FRINGILLID.E. 



the female green : the voice a single sharp note, frequently 

 repeated, and also Avhen flying from one tree to another ; all 

 their actions very paroquet like. Such is the substance of 

 the brief accovmt supplied by M. Necker; and the fact that 

 the mandibles are not crossed over till the bird is obliged to 

 seek its own living, exhibits one of those beautiful provisions 

 of Nature, under which the formative process remains sus- 

 pended till the age and necessities of the animal require the 

 particular developement. 



On the European continent, the Crossbills visit Spain 

 and Genoa, but are seldom seen further south. They inha- 

 bit the Alps and Pyrenees, the pine forests of Switzerland 

 and Germany, Poland, Russia, Siberia, and eastward over 

 Asia, even to Japan. They inhabit also Denmark, Norway, 

 and Sweden, where Professor Nilsson says they build their 

 nests on the uppermost branches of firs in the winter months. 

 Linnseus, in the account of his Tour in Lapland, mentions 

 having seen Crossbills there on the 2i^nd of May. 



It has been considered and stated, that the Common 

 Crossbill of North America was too small in size to be of the 

 same species as that of Europe ; but the measurement given 

 by Mr. Audubon of the American bird, viz. whole length 

 seven inches, extent of wings eleven inches, is equal to that 

 of our own bird, and some of our English examples are even 

 the smaller of the two. The general description of the 

 plumage and its changes, as given in the second volume of 

 the Biography, page 5 60, agrees with the appearances of our 

 bird ; and Mr. Audubon concludes his account of the Ame- 

 rican species with the following sentence : — " I have care- 

 fully compared skins of the American bird with others of 

 that found in Scotland, but have not succeeded in detecting 

 any differences sufficient to indicate a specific distinction."" 

 The localities inhabited by the Crossbill in North America 

 are thus referred to in the work just quoted : — " I have 



