Crossbill. INSESSORES. LOXIA. 329 



fruit.* Their period of nidification is unusual, being in the 

 middle of the winter months. During summer they retire 

 farther to the northward. 



COMMON CROSSBILL. 



^ LoxiA cvEviRosTRA, Linn. 



PLATE LIII. 



Loxia curvirostra, Linn. Syst. 1. p. 299. 1 — Gmel. Syst. 1. p. 843. sp. 1. — 



Lath. Ind. Ornith. v. 1. p. 370. sp. \.—Cuv. Reg. Anim. v. 1. p. 391. 

 Loxia, Rail Syn. p. 86. A — Will. p. 181. 1. 44 — Briss. 3. p. 299. t. 17- f. 3. 



Le Bee croise', Buff. Ois. v. 3. p. 449. t. 27- £ 2 Id. PI. Knl. 218. 



Bee eroise eommun, ou des Pins, Temm. Man. d'Ornith. v. 1. p. 328. 

 Fichten Kreuzschnabe, Bechst. Naturg. Deut. v. 3. p. 4. t. 3. f. 1. — Meyer, 



Tasschenb. Deut. v. 1. p. 140. — Id. Vog. Deut. v. 1. figures of different 



ages. 

 Cro.ssbill or Sheld Apple, Br. Zool. 1. No. 115. t. 49 Arct. Zool. 2. No. 



208 Will. (Ang.) p. 248. t. 44 Lath. Syn. 3. p. 106. 1 Lewin's Br. 



Birds, 2. t. 66 -Mont. Ornith. Diet. v. 1 Albin. 1. 1. 61 Wale. Syn. 



2. t. 205— Pult. Cat. Dorset, p. 11 — Bewick's Br. Birds, 1. p. t. 130 



Shaw's Zool. V. 9. p. 231. t. 41. 



The \isits of this curious and interesting species to our occasional 

 shores are at irregular periods, sometimes at an interval of visitant, 

 many years. During the summer of 1821, this kingdom 

 was visited by immense flocks of these birds, that spread 

 themselves through the country, and were to be seen in all 

 woods and plantations where the fir-tree was abundant. 

 Their first appearance was early in June, and the greater 

 part of the flocks seemed to consist of females, and the young 

 of the year (the males possessing the red plumage, assumed 

 from the first moult to the end of that year). Many of the 

 females that I killed shewed plainly, from the denuded state 

 of their breasts, that they had been engaged in incubation 

 some time previous to their arrival; which circumstance agrees 



" For an excellent anatomical description of the bill and its muscles, 

 I refer my reader to a paper (published in the 4th VoL of the " Zoological 

 Journal ") by Mr Yarrell, entitled " On the Structure of the Beak, &c. 

 in the Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra J." 



