Plate CCCLVIII. Male, Female, and Young.
Male bright carmine, tinged with vermilion; the feathers on the fore
part of the back and the scapulars greyish-brown in the centre;
bristly feathers at the base of the bill blackish-brown; middle of the
breast, abdomen, and lower tail-coverts, light grey, the latter with a
central dusky streak; wings blackish-brown; primaries edged with
reddish-white, secondaries more broadly with white; secondary coverts
and first row of small coverts tipped with reddish-white; smaller
coverts edged with red. Female with the upper part of the head and
hind neck yellowish-brown, the rump brownish-yellow, the rest of the
upper parts light brownish-grey, wings and tail as in the male, but
the white edgings and tips tinged with grey; cheeks and throat
greyish-white, or yellowish; lower parts ash-grey, anteriorly tinged
with brownish-yellow. The young resemble the female. Young males
yellow and red, like those of Loxia curvirostra.
_Male_, 8-1/2, 14. _Female_, 8-1/4, 13-1/2.
From Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in winter, eastward to Newfoundland.
Breeds from Maine northward. Common. Migratory.
Pine Grosbeak, Loxia Enucleator, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. i. p. 80.
Pyrrhula Enucleator, Bonap. Syn. p. 119.
Pyrrhula (Corythus) Enucleator, Pine Bullfinch, Swains. &
Rich. F. Bor. Amer. v. ii. p. 262.
Pine Grosbeak or Bullfinch, Nutt. Man. v. i. p. 535.
Pine Grosbeak, Pyrrhula Enucleator, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p.
414.
GENUS XIII. LOXIA, Linn. CROSSBILL.
Bill rather long, stout at the base, where it is much higher than
broad, extremely compressed toward the end, the mandibles towards
their extremity deflected to opposite sides, so as to cross each
other; upper mandible with the dorsal line convex and deflected, the
sides slightly convex, the edges sharp, and towards the end united,
the tip excessively compressed and decurved; lower mandible with its
angle semicircular, the dorsal line ascending and convex, the edges
sharp, inflected, and approximated at the tip, which is extremely
acute. Nostrils small, basal, round, covered by the short bristly
feathers. Head large, broadly ovate; neck short; body compact. Feet
rather short and strong; tarsus short, compressed, with seven
scutella; toes of moderate size, the first strong, the lateral nearly
equal. Claws long, arched, very slender, much compressed, tapering to
a fine point, that of the middle toe nearly as long as that of the
first. Plumage soft, full, and blended. Two tufts of bristly feathers
at the base of the upper mandible directed forwards. Wings of moderate
length, pointed, the outer three primaries longest, the first
generally exceeding the rest. Tail short, distinctly emarginate. Roof
of the mouth concave, with three ridges, of which the median is much
smaller; tongue deeper than broad, at the end oblong, obtuse, concave
above, and horny; œsophagus dilated into a very large crop; stomach
roundish, muscular, with the epithelium rugous; intestine of moderate
length; cœca very small.