The Scarlet Grosbeak breeds from Northern Russia across Siberia to Kamchatka, and in winter it is chiefly found in the Oriental region. As a straggler on migration, however, it has visited many places in Europe to the west of Russia, and one or two examples have been obtained in this country. The adult male has the greater part of its plumage rose red, browner on the mantle and flanks. Quills and tail dark brown with paler buffish margins. The female is olive brown with darker striations, the under parts dull white, buffish on the throat and breast, and striped with brown on the flanks. Length 5·5 in.; wing 3·25 in. [Illustration: BULLFINCH _Pyrrhula europæa_ Male (right). Female (left)] THE PINE GROSBEAK Pyrrhula enucleator (Linnæus) This species, as its name indicates, is an inhabitant of pine woods and makes its home in the vast conifer forests of Northern Europe and Siberia. Over the rest of Europe it is very scarce and is only known from occasional stragglers. In this country about forty different occurrences have been recorded, but it is probable that a large number of them had escaped from captivity. The general colour of the male is a rich rose red all over, rather greyer on the flanks and belly. Wing coverts brown, each feather having a pinkish white tip. Quills and tail brown, secondaries margined with white. In the female the rose tint is replaced by a dull golden yellow. The young are greyish green and do not assume their full plumage before their second year. Length 8·25 in.; wing 4·25 in. THE CROSSBILL Loxia curvirostra, Linnæus The Crossbill is by no means a common bird and very uncertain in its appearances. A fair number breed as early as March in the pine woods of Scotland, and during the rest of the year it wanders about in small parties. Feeding chiefly though not exclusively on the seeds of the pine, which the peculiar formation of its beak enables it to reach with ease, it will generally be found in plantations of evergreens. Essentially of a wandering nature, it never stays long in one locality, but leads a regular roving gipsy existence, frequently making its home wherever it happens to find itself in the breeding season, and from this cause it has nested at irregular intervals in many of the southern counties of England and in Ireland. The nest is always built on the fork or lateral branch of a fir-tree, and is composed of twigs, grass, and moss, lined with finer materials of the same kind. The eggs are usually four in number and are pale blue with a few reddish spots and streaks towards the larger end. It is a very silent bird and has no song worthy of a name. The call-note is “gip-gip.” Insects and caterpillars are largely consumed during the summer, but seeds and berries form their chief food in winter.