154 
LOXIA LEUCOPTERA. 
whether it is in the passage to, or from, the preceding, 
differs only in having a light buff orange tinge, where 
the other has crimson : it agrees with it in all its 
minute markings, the patch on the sides of the head is 
better defined, and the wings and tail are of a still 
deeper black, the edges of the quills and tail-feathers 
being very conspicuous, and almost pure white. All 
these facts conspire to favour our opinion. In this 
state, the bird is rare, as might be expected, and has 
not before been noticed by any naturalist. 
The very young male before assuming the red, at the 
age of one year, exactly resembles the female ; being 
only more grayish, and less tinged with olive, and 
having the rump greenish yellow, instead of yellow. 
The four above described states of plumage are 
selected from a number of specimens shot on the same 
day, and out of the same flock. The changes of these 
birds must still rank among the unexplained phenomena 
of natural history. An illustration might be attempted, 
by supposing a double moult to take place in the birds 
of this genus, but besides that we ought to be cautious 
in admitting an hypothesis like this, not founded on 
observation, it would be entirely untenable in the pre- 
sent instance, from the fact, that all the variations of 
plumage are found at the same period of the year; 
thus proving that age, and, of course, sex, but not 
season, produce these changes ; and we must provi- 
sionally admit, that, contrary to what takes place in all 
other birds, these, (the crossbills,) together with the 
pine bullfinches, lose, instead of acquiring brilliancy of 
colours, as they advance in age. 
This species inhabits, during summer, the remotest 
regions of North America, and it is therefore extraor- 
dinary that it should not have been found in the 
analogous climates of the old continent. In this, its 
range is widely extended, as we can trace it from 
Labrador, westward to Fort de la Fourche, in latitude 
56°, the borders of Peace river, and Montague island 
on the northwest coast, where it was found by Dixon. 
Round Hudson’s Bay it is common and w r ell known. 
