20 
British Birds. 
curious way in which the two mandibles of the beak cross each other at the 
tips is found, I believe, in but one other genus of birds, the little Hawaian form 
Loxops. A remarkable fact is that this peculiar conformation is not found in the 
young birds, which have a bill more like that of ordinary Finches, but as the 
birds advance to maturity, the crossing of the mandibles becomes a feature. The 
colour of the male is red, of a pale vermilion or scarlet tint, but after moulting in 
confinement, the red tints give place to yellow, and it is said that even in a wild state 
Crossbills become yellower with age. I have, however, seen no evidence of this 
peculiarity in the specimens which have come under my notice in the British Museum, 
and I believe that the red plumage is a sign of a very old bird. The female is 
always duller in colour and is olive-yellow where her mate is tinged with red. 
Young birds have streaks, both above and below, these streaks being more distinct on 
the under-surface of the body, which is whitish. 
The Crossbill nests rarely in England, where it occurs principally 
in winter, but it is found breeding in the pine districts, both of Scot- 
land and Ireland. It is likewise distributed over the pine regions of 
both hemispheres, and is represented as far south as Mexico in the New World, 
and the Himalayas and the island of Luzon in the Old. The so-called 1 Parrot ’ 
Crossbill [Loxia pytiopsittacus ) is a strong-billed form inhabiting Scandinavia and 
occasionally occurring in Great Britain, and it has been said that the larger-billed 
Crossbills feed on the seeds of the Scotch Fir, whereas the smaller-billed ordinary 
Crossbills feed on berries or pine-seeds, which do not require such strength of bill to 
attack. The nest is built early in the year, and has a net-work of twigs outside it, 
as in the nest of the Bullfinch. It is cup-shaped and made of moss and grass, 
lined with a little wool. The eggs are four or five in number, stone-coloured to 
pale blue, with dark spots or lines of purplish brown. 
The Two-Barred Crossbill ( Loxia bifasciata). This species is easily 
recognised by the double bar of white on the wing, formed by the tips to the 
median and greater wing-coverts. 
It is an inhabitant of Northern 
Russia and Siberia, and occasional 
stragglers visit Central and 
Western Europe, so that the 
species turns up in Great Britain 
at intervals, and sometimes in 
considerable numbers. Its habits 
are the same as those of the 
Common Crossbill, and the nest 
is similarly made, but is rather 
smaller, and the eggs are said 
to be darker. 
The Two-Barred Crossbill. 
