CROSSBILL. 73 



Pine-Grosbeak. P'micola emideator (Linn,). 



Nesting in Scandinavia, Russia and Siberia, and wiLtering 

 in southern Europe, the Pine-Grosbeak is a more hkely 

 wanderer to Britain than the last species, but considerable 

 doubt has been cast upon the majority of the fifty or so recorded 

 occurrences. During the last few years, however, it has 

 occurred four or five times. 



It is a larger bird than the last, rosy pink and slate-grey in 

 the male, the rich colour most pronounced on the head, throat 

 and rump. The wing has a conspicuous white bar, and a 

 second one less noticeable. The female is much yellower, and 

 is without the rosy tints. Length, 9 ins. Wing, 4-35 ins. 

 Tarsus, '9 in. 



CrossbilL Loxia curvirosira (Linn.). 



Dr. Hartert separated our resident Scottish Crossbills 

 (Plate 31) from other Palasarctic races under the name 

 L. c. scotica^ on account of their larger bill and longer wing, 

 approaching those of the northern European form, which was 

 long considered a distinct species, and called the Parrot-Cross- 

 bill, L. pityopsittaais Bork.* From time to time hordes of 

 Crossbills leave their homes in the pine forests and spread 

 south and west, many reaching Britain, where they remain to 

 breed. In the Highlands the bird is a permanent resident, and 

 since the great invasion of 1909 it has bred annually in many 

 parts of our islands. It is an irregular or spasmodic colonist 

 rather than a winter visitor. 



The most striking and distinctive character of the bird is 

 indicated by its name ; the tips of the mandibles cross on one 

 side or the other ; in nestlings the tips meet. The red dress of 



* Included as British in "A Practical Handbook of British Birds," 1919. 



