OF THE UNITED STATES 



337 



ana, which is a good deal smaller, is known only from the Hima- 

 laya Mountains. The third, the Two-barred crossbill, L. tceniop- 

 tera, is very distinct, and its proper home seems to be the most 

 northern forests of the Russian Empire, but it has occasionally 

 occurred in Western Europe and even in England." (A. New- 

 ton.) 



Adult males of the American crossbill are of a more or less 

 bright reddish brick color, with dusky w r ings and tail. Females 

 are of a plain olive, often tinged with gray or yellow, and gener- 



FIG. 83. A .PAIR OF CROSSBILLS. 



ally dashed with darker markings; the latter are always present 

 in the young birds, the grayish-green in them being lighter than 

 it is in the female. Male Mexican crossbills are more brilliant 

 than the males of the common one. A male of the white-winged 

 species will measure from 6 to 6 1-2 inches in length, and is a 

 more graceful bird than the others. It has black wings and tail, 

 the body being of a rich purplish carmine, dusky on the back. 

 Tw r o broad white bands are seen upon either wing, a character 

 that at once distinguishes this species, and which gives it its 



