Finches. 165 



but are said to lose their splendid plumage in confine- 

 ment, and are therefore not very desirable acquisitions. 



The AMERICAN ROSE - BREASTED HAWFINCH 

 (Coccoborns ludovicianus) would be a pleasanter cage 

 bird : it sings well, is easily tamed, is hardy, and has 

 great beauty of plumage ; the head and upper part of 

 the body are of a glossy black, the breast is carmine 

 red, the stomach is white, and the wings have white 

 bands; but it is not as yet imported in numbers to this 

 country. 



The CROSSBILL (Loxia curvirostris). This bird is 

 an inhabitant of Europe, Northern Asia, and America, 

 and occasionally visits the fir plantations of Great 

 Britain. It is chiefly remarkable for the curious shape 

 of its bill, from which it takes its name : it is almost 

 an inch long, and the upper mandible bends down- 

 wards, and the lower one upwards, so as to cross each 

 other, a formation which enables the bird to extract 

 the seeds from the fir-cones, and the kernels from the 

 almonds in the shell, in which it makes a hole with its 

 powerful beak, while it can pick up and shell hemp 

 and canary-seed with perfect ease. It is very fond of 

 apple-pips, and cleverly cuts a hole into the core of the 

 apple to extract them, of course making great havoc 

 in an orchard. In confinement it may be allowed to 

 range the room, but it is apt to get sore eyes and 

 ulcerated feet, and is subject to epilepsy ; and although 

 a very handsome bird and readily tamed, it is not very 



