20 



British Birds. 



curious way in which the two mandihles of the heak cross each other at the 

 tips is found. I heUeve, in but one other genus of birds, the Httle Hawaian form 

 Loxops. A remarkable fact is that this pecuhar conformation is not found in the 

 3'oun{j birds, which have a bill more like that of ordinary Finches, but as the 

 birds advance to maturity, the crossing of the mandibles becomes a feature. The 

 colour of the male is red, of a pale ^■ermilion or scarlet tint, but after moulting; in 

 confinement, the red tints give place to yellow, and it is said that even in a wild state 

 Crossbills become j-ellower with age. I have, however, seen no evidence of this 

 peculiarity in the specimens which have come under my notice in the British Museum, 

 and I believe that the red plumage is a sign of a very old bird. The female is 

 always duller in colour and is olive-}ellow where her mate is tinged with red. 

 Young birds have streaks, both above and below^ these streaks Ijeing more distinct on 

 the under-surface of the bod}', which is whitish. 



The Crossbill nests rarely in England, where it occurs principal!}- 

 in winter, but it is found breeding in the pine districts, both of Scot- 

 land and Ireland. It is likewise distributed over the pine regions of 

 both hemispheres, and is represented as far south as Mexico in the New World, 

 and the Himalayas and the island of Luzon in the Old. The so-called ' Parrot' 

 Crossbill I Lo.v/(i pvtiopsittticiist is a strong-billed form inhabiting Scandinavia and 

 occasionally occurring in Great Britain, and it has been said that the larger-billed 

 Crossbills feed on the seeds of the Scotch Fir. whereas the smaller-billed ordinary 

 Crossbills feed on berries or pine-seeds, which do not require such strength of bill to 

 attack. The nest is built early in the year, and has a net-work of twigs outside it, 

 as in the nest of the Bullfinch. It is cup-shaped and made of moss and grass, 

 Imed with a little wool. The eggs are four or five in numlier. stone-coloured to 

 pale blue, with dark spots or lines of purplish brown. 



The Two-Barred Crossbill (Lo.vin hifasciata). This species is easily 

 recognised by the double bar of white on the wing, formed by the tips to the 



median and greater wing-coverts. 

 It is an inhabitant of Northern 

 Russia and Siberia, and occasional 

 stragglers visit Central and 

 Western Europe, so that the 

 species turns up in Great Britain 

 at intervals, and sometimes in 

 considerable numbers. Its habits 

 are the same as those of the 

 Common Crossbill, and the nest 

 is similarly made, but is rather 

 smaller, and the eggs are said 

 The Two-Barred Crossbill. to be darker. 



