FRINGILLIDjE. 



263 



entire, and much curved just at the tip ; its breadth is equal to its depth ; the commissure 

 slightly arched. Lower mandible shorter, and also very thick. Nostrils thickly covered by 

 incumbent hairs. Wings rather pointed, yet not long, as, when folded, they are nearly three 

 inches shorter than the tail. The first quill is slightly shorter than the second, which hardly 

 exceeds the third. Tail broad and forked, the depth of the fork being four lines. Tarsi 

 strong, but very short for the size of the body. Middle toe much developed, and greatly 

 longer than the hind toe, which again is shorter than the tarsus : inner toe rather shorter 

 than the outer. Claws narrow, attenuated, not much curved, and acute. — Sw. 



A female, killed in winter at the same place, has the head, ears, rump, and tips of the back 

 and neck feathers honey-yellow ; the rest of the plumage bluish-grey. The wings and tail are 

 like those of the young male, except that the margins, which are crimson in the latter, are 

 honey-yellow in the female, and the white bands are not so broad. The under plumage is 

 ash-grey, glossed with honey-yellow. The old male is said to have the head, neck, and 

 under plumage orange. 



Dimensions. 







Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 





Inch. 



Lin. 



IgtJ 



i, total . 



. 11 



3 



Length of bill to rictus 



. 



H 



Length of middle nail 



. 



3 i 



M 



of tail . 



. 4 



3 



,, of tarsus 



1 







„ of hind toe . 







6 



35 



of wing 



4 



8 



„ of middle toe 



. 



H 



„ of its nail 



. 



*k 



5? 



of bill above 



. 



6* 















[77.] 1. Loxia leucoptera. (Gmelin.) White-winged Crossbill. 



Sub-family, Pyrrhulinae, Swains. Genus, Loxia, Briss. Linn. 



White -winged Crossbill. Dixon, Voy. to tlie N. W. of Amer., p. 356. Lath. Syn., 



ii., p. 108, sp. 2. 

 Crossbill Grosbeak. Penn. Arct. Zool, ii., p. 347, No. 208. 

 Loxia leucoptera. Gmel. Syst. i., p. 844. 

 Loxia falcirostra. Lath. Ind., i., p. 371, sp. 2. 



White-winged Crossbill (Curvirostra leucoptera). WlLS., iv., pi. 31, f. 3. Young male. 

 Loxia leucoptera. Bonap. Syn., p. 117, No. 195. 

 Pemmoo-koo-chas-shees {Crooked-beak). Ck.ee Indians. 



This Crossbill inhabits the dense white-spruce forests of the fur-countries, 

 feeding principally on the seeds of the cones. It ranges through the whole 

 breadth of the continent, and probably up to the sixty-eighth parallel, where the 

 woods terminate, though it was not observed by us higher than the sixty-second. 

 It is mostly seen on the upper branches of the trees, and, when wounded, clings 

 so fast, that it will remain suspended after death. In September it collects in 

 small flocks, which fly from tree to tree making a chattering noise ; and in 

 the depth of winter it retires from the coast to the thick woods of the interior. 



