THE CROSSBILL. 263 



birds, young cock birds, and the same of hens, but to which the fifth 

 class belongs I have never been anatomist enough to discover; for, although 

 they bear most resemblance to the hen, they are brighter in their colours. 



The plumage of the old cock birds is mostly red, mixed with yellow 

 and green, the head and rump brightest, whilst the wings, tail, and 

 back, are deep brown, every feather edged with pale green. The hens 

 have the wings, tail, and back, the same, but duller, and the rest dull 

 yellow green; the legs are strong and black in both. The other varieties, 

 which, I suppose, in the absence of direct evidence and reasoning from 

 analogy, we must take to be young cock birds, partake of the plumage 

 of both old birds in some measure, and have a good deal of red, yellow, 

 and even black scattered over their feathers; but the distinguishing mark, 

 which is the same in all, is the bill. This is very strong and hooked, 

 and of a dark horn-colour; but, instead of the two mandibles lying upon 

 each other, and resting as in all other birds, they cross near the end, the 

 under one turning to the right, and the upper to the left. 



The food of the Crossbill is the seed of the pine; this, as it is resident 

 between the closely adhering leaves of the cone, requires some more than 

 ordinary means to dislodge it; this means, the curiously constructed bill of 

 this bird supplies, for the two pointed ends of the mandibles being brought 

 in opposition to each other, are inserted in this position between the leaves 

 of the fir apple, and then, by means of the most powerful lateral muscles 

 forced past each other, by which means the seed is sufficiently exposed to 

 be seen by the eyes of the bird, and scooped out and extracted by the 

 tongue, which has a formation peculiarly adapted for this purpose. The 

 indefatigable Mr. Yarrell has investigated this, as well as many other in- 

 tricate branches of natural history, and his discoveries, accompanied by 

 explanatory figures, will be found in the fourth volume of the "Zoological 

 Journal." 



The native country of the Crossbill is Germany; and the pine forests 

 of the Hartz Mountains are their chief retreat. Their manners are solitary 

 and quiet, and not unlike those of the Parrot, indeed they have been 

 named the German Parrot, as they use their bills as a third leg, and 

 carry the pine-cones in one claw, standing on the other. They are pow- 

 erful flyers, and we generally see them in flocks. Their only note is a 

 loud chirp, modifications of which they sometimes utter when disturbed, 

 but they are generally very quiet when engaged in feeding. Their figures are 

 rather clumsy, and more muscular than elegant; their heads large, and 

 their tails forked, the under or vent feathers being white, spotted with 

 black. 



I have seen specimens of young birds bred in England, but these were 

 few and far between; and I only once had a nest brought me said to be 



