208 TEE SMALLER BRITISH BIRDS 



gep, gep.' The males have a deep and ringings but very broken song, 

 whicla they utter very constantly. 



In Sweden the nest is said to be constructed early in April. The 

 exterior consists of small twigs and moss, and the lining of the inner 

 bark of the fir tree and a few feathers. It is usually placed among 

 the topmost brandies of very high trees, and contains three or four 

 eggs of a pale grey or bluish white colour, spotted with bluish red 

 and dusky at the larger end. The young are hatched in about a 

 fortnight, and are very soon able to leave the nest. 



The scientific name of this species is derived from loxos — curved or 

 oblique, pittiis — a pine tree, and psittacus — a parrot. 



AMERICAN WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, 



{Loxia leucoptera.) 

 PLATE XIII. — FIGURE IV. 



This species, which derives its name from leucos — white, and pteron 

 — a wing, is most abundant in the northern parts of North America. 

 It is sometimes met witli in Europe, chiefly in Sweden and Germany; 

 a considerable number appeared in Silesia and Thuringia in the autumn 

 of 1826. The first specimen noticed in the British Isles was shot near 

 Belfast in January, 1802. Others have been obtained in various parts 

 of England, and a single one in Scotland. 



Like the other species of Crossbills, these birds inhabit pine and fir 

 forests. They build their nests among the branches of these trees, 

 placing them near the centre of the larger limbs, and forming them 

 of grasses cemented together with earth; the interior lining consists 

 of feathers. The eggs ai'e five in number, white, spotted with yellow. 

 The young are able to leave the nest in June. About September 

 young and old collect in small flocks, and migrate southward, or 

 retire to the sheltered woods in the interiors of the countries they 

 inhabit. Prince Bonaparte saj's, "Thoy keep in flocks of from twenty 

 to fifty, when alarmed suddenly taking wing all at once, and after a 

 little manoeuvring in the air, generally alighting again nearly on the 

 same pines whence they had set out, or adorning the naked branches 

 of some distant, high, and insulated tree. When a deep snow has 

 covered the ground, they appear to lose all sense of danger, and by 

 spreading some favourite food, may bo knocked down with sticks, or 

 even caught by hand while busily eugaged in feeding.^' 



