Bird Biographies

								

season. Because of their curiously twisted beaks, these birds have
always been regarded with peculiar interest, even with superstition.
Longfellow has preserved for us the German legend regarding this bird in
his poem:

                      THE LEGEND OF THE CROSSBILL


On the cross the dying Saviour

    Heavenward lifts his eyelids calm,
Feels, but scarcely feels, a trembling

    In his pierced and bleeding palm.


And by all the world forsaken,

    Sees He how with zealous care
At the ruthless nail of iron

    A little bird is striving there.


Stained with blood and never tiring

    With its beak it doth not cease;
From the cross 'twould free the Saviour,

    Its Creator's Son release.


And the Saviour speaks in mildness:

    "Blest be thou of all the good!
Bear, as token of this moment,

    Marks of blood and holy rood!"


And that bird is called the crossbill;

    Covered all with blood so clear,
In the groves of pine it singeth

    Songs, like legends, strange to hear.[16]

                                                     Henry W. Longfellow

                       THE WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL
The White-winged Crossbill is similar to the Red Crossbill, but its body
is a dull crimson instead of red, and its black wing-feathers are so
tipped with white as to form two broad white wing-bars. The female is
olive-green, gray underneath, with a yellow rump, dark wings and tail,
white wing-bars, and dark streaks on head, breast, and back.
This crossbill breeds in Canada, south to the Adirondacks, White
Mountains, and Maine. Its note is a soft cheep; its song a gentle
warble. To see a flock of these birds feeding silently in a grove of
spruces or hear them singing their low sweet song makes a memory
cherished by bird-lovers. They may be seen in winter as far south as
North Carolina.
THE JUNCO OR SLATE-COLORED SNOWBIRD

                      Finch Family--Fringillidæ

Length: About 6¼ inches; slightly smaller than the English sparrow.
General Appearance: Trim, dainty little birds, all gray and white,

    except for a pinkish or flesh-colored bill. White outer

    tail-feathers, showing in flight, are distinguishing marks.
Male: Dark slate-gray above and white below. The gray extends to the

    center of the breast in a nearly horizontal line, and with the white

    under parts, gives the effect of the birds' having waded breast-deep

    in the snow, or having been sliced in two, like the "sliced animals"

    of our childhood. Sides grayish; wings slightly darker; tail dark

    brown, with two outer feathers white; third feather, partly white;

    bill heavy, adapted to a diet of seeds.
Female: Similar to male, only brownish-gray. Winter plumage of all

    juncos browner than summer plumage.
Young: Light brownish, streaked with black.
Note: A gentle tseep, tseep, and a smack, smack, of alarm or