. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. 300 PERCHERS AND SINGERS The American Cross-Bill^ is a dull- red bird with brown wings and tail, and its bill is so emphatically crossed it seems like a deformity which must necessarily be fatal to a seed-eater. But Nature has her own odd ways; and it seems that the scissor arrangement of this bird's beak is to promote the husking of pine cones and the cracking of the seeds. This is a bird of the North, and in the East comes no farther south than a line drawn from Colorado


. The American natural history; a foundation of useful knowledge of the higher animals of North America. Natural history. 300 PERCHERS AND SINGERS The American Cross-Bill^ is a dull- red bird with brown wings and tail, and its bill is so emphatically crossed it seems like a deformity which must necessarily be fatal to a seed-eater. But Nature has her own odd ways; and it seems that the scissor arrangement of this bird's beak is to promote the husking of pine cones and the cracking of the seeds. This is a bird of the North, and in the East comes no farther south than a line drawn from Colorado to Wash- ington, D. C. In the West it descends to Arizona, but everywhere in the United States it is only a winter visitor. With an opera-glass it is always easily recognized by its crossed bill. The American Goldfinch^ is a conspicuously yellow bird, though quite small. It is a plump-bodied, fluffy little bird, all sulphur yellow except a circular black cap atop of its head, and black trimmings on its wings and tail. It is exquisitely pretty, and, like a feathered coquette, loves to pose on the steep side of a tall muUen stalk, with no leaves about to cut off the admirers' view. It is sociable, also, and loves the garden, orchards and meadows of the self-elected "lord of creation," man. As a weed-destroyer, this bird has few equals. It makes a specialty of the seeds of members of the Order Compositae, and is especially fond of thistles, ragweed, wild lettuce and wild sunflower. (Sylvester D. Judd.) ^ Lox'i-a cur-vi-ros'tra minor. Length, inches, ^ As-trag-a-li'nus tris'tis. Length, 5 Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Hornaday, William Temple, 1854-1937. New York, C. Scribner's Sons


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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookp, booksubjectnaturalhistory