17C 



VERTEBRATA 





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IHE PARROT CROSS-BILL. 



The American Cross-Bill, L. Americana, resembles the preceding, and has generally been 

 oonsiderod identical with it; there is no doubt, however, that it is distinct. It is seven inches 

 long ; the male is red, passing into whitish beneath. It feeds on the seeds and buds of trees, 

 and is a northern bird, but breeds in a few instances as far south as Pennsylvania. 



Other species are as follows : the Parrot Cross-Bill, L. ])i(i/opsiitacus, seven inches and a 

 half long; general color tile-red, with dusky streaks below. It is somewhat larger than the com- 

 mon cross-bill, but resembles it in its habits. It is occasionally seen in England and France. 

 The European White-winged Cross-Bill, L. hifanciata, is six and a quarter inches long ; brick- 

 red, orange, and grayish-brown above; reddish-orange beneath; a rare species. 



The American White-winged Cross-Bill, L. leucoptera, is generally of a crimson-red, with 

 wings and tail black, the former having two white bands; length six inches. It is a northern 

 species, rarely moving farther south than Northern New York. This has been long deemed iden- 

 tical with the preceding, but it is no doubt a distinct species. 



THE PIIYTOTOMIN^ OR PLANT-CUTTERS. 



These birds are distinguished by having the 

 margins of their mandibles finely serrated ; the 

 bill is short, conical, and stout, as in the bull- 

 finches. They are found only in the temperate 

 regions of South America; the typical species, 

 Phytotoma rara, is a native of Chili. They fre- 

 quent the wooded parts of the country, and feed 

 upon buds, fruits, and herbage, which they cut 

 away with their bills, and thus often do great 

 damacfG when thev visit the cultivated grounds. 

 The amount of the injury is greatly increased by 

 the circumstance that the birds mischievously cut 

 off quantities of buds, fruits, &c., for the mere 

 pleasure of throwing them down ; and for this 

 't;i^- '' reason the peasants wage a constant war with 

 them, which, according to Molina, at the time he 

 wrote, was rapidly diminishing their numbers. 

 They also occasionally feed on insects. Their cry, 

 consisting of ra>-a, rara, rara, is said to be excecd- 

 inajly disagreeable, resembling the noise made by 

 THE oTUiAK PLANT-CUTTER, P. rava. gratlug the teeth of two saws together. 



