Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind, For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in the common love of good. Ring out old shapes of foul disease, Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; Ring out the thousand wars of old, Ring in the thousand years of peace. Ring in the valiant man and free, The larger heart, the kindlier hand; Ring out the darkness of the land, Ring in the Christ that is to be. —Alfred Tennyson. THE WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. (_Loxia leucoptera._) The Crossbills, together with the finches, the sparrows, the grosbeaks, the redpolls, the goldfinches, the towhees, the cardinals, the longspurs, and the buntings, belong to that large family of perching birds called the Fringillidae, from the Latin word Fringilla, meaning a finch. Mr. Chapman tells us, in his “Birds of Eastern North America,” that “this, the largest family of birds, contains some five hundred and fifty species, which are represented in all parts of the world, except the Australian region. Its members present a wide diversity of form and habit, but generally agree in possessing stout, conical bills, which are admirably adapted to crush seeds. They are thus chief among seed-eaters, and for this reason are not so migratory as insect-eating species.” Many of the birds most highly prized for the cage and as songsters are representatives of this family and many of the species are greatly admired for their beautiful coloring. The White-Winged Crossbill is a native of the northern part of North America, migrating southward into the United States during the winter months. Its technical name, Loxia leucoptera, is most appropriate and descriptive. The generic name Loxia is derived from the Greek loxos, meaning crosswise or slanting, and the specific name leucoptera is from two Greek works, meaning white and wing, and has reference to the white tips of the feathers of the wings. The common name, Crossbill, or, as the bird is sometimes called, Crossbeak, describes the peculiar structure of the bill which marks them as perhaps the most peculiar of our song birds. The bill is quite deeply cut at the base and compressed near the tips of the two parts, which are quite abruptly bent, one upward and the other downward, so that the points cross at an angle of about forty-five degrees. This characteristic gives this bird a parrot-like appearance. The similarity is heightened by the fact that these hook-like bills are used by the birds to assist in climbing from branch to branch.