128 



Juv. supra ciuerascenti-brunneus, plumis medialiter nigricantibus, pileo et collo postico albicante vario : 

 uropvgio et supracaudalibus ochrascenti-brunneis, medialiter saturatius brunneis : remigibus et rec- 

 tricibus brunneis, extus pallide ochrascenti-brunneo limbatis : subtus albicans, cinerascente lavatus, 

 plumis medialiter brunneo lineatis. 



Adult Male. Head, back, and rump brigbt tile-red, the back and nape being tinged with brown, and the 

 rump much brighter than the other parts, and washed with carmine-red; quills dark brown, wing- 

 coverts brown, tinged with dull red ; tail slightly forked, dark brown, imperceptibly edged with dull 

 reddish brown ; auriculars the same colour as the head, but washed with brown ; entire underparts rich 

 tile-red; abdomen paler, the centre being greyish white, with a reddish tinge; under wing-coverts 

 grey, washed with pale red; under tail-coverts white, with central brown markings to the feathers; 

 bill strongly curved, the mandibles crossing each other, dull brown, darkest towards the tip of the 

 upper mandible; legs dark brown; irides dark hazel-brown. Total length 5 - 5 inches, culmen 0-75, 

 breadth of lower mandible at base O-i, wing 3 - 9, tail 2 - 6, tarsus 0"65. 



Adult Female. Differs from the male in having no trace of red in the plumage, the prevailing colour being 

 greyish brown, washed with light greenish yellow, this latter colour being most vivid on the rump, 

 which in some examples is almost wax-yellow, with a greenish tinge ; the head and underparts are also 

 washed with greenish yellow. 



Young. Upper parts dull greyish white, streaked longitudinally with dark brown; scapulars, back, and 

 rump washed with pale green, which on the rump becomes almost yellow ; tail, wings, and -wing- 

 coverts dark brown, edged with dull greenish ; entire underparts dull greyish-white, with longitudinal 

 streaks of dark brown, and washed with pale green ; on the lower part of the throat a few yellowish 

 feathers are just appearing; mandibles crossed, as in the adult. 



Nestling. Similar to the above, but much paler, and not having the mandibles crossed, the beak being 

 short, stout, and blunt. 



Our friend Mr. Meves has kindly given to us the specimens examined by him in his paper on the orni- 

 thology of Jemtland (CEfv. Kongl. Vet. Ak. Forh. 1860, p. 212), in which he treats of the changes of plumage 

 which this species undergoes ; and from these we observe, in confirmation of his views, that the male, after the 

 brown-striped nestling-plumage, sometimes assumes a red dress, and sometimes one of a yellowish colour, 

 more or less tinged with red. The young male we describe above has a few yellow feathers appearing on the 

 underparts, and is just commencing to assume the yellow plumage ; and another, obtained near Stockholm on 

 the 2nd of November, has nearly cast off the nestling-plumage, but has still remains of it on the breast and 

 back ; the rump is bright red, and on the head, neck, and breast are scattered red feathers, showing that it 

 is assuming the red plumage directly after the brown nestling-dress. This bird nas no appearance of any 

 yellow feathers showing themselves. A third young male, in the plumage after the first moult, resembles the 

 female, but is strongly marked with rich golden yellow on the head and rump, this colour pervading the entire 

 underparts ; another young male has remains of the nestling-plumage all over the breast, throat, and head, 

 but is otherwise like the last-named specimens. 



Specimens we have now before us from various parts of Europe vary but little, those from Scotland being, 

 as a rule, larger and possessing stouter bills, approaching very closely to Loxia pityopsittaca. We do not 

 possess one of Mr. von Homeyer's specimens from which he described his Crucirostra balearica; but Mr. 

 Howard Saunders has kindly placed two examples from Mallorca at our disposal, which differ in no "way from 

 Swedish specimens. Nor does the bird which occurs in Asia Minor, of which we have two specimens now 

 before us, differ in any respect from the northern bird. From Algeria we have two skins of this species 



