THE CHILIAN PLANT-CUTTER. 
363 
“A red male now before me, that bad completed his moult during his first autumn, has 
the back dull reddish-brown, darkest in color towards the tip of the upper, maudible ; the head, 
rump, throat, breast, and belly tile-red ; the feathers on the back mixed with some brown, 
producing a chestnut-brown ; wing-coverts, and quills, and tail-feathers nearly uniform dark 
brown. 
“A second male bird, killed at the same time as the red bird just described, has the head, 
rump, and under surface of the body pale yellow, tinged with green, the back olive-brown ; 
wings and tail-feathers like those of the red bird. 
“A third male, killed at the same time, has the top of the head and the back a mixture 
of reddish-brown and dark orange ; the rump reddish -orange ; the upper tail-coverts light 
orange ; the chin, throat, and upper part of the breast red, passing on the lower part of the 
breast, belly, and sides to orange. 
“ Red males that have moulted in confinement have changed during the moult to greenish- 
yellow, and others to light yellow ; thus apparently indicating that the yellow color is that of 
the older livery ; but young males, as before observed, certainly sometimes change at once to 
yellow, without going through either the red or the orange-colored stages. The lightest colors, 
whether green, yellow, red, or orange, pervade the feathers of the rump and the upper tail- 
coverts. 
“ In captivity I have known several instances of red and yellow-colored specimens chang- 
ing back to dull brown, as dark or even darker than their early plumage. This might be the 
effect of particular food, which is known to exercise such an influence on other birds ; but 
whether having once assumed light tints, they ever in a wild and healthy state go back to 
olive -brown or more dull colors, has not, I believe, been ascertained.” 
The young birds are dark green, covered with horizontal dashes of black. They after- 
wards assume their yearling plumage, which is a general dull brown, grayish- white on the 
head, and with the under surface of the body liberally streaked with a darker tint. The 
female is of a green-yellow, with a dash of brown on the top of the head and the upper sur- 
face of the body, changing into a purer yellow on the upper tail-coverts. 
The total length of the male bird is rather more than six inches, and the female frequently 
reaches seven inches in length. 
The Cross-bill ( Loxia curmrostra ) is very closely allied to the European species. It 
breeds in the high northern latitudes, and during the severe winter weather visits the pine 
forests of New England and the Middle States. The color of plumage is much the same as in 
the Purple Finch and Pine Finch. When kept as a pet, in a cage, it has many of the habits 
of the parrots. Two species are recognized— the present, and the White- winged. 
There are thirteen other birds closely allied to the preceding, including the Rosy Finch, 
Mealy Red-poll, Linnets, and other interesting species. 
The Plant-cutters derive their name from their habit of seizing the plants on which 
they feed, and nipping their stems asunder with their sharp bills as neatly as if they had 
been cut with shears. They are all of moderate size, about equalling the bullfinch in dimen- 
sions. In order to enable them to obtain their food, their beaks are very sharp and slightly 
notched. 
The Chilian Plant-cutter is rather a large species, being equal to a thrush in dimen- 
sions. It is a common bird in its native country, and is most destructive to the crops. It is 
very fond of sprouting corn, and, not content with eating the green blades, it seems to find 
such pleasure in the exercise of its bill that it cuts down hundreds of stalks as if in mere 
wantonness, and leaves the green stems lying strewed about the ground. On account of these 
destructive propensities, it is greatly persecuted by the agriculturists, who shoot it and trap 
it, and further aid in its extermination by setting a price on its head, and giving a certain sum 
to every one who will bring in a dead bird. 
