532 AVES— CROSSBILL. 



frequently repeated; that of the female is rather a kind of chattering, 

 approaching nearly to the rapid pronunciation of chicky-iucky-tuck, Avhen she 

 sees any person approaching the neighborhood of her nest. She is, how- 

 ever, rarely seen, and usually mute, and scarcely to be distinguished from 

 the color of the foliage at a distance ; while the loquacity and brilliant red 

 of the male make him very conspicuous ; and when seen among the green 

 leaves, he has a most beautiful and elegant appearance. 



The summer red-bird delights in a flat sandy country covered with wood, 

 and interspersed with pine trees, and is more numerous on the shores of the 

 Atlantic than in the interior. In both the Carolinas, Georgia, and Florida, 

 they are numerous ; in the northern states they are very rare. 



THE AMERICAN CROSSBILL. i 



This species is a regular inhabitant of almost all our pine forests situated 

 north of forty degrees, from September to April. The Great Pine Swamp 

 in Pennsylvania appears to be their favorite rendezvous. They then appear 

 in large flocks, feeding on the seeds of the hemlock and Vv^hite pine ; have a 

 loud, sharp, and not unmusical note ; chatter as they fly ; alight during the 

 prevalence of the deep snows before the door of the hunter, and around the 

 house, picking off the clay with which the logs are plastered, and searching 

 in corners where any substance of a saline nature had been thrown. At 

 such times they are so tame, as only to settle on the roof of the cabin when 

 disturbed, and a moment after, descend to feed as before. They are then 

 easily caught in traps. When kept in a cage they have many of the habits 

 of the parrot, often climbing along the wires, and using their feet to grasp 

 the cones in, while taking out the seeds. 



This bird has hitherto been considered a mere variety of the European 

 species, but it diflers in several respects. I have therefore separated it from 

 the grosbeaks. It is subject to many changes of color. The male is five 

 inches and three fourths long. The general color of the plumage, when 

 perfect, is a red-lead color ; the tail is forked and edged with yellow. The 

 female is less than the male ; the plumage is of an olive yellow. 



' Loxia curvirostra, Lin. The genus Loxia has the bill rather long, strong, much com- 

 pressed, the two mandibles equally convex, and crossing each other at the points when at 

 rest; nostrils round, basal, and lateral, concealed by reflected bristly feathers; the anterior 

 toes entirely divided; wings with the first quill feathers longest; tail forked. 



