CONIROSTRES. 



upon the whole, formed rather for perching than 

 for walking, though many genera walk on the 

 ground habitually. 



Seeds and grain of various kinds may be men- 

 tioned as the principal food of the " hard billed" 



HEAD OF PYRRHULA VIOLACEA. 



birds ; and for the opening of the different cap- 

 sules and seed vessels, as well as for the crushing 

 of the often hard seeds themselves, their stout 

 and horny beaks are peculiarly fitted. At the 

 same time not a few add insects to a vegetable 

 diet, and some may be said to be almost omnivo- 

 rous. In proportion as the form of the beak 

 deviates from that of a short and broad cone, does 

 the appetite vary from an exclusive seed-diet. 



So very extensive a tribe we should expect to find 

 represented in all countries of the globe, and so it 

 is. Yet perhaps we may consider it as affecting 

 rather the temperate and colder than the warmer 

 regions of the earth, particularly the very nu- 



