FBINGILLIB^ : FINCHES, BUNTINGS, SPARROWS, ETC. 



349 



larger than the next, the bill thinner and more attenuate. 9 ^.nd young : Though the diflfer- 

 ences are parallel with those of L. americcma, some peculiarity in tone 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 9 9 of Pyrcmga cestwa 

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

 Upper parts fascous, closely lined with an oehrey-olive or dingy ochre, the rump bright yellow- 

 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 ; the under parts and rump are sometimes bright tawny yellow, or brownish-orange. 

 Some ^ $ are brilliant carmine, some 9 9 P^le 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. 

 Breeds 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. curviros'tra america'na. (Lat. cwrvirostris, curve-billed. Fig. 213.) Ameeican Red 

 Cross-bill. Adult $: Red; 

 wings and tail blackish, with- 

 out white markings. Middle 

 of back darker, more brown- 

 ish-red than elsewhere, the 

 feathers with dusky centres. 

 In the highest feather, even, 

 the red is scarcely continuous 

 except on head and rump, 

 where brightest ; lower belly 

 and crissum usually gray (ir 

 pale. Though the shade of 

 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- 

 red, and often mixed not only with gray, but with olivaceous or saflfron-yeUovrish tints. 

 Orange, chrome or gamboge <? ^ are sometimes seen. Length about 6.00; wing 3.50; tail 

 2.50 ; biU (chord of culmen) 0.67 or less, very variable ; under mandible usually weaker than 

 upper. 9 and young : Dull greenish-olive, much mixed with gray or dusky, brighter and 

 more yellovidsh 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 $ usually passes through stages resembling the 9 > 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 still 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 flner materials, including smaU twigs, rootlets, 



Fig. 213. — Common Crossbill, (J $ , re(hiced. (Sheppard del. Nichols so.) 



