146 



THE BIRDS OF THE WOODS 



large flocks being sometimes met with in forests where crossbills have not 

 been seen for years. Crossbills migrate to southern Europe and the Atlas 

 Range of northern Africa ; and are distributed over northern and central Europe 

 generally, from the stunted firs of the far north to the luxuriant pine-forests 

 of France, Switzerland, and Greece, while they are also found over the greater 

 part of northern Asia. 



Although the parrot-crossbill (L.pitii<>psittacus) has the beak stronger, longer, 

 and more arched, in other respects it so closely resembles L. curri rostra that it is 

 generally treated as a variety and not as a distinct species. Its distribution is 







THE CROSSBILL. 



Bullfinch. 



much the same, but it is most numerous in northern Europe. In food and habits 

 it is exactly similar. 



The handsome bullfinch (Pyrrhula europcea) during summer is 

 almost exclusively an inhabitant of the woods, either in the mountains 

 or in the plains, and indeed never leaves trees and bushes except in case of need. 

 On the Continent it is mostly found in dense mountain-forests, especially those 

 containing a few pine-trees, but, above all, those abounding in beeches with 

 clearings and grassy paths, or such as adjoin meadows and ploughed fields. Only 

 when on migration does it frequent isolated trees. In England, gardens, especially 

 those where there are plantations of gooseberries, are favourite haunts of the 

 bullfinch, which is a quiet, peaceable bird, seldom fighting witli its fellows, and 



