Crossbill

a bird of the finch or sparrow family. The red or American crossbill is an inhabitant of evergreen forests from the Carolinas northward. The male is of a dull red color, with brown wings and tail. The female is of a dull olive green. The name comes from an apparent deformity of the bill. One tip turns to the right, the other to the left--a peculiar arrangement, which, combined with an ability to move the tips laterally, enables the bird to spread the scales of pine or other cones in search of the seed within. It is a bird of the north. Its home is in the great coniferous forests. It nests about twenty feet from the ground. There is also a white-winged crossbill, and there are a number of Old World species. See Sparrow; Grosbeak; Cardinal