194 CROSSBILL. 



The Crossbill nests throughout the pine-forests of Europe, from 

 Lapland to Spain, the Balearic Islands, and Greece, as well as in the 

 Atlas Mountains of Africa ; the southern residents having noticeably 

 weaker bills than northern examples ; and it equally frequents the 

 conifer growths of Siberia as far as Karaschatka, wintering in North 

 China. The pine-woods of Scandinavia, Northern Russia and the 

 Baltic provinces are also inhabited by a large stout-billed race, 

 formerly distinguished as the Parrot Crossbill, Loxia pityopsit- 

 taais, but now esteemed by modern authorities as merely one of 

 several forms which Mr. R. B. Sharpe (Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xii. 

 p. 439) " does not consider to be worthy of even subspecific rank." 

 I have deemed it unnecessary to give a separate figure or description 

 of this extreme phase, which merely differs from the type in its 

 varying size, and in the fact that its food consists largely of the 

 seeds of the Scotch fir, whereas the smaller common form also feeds 

 on the spruce, larch, stone-pine &c. The large-billed birds are occa- 

 sionally obtained in our islands and in Central Europe, but they 

 do not migrate far to the south. Forms slightly smaller than the 

 ordinary Crossbill are found in the Himalayas and Tibet, Japan, 

 and North America, but the highlands of Mexico produce a rather 

 larger race. 



The nest, frequently built in February or March, is generally 

 placed on the horizontal branch of a -fir, often close to the stem, and 

 is formed of twigs, surmounted by a cup-shaped structure of dry 

 grass, moss, wool and lichen, with a lining of similar but softer 

 materials. The eggs, usually 4, rarely 5 in number, are greyish- 

 white, sparsely spotted with several shades of reddish-brown ; like 

 those of the Greenfinch, but larger : average measurements "9 by 

 •66 in. ; those of the so-called Parrot-Crossbill hardly exceeding 

 these dimensions. In summer both young and old birds eat cater- 

 pillars and the larvre of insects, but later their food is obtained from 

 fir cones, while rowan and other berries, apple-pips and buds are 

 also consumed. The note is a gip, gip, chi, chi. 



The adult male has most of the upper and under parts dull crim- 

 son, which is brightest on the rump ; wings brown, with a pale bar 

 along the edges of the coverts ; tail brown ; bill, legs and feet dark 

 brown. Average length 6*5 ; wing 4 in. In the female the red is 

 represented by greenish-orange, and her plumage is more striated, 

 especially before maturity. Young birds are greenish-grey, with a 

 little yellow on the rump ; in the nestling stage the general colour 

 is ash-brown, and at three weeks old the bill is still straight, the 

 lower mandible shutting within the upper. 



