PASSERINE. LOXIA. 209 



Loxia Pytiopsittacus, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 324. 

 Loxia Pytiopsittacus, Parrot Crossbill, MacGilliyray, Brit. 

 Birds, i. 429. 



134. LOXIA EUROP^EA. EUROPEAN CROSSBILL. 



Length about seven inches, wing from flexure four, bill 

 from four and a half to six and a half twelfths in height at 

 the base, longer than the tarsus, much curved, the point of the 

 lower mandible seldom reaching so high as the level of the 

 ridge of the upper. Male dull red above, brighter beneath, 

 the rump yellowish-red, the wings and tail dark olive-brown. 

 Female greyish-brown tinged with yellow above, the rump 

 yellow, light yellowish-grey beneath, the wings and tail as in 

 the male. Young light brownish-grey, streaked with dusky, 

 the rump tinged with yellow ; the lower parts white, streaked 

 with greyish -brown. Young males brownish-red, or yellowish- 

 red, or wax-yellow, or mottled with yellow and red. 



Male, 7j> 11 T 9 2> 4 TW*> T 7 2> T V Female, 7J, H&-. 



Crossbills make their appearance at irregular periods, in 

 different parts of the country, generally confining themselves 

 to plantations and woods of fir and pine, in which they find 

 their favourite food, consisting of the seeds of these trees, 

 which they extract from between the scales of the cones. 

 They cling to the twigs and cones, keep up a low shrill chat- 

 ter while feeding, and are generally regardless of danger. They 

 nestle at all seasons ; at least, nests have been found in win- 

 ter, in spring, and in summer. 



Crossbill. Sheld-apple. 



Loxia curvirostra, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 299. Loxia curvi- 

 rostra, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. i. 328. Loxia europsea, Com- 

 mon European Crossbill, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, i. 417. 



135. LOXIA LEUCOPTERA. WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL. 



Length about six and a half inches ; mandibles extremely 

 compressed toward the end ; wings black, with two transverse 

 white bands. Male bright crimson above and beneath. Fe- 

 male dusky, tinged with yellow above, the rump wax-yellow, 

 the lower parts yellowish-grey, longitudinally streaked with 

 dusky. Young like the female, but with less yellow. 



Male, 6 T \, 10 J, 3J, T 8 *, *f, T 5 ^, fr. Female, 6^, 10. 



This species, which occurs abundantly in the northern re- 

 gions of America, is occasionally met with on the European 

 Continent. A specimen was obtained near Belfast in 1802, 

 and another near Worcester in 1836. 



