428 THE PARROT CROSSBILL, AND PINE BULLFINCH. 



The Parrot Crossbill. 



Loxia Pytiopsittacus. (Bechst.) Loxia Curvirostra. (Gmel.) 



But, as I never saw it here, and as it has seldom been seen in 

 Britain, I may merely say that in habits, nesting, food, and 

 colour, it is like the last but larger, and has a stronger bill. 

 It frequents the pine forests of the north of Europe and 

 America, and is found within the Arctic Eegions. It has been 

 got in Ross-shire, and may yet be found in Fifeshire. It is 

 8 inches long by 14 in extent of wings. The next allied genus 

 is 



Genus Pyrrhula. (Briss.) Bullfinch. 



Generic features : — Bill, short and thick, rounded and 

 bulging ; point of the upper mandible curved over the lower, 

 and deeply concave within, having two lateral grooves for the 

 under one. The head is large, neck short, and body stout. 

 Like the crossbill, the tarsi are short and slender, but the toes 

 are long, the claws curved, sharp, and grooved, enabling them 

 also to cling to twigs when in search of buds and seeds. We 

 have two species in Britain, but only one resident — the common 

 black-headed bullfinch. The other, the pine bullfinch, is only 

 a rare visitant. 



The Pine Bullfinch. 



Pyrrhula Enudeator. (Temm.) 



This is the Loxia Enudeator of Linnseus and pine grossbeak 

 of modern authors. It is a beautiful bird, but seldom seen in 

 Britain, and only in the north of Scotland, where pine trees 

 abound in a natural state, such as Invercauld, in Aberdeen- 

 shire, where some authors say they breed. They are plentiful 

 in Norway and Sweden, in the north of Europe, Asia, and 

 America, and breed within the Arctic Circle. Their food — 

 seeds of pines and berries, as well as tender buds of trees and 



