CROSSBILLS AND GROSBEAKS— FINCHES AND LINNETS 27 



Crossbills The crossbills- are mostly natives of the north, the common 



and Grosbeaks. European species inhabiting central Asia and the greater part of the 

 Siberian area, while in Siberia the pine-crossbill ranges as far north as the 

 boundaiy of tree-growth, as does the larch or two-barred crossbill ( Loxia 

 bifasciafa). The latter bird is distinguished by two white bands on the wings, 

 owing to the greater and median wing-coverts as well as the secondaries being 

 tipped with white. It has a stouter beak than the American white-winged cross- 

 bill, which it otherwise much resembles. The northern representative of the 

 bullfinch, the so-called Pyrrlmla major, is spread over Siberia from west to east, 

 as is the scarlet grosbeak (Carpodacus erythrinus), a native of the forests of 

 Siberia, distinguished by the scarlet hue of its plumage. Wherever, in the vast 

 uninhabited forests of the high north, pines and firs are interspersed with juniper 

 bushes, there lives and breeds the pine-grosbeak (Pinicola enucleator), which 

 feeds on the seeds of the cones and the berries of shrubs, particularly those of the 

 southernwood, though it also supplies its young with a considerable amount of 

 insect food. In April this bird makes its nest, which may be recognised by the 

 way it is fastened to the trunk and adjacent bough of the tree on which it is placed. 

 At the proper season it generally contains four eggs, much like those of the 

 bullfinch, but larger. In October and November this grosbeak migrates to Russia, 

 southern Sweden, and north-eastern Germany, a few stragglers visiting other 

 countries farther west and south. Breeding close up to the Arctic Circle in both 

 hemispheres, it may be distinguished by its red head, tail-coverts, and under-parts, 

 the red being replaced in the female by yellow of a deeper tone above than below. 

 Finches and The goldfinch is another Siberian bird, while the siskin ranges 



Linnets. through the country to the Pacific. Siberia is also the principal 

 breeding-area of the mealy redpoll (Linota linaria), one of the linnets, which nests 

 in the birch-forests of northern Europe and Asia, building on low trees, often 

 scarcely 4 inches from the ground. This bird is restricted to birch-woods, from 

 the fact of its food consisting principally of birch and alder seeds, though in its 

 winter-quarters it does not confine itsslf to these. It also feeds on gnats, which 

 in its native home envelop the shrubs like clouds, and serve principally as food for 

 its young. The mealy redpoll arrives in the south in November and returns to 

 its northern home in February and March. It ranges as far westward as the 

 British Isles, and in hard winters migrates to southern Europe and northern 

 Africa. In Germany it is generally found on the plains or in valleys, in forests 

 with alder and birch trees, and in the open fields with trees and bushes near by, 

 or even on bare stubble. It is said to sleep on the snow if surprised in the fields 

 by night, but otherwise in high thick hedges. These redpolls, which are exceed- 

 ingly tame and lively, climb like tits, often upside-down, on the thinnest twigs, and 

 are so sociable that they always fly in flocks, frequently accompanied by siskins 

 and sparrows and by other linnets. When breeding, it is quite silent, but at other 

 times it has a low and insignificant song, practically a mere twittering. In length 

 it is about 5 inches ; in colour the crown is red, the wing white, the chin black, 

 and the breast pink. The female lacks the pink on the breast so distinctive of 

 her partner. Although both the greenfinch and the chaffinch are found in western 

 Siberia, the real finch of the Asiatic and European north is the brambling (Fringilla 



