CROSSBILL. 
137 
than it; primaries, secondaries, and tertiaries, deep brown, 
the smaller feathers tinged with dull red; greater and lesser 
under wing coverts, brownish grey. The tail is rather short, 
extending one inch beyond the closed wings; upper tail coverts, 
dark brown; under tail coverts, greyish brown, broadly mar¬ 
gined with dull white. Legs and toes, purple brown; claws, 
brownish black. 
The moult takes place in the autumn, and in the height 
of summer all the tints are paler, and the plumage worn on 
the back only shews darker from this cause. 
Female; length, seven inches and a sixth to seven and a 
quarter; head, crown, neck on the back, nape, and back, dull 
greyish brown, the centre of the feathers only slightly darker; 
on the lower part the back is dull yellowish grey. The 
wings expand to the width of eleven inches and three quarters, 
or thereabouts. 
The young are at first dark green, with blackish longitudinal 
markings, and the bill is not crossed. The young males 
after the first moult are variously dull red, yellowish red, 
greenish yellow, or dull yellow, shaded with reddish. The 
back on its lower part is yellowish; wings, blackish brown; 
tail, blackish brown. 
