YOUNG CEOSSBILLS IN NORWAY. 139 



The pine grosbeak (Pyrrhula enucleator) is found in 

 the north of Norway. It is erratic in its habits, and 

 is much more plentiful during some seasons than at 

 others. It is a beautiful songster, and is easily tamed. 

 It is called in Sweden tallbit, or fir-biter, and in 

 Norway fjeld-dompap, or mountain bullfinch ; it feeds 

 on the seeds in the fir cones, which it opens with its 

 strong beak ; it keeps to pine woods, where it nests in 

 a spruce-fir, at no distance from the ground ; it lays 

 three or four pale green eggs, marked with brown and 

 gray spots. 



The parrot crossbill (Loxia pityopsittacus) is pretty 

 common in Norway, especially in the central and 

 northern parts. It feeds on the seeds of the pine- 

 cones, and on beech-nuts, etc. In winter it subsists 

 almost entirely on the berries of the mountain-ash, 

 which is very common in woods of deciduous trees in 

 Norway. This bird is, also, uncertain in its habits, 

 sometimes building its nest and sitting on its eggs as 

 early as February, sometimes much later. The nest is 

 generally made in a spruce-fir, and contains three or 

 four eggs of a dirty-white colour, marked with brown 

 spots. Mr. Lloyd gives the following account of the 

 young of this species : " When the young leave the 

 nest they follow the mother, who feeds them ; but at 

 this period the male deserts the family ; one never 

 sees him in the company of a female that has newly- 

 fledged young. When these accompany the mother, 

 they keep up a terrible noise, screech most unmerci- 

 fully, and flutter with their wings. When feeding the 

 young, the female commonly allows the cone to fall on 

 the ground, the young follow her to the cone, out of 

 which she plucks the seeds and gives them, whilst 



