Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various finches of the genus Loxia, having curved mandibles with narrow tips that cross when the bill is closed.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A bird in which each mandible of the bill is laterally deflected, so that the tips of the two mandibles cross each other when the beak is closed.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- (Law) A bill brought by a defendant, in an equity or chancery suit, against the plaintiff, respecting the matter in question in that suit.
- noun (Zoöl.) A bird of the genus Loxia, allied to the finches. Their mandibles are strongly curved and cross each other; the crossbeak.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of various
finches of the genusLoxia , whose bill crosses over at the tips; they are specialist feeders on conifer cones.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun finch with a bill whose tips cross when closed
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The "cardinal grosbeak" (_Pitylus cardinalis_) with his bright scarlet wings; the blue jay, noisy and chattering; the rarer "crossbill" (_Loxia_) with its deep crimson colour; and many others, equally bright and beautiful, enlivened the woods, either with their voice or their gaudy plumage.
The Young Voyageurs Boy Hunters in the North Mayne Reid 1850
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"'There is a bird called the crossbill that makes its nest in the pine.
Among the Trees at Elmridge Ella Rodman Church
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"crossbill" with its deep crimson colour; and many others, equally bright and beautiful, enlivened the woods, either with their voice or their gaudy plumage.
Popular Adventure Tales Mayne Reid 1850
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According to Esther del Val, from the National History Museum in Barcelona, Spain, and her team, the red carotenoids that give the common crossbill Loxia curvirostra its red coloration are produced in the liver, not the skin, as previously thought.
Birds: Feather Color Is More Than Skin Deep | Impact Lab 2009
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Saw a crossbill at the sunflower feeder this morning.
The redpolls abideth forever jhetley 2009
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The last white-winged crossbill I saw there was in the process of being eaten by a peregrine a couple years ago and for some reason I haven't seen any since.
dreaming back 2009
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The last white-winged crossbill I saw there was in the process of being eaten by a peregrine a couple years ago and for some reason I haven't seen any since.
Archive 2009-01-01 2009
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Red crossbill (Loxia curvirostra), known primarily from high-latitude coniferous forests, reaches its southernmost extent in the Old World in the mountains of the Central Cordillera (the populations in Central America, notably Nicaragua, are further south).
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A total of 227 bird species have been recorded (including species characteristic of all boreal forest habitats) which include great grey owl Strix nebulosa and snowy owl Nyctea scandiaca, willow ptarmigan Lagopus lagopus, redpoll Acanthis spp., crossbill Lorix spp. and borealchickadee Parus hudsonicus.
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Best guess compiled from three bird books seems to be an immature white-winged crossbill, not commonly a feeder bird.
Raining jhetley 2006
fbharjo commented on the word crossbill
genus = loxia
March 6, 2009