CROSSWORD

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ACROSS

1 Cliff-dwelling crow species with a striking red bill (6)

4 The ___ bird-of-paradise is also known as Lophorina (6)

8 A ___ plant is a low-growing, mat-forming species, such as moss campion (7)

9 Bioluminescent beetle, also called a lightning bug (7)

11 The process by which animals hunt and feed on other animals (9)

12 See 18 Across and 25 Across, for example (5)

13 The final or adult phase of a creature’s metamorphosis (5)

14 The timber acquired from a pine or spruce tree (8)

16 Migratory songbird of grassy heathland, Saxicola rubetra (8)

18 Fruiting body of a tree in the genus Malus (5) 20 The ___ hen, a subspecies of the greater prairie chicken, has been extinct since 1932 (5) 21 Along with the goldcrest, this bird is the smallest in the UK (9) 24 The ___ horseshoe bat is a relatively diminutive member of the family Rhinolophidae (7) 25 Citrus hybrids, widely cultivated (7) 26 Of a bird: made a home and laid some eggs (6) 27 Trees that might be Atlas, Cyprus or Lebanon (6)

DOWN

1 Vibrating call of the nightjar (5) 2 The group of reptiles to which snakes belong (7) 3 European flying insect, Hepialus humuli, often seen at dusk with a hovering display flight (5, 4) 5 Genus that includes guillemots (4) 6 Feature of the brow ridge in some mammals; also used to describe a head stripe on certain birds (7)

7 The ___ oriole is a small, migratory orange- or yellow-hued, New World icterid (9)

10 Yellow-flowered shrub, mostly native to Asia and also called the Easter Tree (9) 13 Genus of parasitic wasps (9) 15 Name given to various tree species because of their vivid red or orange colouring (5, 4)

17 Stinging plants, common in the UK, and used in cooking (7)

19 Omnivorous freshwater fish of South America, particularly noted for its sharp teeth (7)

22 Of plants: embryonic structures with a protective layer (5)

23 Martin ___, WWT wetland reserve located in Lancashire (4)