PARROTBILL

also called Crow-tit, any of 14 species of the songbird family Panuridae (order Passeriformes) that have a deep and compressed bill like a parrot's. They occur in brushy grasslands of central and eastern Asia. A typical species is Gould's parrotbill (Paradoxornis flavirostris); 18 centimetres (7 inches) long, it is brown above and white below, with a heavy-looking head and black markings around the eyes and in the ear region. Some of the smaller species, formerly separated as Suthora, are brightly coloured; an example is the 11-cm (4 1/2-in.) vinous-throated parrotbill (P. webbiana; see ), a garden bird in Chinese cities.