CROSSBILL. 199 



Dr. Malmgren and at Malta by Mr. Wright. Its appearance 

 therefore from time to time in places equally devoid of its 

 natural supplies, but less far removed than those just named 

 from its proper haunts, is easily explained, and in such dis- 

 tricts it does the best it can to obtain a living from the seeds 

 of various plants. An unsuccessful attempt has been made 

 to regard examples obtained in the Balearic Isles (where it 

 seems to be resident) as forming a distinct species (Journ. 

 fiir Orn. 1864, p. 224). It occurs also not un frequently in 

 Sicily and in the Cyclades. Further to the eastward it is 

 found across the whole of that part of Asia which is in- 

 cluded in the Palaearctic Region suitable districts being 

 understood, from Smyrna to Japan, including the northern 

 portions of China and Formosa though indeed Chinese and 

 Japanese specimens have been described as differing specifi- 

 cally (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1870, p. 437). Throughout this wide 

 tract, however, there are few places in which its appearance 

 can be deemed constant. Governed as its movements are by 

 the imperious necessity of finding food, and food of a kind 

 that frequently fails in any particular locality, it roves from 

 one country to another as regardless of latitude and longi- 

 tude as of heat and cold, breeding, as may be gathered from 

 what has been above said, wherever it happens to be when 

 the season comes round. Yet like almost every other animal 

 it has its geographical bounds. So far as we are aware, 

 neither Iceland nor any of the Atlantic islands knows its 

 presence, though there seems no reason why so great a 

 traveller may not find its way thither. The Great Desert 

 of Africa of course puts a limit to its wanderings, and the 

 firless plains of Egypt equally discourage its approach. 

 The steppes of Tartary likewise interpose themselves as a 

 barrier to its southern progress in Asia, and in the Hima- 

 layas we find its place taken by a distinct though nearly- 

 allied form, Loxia himalayana. The common Crossbill 

 of the New World has long been separated from that of the 

 Old, and its separation, as L. americana, seems to be justi- 

 fiable, on account of its smaller bill and, in the males, more 

 scarlet plumage. 



VOL. II. D D 



