PASSERINA. 273 
upon the beech, and fruit trees, and eats almonds and all sorts of 
fruits. 
There are two species with smaller bills in Europe. 
Lowxia chloris, L.; Le Verdier, Enl. 672, 2; Naum. 120. (The 
Green Grosbeak). Greenish above; yellowish beneath; external 
edge of the tail, yellow. Inhabits the underwood, &c., and eats all 
sorts of seeds. 
Fring. petronia, L.; La Soulcie, Enl. 225; Naum. 116, 3, 4. 
(The Ring Finch). Which is commonly classed with the Finches, 
whose colours it bears; but independently of its great bill, a whitish 
line round the head, and a yellowish spot on the breast, afford evident 
marks of distinction*. 
There are some species that should be distinguished from the 
Grosbeaks. 
Pitytus, Cuv. 
The bill quite as large, slightly compressed, arcuated above, and some- 
times a salient angle on the middle of the edge of the upper jawt. 
Naturalists have long separated from them, 
PyYRRHULA. 
The Bullfinches, which have a rounded, inflated bill, arched in every 
direction. There is one in France. 
Loxia pyrrhula, L.; Enl. 145; Vieill. Gal. 56; Naum. 111. 
(The Common Bullfinch). Cinerous above; red beneath; calotte 
black; reddish grey superseding the red in the female; builds on 
various trees, and among the bushes along the road. It is naturally 
a sweet songster, is easily tamed, and may be taught to speak. 
There is a race of them known, ,a third larger}. 
Lexia§, Briss. 
The Crossbills have a compressed bill, and the two mandibles so strongly 
curved, that their points cross each other, sometimes on one side, some- 
times on the other, according to the individuals. This singular bill ena- 
bles them to tear out the seeds from under the scales of the pine-cones. 
The European species is very common wherever there are large 
woods of evergreens; it is, 
Loxia curvirostra, L.; Enl. 218. (The Crossbill). The plumage 
of the young male is of a vivid red, with brown wings; that of the 
adult, and of the female, is greenish above, yellowish beneath. Two 
* It is very evident, that the petronia is not less a Grosbeak than the chloris. 
+ Such are Loa. grossa. Enl. 154;—L. canadanensis, Enl. 152, 2;—L. erytromelas, 
Lath. II, pl. xlvii, and Vieill. Gal. 59;—Z.. portoricensis, Daud. Ornith. II, pl. xxix, 
or Pyrrhula auranticollis, Vieill. Gal. 55. 
+ Add, Low. lineola, Enl. 319, 1;—M. minuta, Ib. 2;—L. collaria, Enl. 393, 3;— 
L. sibirica, Falk. Voy. III, pl. xxviii;—Pyr. cinereola, Tem. Col. II, 1:—P. falci- 
rostris, Ib. 2;—P. orthaginea, T. Col. 400;—P. mysia, Vieill. Ois. ch. pl. xlvi, and 
the pl. lix and Ix of Spix. [Add, P. frontalis, Bon. I, p. vi, f. 1, 2.—Ene. Ep. 
§ Loxia, from the Gr. loos, (curve), the name invented for this bird by Conrad 
Gesner. Linnzus applied it to the Grosbeaks generally. 
