356 Mr. C. B. Ticehurst on Loxia pytyopsittacus. 



testimony of Wheelwright, an excellent field-naturalist who 

 had excellent opportunities of observing both birds. He 

 says it breeds in parts of Sweden (though be never met 

 with it in Lapplandj, and that its appearance scarcely ever 

 coincides with that of L. curvirostra ; also that it feeds more 

 on the seeds of the Scotch fir (and in this he is corroborated 

 by Taczanowski) , whereas L. curvirostra prefers the spruce ; 

 moreover the eggs and nest are generally somewhat 

 larger. 



Asrain, we have the evidence of the late Professor Collett 

 (Mindre Medd. vedr. Norges Fugelf. 1877-80, p. 73), who 

 was not one to " liair-split " species. Here is a translation 

 of what he says : — " Intermediates between this {pytyo- 

 psittacus) and L. curvirostra, or individuals whose diagnosis 

 could be uncertain, 1 have up till now never seen in Norway. 

 In 1881 this species occurred in larger numbers than 

 L. curvirostra ; in the Christiania district it occurs nearly 

 every year, but in certain years when the Scotch fir has had 

 a good cone-crop it is quite numerous. The autumn of 1881 

 was such a year in many parts, and in that year flocks visited 

 many such districts, where they spent the winter and some 

 remained to breed ; in the autumn of 1882 some were seen 

 again in October, but none af terwards.^' It is well known 

 of course that Crossbills occur in numbers in some district 

 in a certain year and remain to breed, deserting again that 

 district for perhaps a number of years, and we have the 

 above evidence from Scandinavia that the Parrot Crossbill 

 behaves in a similar way. If, then, the Parrot Crossbill 

 is only a large variety and not a true species, it would be 

 certainly most remarkable that the two should not occur 

 equally numerously together and interbreed, and that we 

 should have no evidence from either Wheelwright or Collett 

 that such takes place, but rather to the exact opposite. 



That the Parrot Crossbill is a distinctly larger bird than 

 the Common Crossbill I suppose no one will doubt. I have 

 had the opportunity of examining only four recently, but 

 neither of these nor any others that I have ever seen could be 



