PINE-WOOD STUDIES 21 



a dark greenish colour, with parallel black bars. 

 At the time the young birds leave the nest their 

 mandibles resemble those of the rest of the finches, 

 and show no sign of " crossing " until they begin to 

 roam the woods with the parent birds. 



The parrot crossbill is another of the family which 

 has rarely occurred in England ; as is also the white- 

 winged. The first is more robust in form than the 

 common species, and has the red of its plumage in- 

 tensified. Except for superiority in size, so much 

 alike are the two that they were long spoken of as 

 merely varietal forms. In the countries where the 

 birds breed, the parrot crossbill is rarer than its 

 congener; though in habits the two species are 

 almost identical. And this, too, may be said of the 

 white-barred bird, laying stress on its great rarity. 



