8
PARROT CROSSBILL.
Loxia />i/v'ipsi//acus, BEWICK. FLEMING.
Loxia cunirostra, major, fas a variety,J GMELIN. LATHAM.
Loxia. Loxos—Curved, oblique. Piijof>si/tatn.\. Pitiis—A pine tree.
Ptiitacus—A Parrot.
T H I S species, as by many eminent naturalists it is considered, is an
inhabitant of t h e h i g h northern latitudes of Europe. It is found in
Germany also, a n d is occasionally met with in Holland, Switzerland,
a n d France, as well as hi Sweden and N o r w a y.
I n tht'- country they are but rare visitants, and only appear n ow
a n d then, ' l o u g o post intcrvallo.' A pair were received by Pennant
from S h r o p s h i r e ; one was shot in S u r r e y ; and another was obtained
in E p p i u g Forest, Essex, in the a u t u m n of 1835. One was shot at
Saxham, in Suffolk, in November, 1850; a n d one some years previously
at Riddleswortib Hall, Norfolk, as recorded by Alfred Newton,
E s q . , of Elveden Hall, Thetford, in the ' Z o o l o g i s t , ' page 31-45.
Several were sold in t h e London market in March, 1838; a n d o ne
was shot at H a r r o w - o n - t h e - H i l l , Middlesex, on t h e 21st. of J a n u a r y,
1850. Mr. Chaffey, of Doddington, Kent, informs me that he saw a
small flock of these birds in a larch plantation there in September,
1851. In Devonshire Mr. N e w t o n shot nine in 1838.
I n Scotland two h a v e occurred; one of them in Itosshire, on t he
p r o p e r t y of Sir Francis Mackenzie, of Garloch; the other in D u m -
f r i e s h i r e ; also since in Caithness, and o n e f o u n d dead in a plantation
near Leith, Edinburgh.
I n Ireland, one was shot by Rainey Maxwell, Esq., at Greuville,
near Belfast, in May, 1802.
These birds are denizens of t h e l a r g e pine forests, and a r c said to
prefer the tops of the t r e e s , seldom descending except to d r i n k , a nd
roosting together at night in large companies. They are capable of
being kept in confinement.
T h e i r food consists of t h e seeds of fir cones a n d others.
T h e y breed in April or May, or even earlier, the eggs having been