Laura called me to the back window, and there were four male white-wingeds in the hemlock cones just over the deck, within arm's reach if we'd opened the window. I went into the alley for a better look, and counted as many as twenty crossbills, all adults as far as I could tell, giving the 40-foot tree a good working over. This is the fourth time I've seen this species in the back yard this winter--who knows how many visits I've missed--and the largest group of birds. Half a dozen males were creeping into the gutters of the house next door for cones, A few were distracted by the two big sweetgums in the front, but most of the action was in the conifers, and all the regulars of the neighborhood--the chickadees, nuthatches, etc.--were nervously attracted by the racket. The crossbill's attacks on the cones seemed indiscriminate and greedy, but after they'd left (after ten minutes maybe), all the cones I picked up on the deck and the stairs and patio had been well stripped of all seeds. In previous years we've had crossbills return to scavenge fallen cones on the ground, but I doubt this gang left much. There's another hemlock in back, maybe thirty feet tall, but as far as I know they didn't visit it at all. Go figure. Bill Whan Columbus ______________________________________________________________________ Ohio-birds mailing list, a service of the Ohio Ornithological Society. Our thanks to Miami University for hosting this mailing list. Additional discussions can be found in our forums, at www.ohiobirds.org/forum/. You can join or leave the list, or change your options, at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/scripts/wa.exe?LIST=OHIO-BIRDS Send questions or comments about the list to: [log in to unmask]