcely larger than
in the average of eastern examples; thus, 18,037, Fort Crook, N. Cal.,
has the bill of the same size as No. 5,803, Philadelphia, while No.
53,482, East Humboldt Mountains, has the bill smaller than any other
in the collection.
In color, there are scarcely any tangible differences between the
European _Loxia curvirostra_ and the two American varieties, the
distinctive character being in the form of the bill and the size; the
_C. mexicana_ is the largest of the three, and the bill is quite
peculiar in form, the lower mandible almost equalling the upper in
length, and exceeding it in thickness. _L. curvirostra_ is slightly
smaller, and has the lower mandible much smaller and less, powerful
than the upper, being inferior to it both in length, breadth, and
thickness. The colors also appear to be rather less intense than in
_C. mexicana._
The _C. americana_ is in every way, the bill especially, smaller than
either of the preceding. The lower mandible, although but slightly
shorter than the upper, is still much weaker, as in the European bird.
The majority of western birds have the bill but slightly larger than
eastern, and most of those with large bills are only intermediate
between _americana_ and _mexicana._ In some specimens the bill,
although almost equalling in length that of the latter, has yet the
form of the former; on the other hand, there are specimens with the
proportions of the mandibles as in _mexicana_, while the size is
intermediate.
The following figures will illustrate the differences in the size of
the bills of the different races.
[Illustration:
1 Var. _mexicana_. 29703 ♂, Mexico.
2 Var. _curvirostra_. 17010 ♂, Europe.
3 Var. _americana_. 18036 ♂, California.
4 Var. _americana_. 5803 ♂, Philadelphia.]
Specimens from the Columbia River region and northwest coast of the
United States appear to have the red more rosaceous and the bill more
slender than the typical style. One specimen (No. 31,459, Fort Rae) is
altogether a very peculiar one; the shade of red is different from
that of any other specimen, being a dark maroon-carmine, with a clear
ash suffusion on the back. There are two distinct dusky stripes on the
cheek, one over the upper edge of the ear-coverts, the other along the
lower edge. The lining of the wing is without any red tinge, seen in
all specimens of the true _americana_ and _mexicana_; the wings and
tail are pure sepia-brown, quite different from the others; and the
feathers show no red margins. The lower mandible is very much curved.
(May not this be like some Siberian style?)
No 21,868, from Washington Territory, has the bill nearly as slender
as in _C. leucoptera_, but there is nothing else peculiar.
HABITS. The common Red Crossbill of America is a bird of very
irregular distribution, abundant in some places at certain seasons,
and again rarely seen for several years. It is a Northern species,
found in summer chiefly in the more northern portions of the United
States, and also found throughout the year in the Alleghanies, in
Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, to Georgia. A closely allied
variety is also found in the alpine regions of Vera Cruz and other
departments of Mexico.
Dr. Suckley found this species quite abundant at Puget Sound, in
certain seasons. This was especially so in the spring of 1854, though
afterwards he met with but few. He noticed a pair on the ground near a
pool of rain-water. They were very tame, and allowed a near approach.
Dr. Cooper found it very abundant near the coast, where it feeds, in
winter, on the seeds of the black spruce, retiring in summer to the
mountains to breed, but returning in September. He never observed any
in the fir forests of the Coast Range. In the Sierra Nevada, latitude
39°, Dr. Cooper found these birds in considerable numbers, September,
1863, and in winter they have been obtained about San Francisco. They
seem to be most attracted to the forests of spruces, cypresses, and
red-woods, the cones of which are most readily broken. They
occasionally descend to the ground, in the Rocky Mountains, in search
of the seeds of small plants, and also for water.
Mr. Bischoff obtained specimens of this species at Sitka, but it was
not noticed in the territory of the Yukon River by Mr. Dall, or any of
his party, and it was met with by Mr. Ridgway on the East Humboldt
Mountains only. There they were occasionally seen among the willows
and small aspens bordering the streams. Their common note was a fine
and frequently repeated _chick-chick-chick_, very different from the
plaintive notes of the _C. leucoptera._
In New England they are of somewhat irregular occurrence, though in
Maine and in the northern portions of Vermont and New Hampshire they
are more or less resident. In Eastern Massachusetts they are
comparatively rare, excepting that, at irregular intervals, they come
in large flocks during the winter. This was so to a remarkable degree
in the winter of 1832, and more recently in 1862, when, Mr. Maynard
states, they remained until April. They were then in their summer
plumage, and also in full song. In August 1868, they again became
quite numerous, and had just before appeared in large numbers in
Western Maine, doing great damage to the oats, and disappearing as
soon as these had been harvested. Mr. Maynard thinks that these birds
were the same with those afterwards so numerous in Massachusetts.
The same peculiarities of irregular appearance have been observed by
Mr. Allen, in Springfield, where it is often a very abundant visitor,
but generally not so common. In the winter of 1859-60 the pine woods
in the vicinity of that city abounded with them, and in February they
were already in full song. They are at all times gregarious, and are
sometimes seen in large flocks.
They have, as they fly, a loud, peculiar, and not unmusical cry. This
call-note they do not utter when at rest or when feeding. Their song
in the spring and summer is varied and pleasing, but is not powerful,
or in any respect remarkable. This song is especially noticeable in
caged birds, who soon become very tame, and feed readily from the
hand, even when taken at an adult age. Their manners in confinement
are very like those of the Parrots, clinging to the top of the wires
with their claws, hanging with their heads downward, and, when
feeding, holding their food in one claw. On the trees, their habits
and manner are also said to be similar to those of Parrots.
Mr. Audubon has found these birds, in August, in the pine woods of
Pennsylvania, and inferred that they breed there. This does not
necessarily follow. They breed so early at the north as to give ample
time for their migrations, even in midsummer, to remote places.
Professor Baird, however, informs me that during a summer spent in the
mountains of Schuylkill County, Penn., in the coal region, he saw them
nearly every day, moving about or feeding, in pairs.
The Crossbills are extremely gentle and social, are easily approached,
caught in traps, and even knocked down with sticks. Their food is
chiefly the seeds of the _Coniferæ_, and also those of plants.
Audubon’s statement that they destroy apples merely to secure the
seeds is hardly accurate. They are extravagantly fond of this fruit,
and prefer the flesh to its seeds. Their flight is undulating,
somewhat in the manner of the Goldfinch, firm, swift, and often
protracted. As they fly, they always keep up the utterance of their
loud, clear call-notes. They move readily on the ground, up or down
the trunks and limbs of trees, and stand as readily with their heads
downward as upright.
Wilson states that in the interior of Pennsylvania this species
appears in large flocks in the winter, and during the prevalence of
deep snows they keep about the doors of dwellings, pick off the clay
with which these huts are plastered, and are exceedingly tame and not
easily driven off.
So far as is known, these Crossbills breed in midwinter, or very early
in the spring, when the weather is the most inclement. The nest and
eggs of this species were procured by Mr. Charles S. Paine, in East
Randolph, Vt., early in the month of March. The nest was built in an
upper branch of an elm,—which, of course, was leafless,—the ground was
covered with snow, and the weather severe. The birds were very tame
and fearless, refusing to leave their eggs, and had to be several
times taken off by the hand. After its nest had been taken, and as Mr.
Paine was descending with it in his hand, the female again resumed her
place upon it, to protect her eggs from the biting frost. The eggs
were four in number, and measured .85 by .53 of an inch. They have a
greenish-white ground and are beautifully blotched, marbled, and
dotted with various shades of lilac and purplish-brown.
Loxia curvirostra, var. mexicana, STRICKLAND.