138 AVES. 



PARtfs, Lin. 

 The Titmouse has a slender, short, conical and straight beak, furnished with 

 little hairs at the base, and the nostrils concealed among the feathers. It 

 is a genus of very active little bu'ds, which are continually flitting and climb- 

 ing from branch to branch, suspending themselves therefrom in all sorts of 

 positions, rending apart the seeds on which they feed, devouring insects 

 wherever they see them, and not sparing even small birds when they hap- 

 pen to find them sick and are able to put an end to them. They lay up 

 stores of seeds, build in the holes of old trees, and lay more eggs than any 

 of the Passerinse. 



Emberiza, Lin. 

 The Buntings have a very distinct character in their conical, short and 

 straight beak, the upper mandible of which is narrow, sinks into the lower, 

 and has a projecting, hard tubercle on the palate. They are granivorous, 

 and unsuspicious birds, which run into every snare that is laid for them. 



E. hortulana, Li. (The Ortolan.) The back olive-brown; throat yellow- 

 ish; the inner side of the two external feathers of the tail white. Builds 

 in hedges; is very fat and common in autumn. 



Fkia'gilla, Lin. 



The Sparrows have a conical beak, more or less thick at base; but its com- 

 missure is not angular. They feed generaEy on grain, and are for the most 

 part voracious and noxious. We subdivide them into 



Ploceus (The Weavers), Pyrgita (Sparrows), Fringilla (Finches), Cardu- 

 elis (Goldfinches), Linaria (Linnets) to which belongs the Canary Bird, 

 Vidua (Widows), Coccothraustes (Grossbeaks), Pitylus, and Pyrrhula or 

 (Bullfinches). 



LoxiA, Briss. 

 The Crossbills have a compressed beak, and the two mandibles so strongly 

 curved, that then* points cross each other, sometimes on one side sometimes 

 on the other. This singular beak enables them to tear out the seeds from 

 under the scales of the pine-cones. The European species is very common 

 wherever there are evergreen trees; it is, 



Loxia curvirostra, L. (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 

 gi-eenish above, yellowish beneath. 



We cannot remove from the Bullfinches and tlie Crossbills 



CORYTHUS, CuV. 

 The point of whose completely arched beak curves over the lower mandible. 

 The most known species is 



Loxia enudeator, L. The Pine Grosbeak inhabits the north of botli con- 

 tinents, and lives in the same way as the Crossbill. It is red, or reddish, 

 the feathers of the tail and wings black edged with white. 



