106 THE SPECIES. 



FRINGILLINM (Passeridse). 



6 in. Two-barred Crossbill. Pale scarlet spotted 

 with brown ; wings black with two white bars. 



6^ in. Crossbill. Dull crimson, brighter on chest and 

 rump ; wings and tail brown ; under tail coverts 

 white with brown centres. 



107. ieucopiera, 6\ in. White-winged Crossbill. Dull crimson, with 

 blackish scapulars and wings mostly white ; bill 

 slender. 



106. pityopsittacus, 7 in. Parrot Crossbill. Similar to curvirosira but 

 with bill longer, more arched, and very strong. 



The Two-harred Crossbill— Dimensions, Do ; Eggs, Cr— has a stouter beak than the 

 While-winged Crossbill, which it somewhat resembles. Only a few stragglers have been 

 noticed in this country, and it has never bred here. 



The Crossbill— Dimensions, Eg; Eggs, Em— is a winter visitor, occasionally remaining 

 here to breed among the pine forests. It is generally seen on the wing when fluttering 

 round the pine cones, on which it feeds. Its note is a " tsip, tsip," or " tsoc, tsoc." The 

 female is dull yellow, where the male is red. The nest is always in a fir tree, and generally 

 at the top. It IS built of fir twigs, dry grass, lichens, and wool, and contains four or five eggs. 



The White-winged Crossbill — Dimensions, En ; Eggs, Cs — is an American classed as 

 British on the strength of a few escapes. 



The Parrot Crossbill — Dimensions, Fj ; Eggs, El— is occasionally met with. It is larger 

 than the others, and has a stouter bill. 



Machetes. Plate xxviii. SCOLOPACIDM, 



323. pugnax, II in. Ruff. White axillaries. 



The RufF— Dimensions, Jl ; Eggs, Lk — is an uncommon and perhaps doubtful rfisidentj 

 reinforced twice a year by flocks on migration to and from the north. It varies very much 

 in the colour of its plumage, ringing almost every change on chestnut, black, and white. 

 In spring the feathers of the face are moulted, to be replaced by hard pimples, and a ruff is 

 developed which lasts through June. The pimples come in useful as a protection during the 

 cock-fights which begin daily at sunrise during May and June, whence the bird's names of 

 Machetes, a fighter ; and/w^wdj:, fighting — for he fights much, but only with his beak, and 

 does little damage. His cry is '* kick-kick." The female, known as the Reeve, which is 

 merely another form of Ruff, is a smaller bird, and has no ruff or occipital tufts, and is 

 black and brown above. The nest is always in a swamp ) it consists of a few leaves of grass 

 or sedge, and contains four eggs. 



Macrorhampus. Plate xxvii. SCOLOPA CIDM. 



312. griseuSt loj in. Red-ekkasted Snipe. Remiges 20 ; first primary 

 white ; axillaries white ; tail coverts barred with 

 black and white. 



The Red-breasted Snipe— Dimensions, Je ; Eggs, Lb— is an American, occasionally 

 stra^ling across the Atlantic. 



Mareca. Hate xxi. ANATIDM, 



242. penelope, 18 in. Wigeon. Crown white ; cheeks and neck chest- 



nut ; 14 feathers in tail. 



243, americanat 19 in. American Wigeon.. Crown buff; a green stripe 



passing backward from eye. 



The Wigeon— Dimensions, Oj ; Eggs, Nc — breeds in the north of Scotland, but arrives 

 here in thousands in September, and leaves us in March. The flight is a rapid and vigorous 

 one. The call is the *' wee-ju,' or " wigeon," from which it gets its name. The female haa 

 a bluish bill, tipped with black, like the male, and also the green wing bar, which is rather 

 greyer ; but she is greyer above and buffer below. The nest is in a clump, always near 

 water, and is made of grass and sedge, lined with down, which is sooty brown with white 

 tips. It contains from 7 to 12 eggs. 



An American Wigeon-^Dimensions, Os ; Eggs, Ol— was once found ia Leadenhall 

 Market ; but it is doubtful if it was ever seen elsewhere in these islands, 



