FRINGILLIB^: FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, ETC. 



349 



(Lat. curvirostris, curve-billed. Fig. 213.) Ameeigan Ked 



larger than the next, the bill thinner and more attenuate. 9 and y.jung : Though the difier- 

 ences are parallel with those of L. americana, some pecuUarity in tune of color usually serves 

 to distinguish the two species, independently of the white wing-marks, which exist in both 

 sexes at 'all ages. The difference is something like that between the ? ? of Pijranga (estiva 

 and P. rnhn^in the presence of ochrey or buffy tints, instead of clear olivaceous or yellowish. 

 Upper parts fuscous, closely lined with an ochrey-.dive or dingy ochre, the rump briglit yeUow- 

 ochre. Below, the gray overlaid with ochreous, and further varied with dark gray centres of 

 the feathers, tending to streaks on the flanks. The whole tone of coloration varies inter- 

 minably ; tlie under parts and rump are sometimes bright tawny yell.)W, or brownish-orange. 

 Some "<J <J are brilhant carmine, some 9 ? pale orange, almost uniform. North Am., 

 northerly; Alaska; Greenland; casual in Europe. In winter S. in most of the U. S., in 

 flocks with the next, not so common. Resident in N. New England, and along whole N. tier 

 of States, probably breeding also in alpine U. S. localities to Pennsylvania and Colorado. 

 ISrceds in winter and early spring, nesting like that of the next species ; eggs pale blue, dotted 

 chiefly at the larger end with black and lilac ; 0.80 X 0..56. 

 199. L. curvlros'tra america'na. 

 Cross-bill. Adult ^: Ked; 

 wings and tail blackish, with- 

 out white markings. Middle 

 of baclv darker, more brown- 

 ish-red than elsewhere, the 

 feathers with dusky centres. 

 In the highest feather, even, 

 the red is scarcely contiuumis 

 except on head and rumii, 

 where brightest; lower belly 

 and crissum usually gray or 

 pale. Though the shade 

 red is never rosy or carmine 

 as in the last, it varies inter- 

 minably. It is usually tile- 

 red or cinnabar, heightening 

 in some cases to vermilion, in 

 others shading to brownish- 



FlG. 213. — Common Crossbill, cf ?, reduced. (Sheppard del, Nichols sc.) 



red, and often mixed not only with gray, but with (divaoeous or saffrou-yellowksh tints. 

 Orange, chrome or gamboge ^^ ^ nve sometimes seen. Length about 6.00; wing 3..50 ; tail 

 3..50 ; hiU (chord of culmen) 0.67 or less, very variable; under mandible usually weaker than 

 upper. 9 and young : DuU greenish-olive, much nri.Ked with gray or dusky, brighter and 

 more yellowish on head and rump ; below, gray, most feathers skirted with dingy yellowish, 

 overcasting most of the plumage. Very young are dusky, streaked with grayish- white, usually 

 no trace of olivaceous ; below gray, streaked with dusky ; bill weak. From such state as this 

 the (J usually passes through stages resembling the 9 i being found in every possible patchy 

 state of mixed gray, olive and dusky-reddish ; sometimes appears to pass directly into the red 

 state, and the same is doubtless the case with other species. N. Am., alpine and northerly ; 

 S. in most of the U. S. in winter, on the E. side usually to Pa. and Md. ; resident in Maine, 

 in mountains S. to Pa., and in the Rocky and other Mts. of the West; abundant, in gentle and 

 unwary but timid flocks, usually including some individuals of the other species, fluttering and 

 creeping about in the foliage of coniferous trees. Nesting often in winter or early spring when 

 snow stiU covers the ground ; nest in forks or among twigs of a tree, founded on a mass of 

 twigs and bark-strips, the inside felted of finer materials, including small twigs, rootlets. 



