COMMON CROSSBILL. 539 



at times very abundant visitors, feeding so steadily on 

 the seeds of the white pine and hemlock spruce, as to be 

 approached without taking alarm. They have also a loud, 

 sharp, and not unmusical note, chattering as they fly ; 

 and, during the prevalence of deep snows, become so 

 tamed by .hunger as to alight round the mountain cabins, 

 even settling on the roofs when disturbed, and, like 

 pigeons, descending in the next moment to feed as if 

 they had never been molested. They are then easily 

 trapped, and so eager and unsuspicious, as to allow an 

 approach so near that they may be knocked down with 

 sticks. In these very familiar visits they are observed 

 even to pick off the clay from the logs of the house, and 

 to swallow the mere earth to allay the cravings of hunger. 

 In cages they show many of the habits of the Parrot, 

 climbing up the sides and holding the pine cones given 

 them in one claw while they extract the seeds. Like 

 the same bird, in Louisiana, they also do considerable 

 damage at times in the orchard, by tearing apples to 

 pieces for the sake of getting at the seeds only. * They 

 feed likewise on the seeds of the alder, as well as the 

 kernels of other fruits, and the buds of trees. None 

 of these birds have yet been observed to breed within 

 the United States, as they retire for this purpose to 

 their favorite pine forests in high and more cool lati- 

 tudes, where in security and solitude they pursue the 

 duties of procreation. Like the preceding, they often 

 breed in winter in more temperate countries, as in Jan- 

 uary and February, and the young fly in March. The 

 nest is said to be fixed in the forks of fir-trees ; and the 

 eggs, 4 or 5, are of a greenish-grey, with a circle of red- 

 dish-brown spots, points, and lines, disposed chiefly at 

 the larger end ; the lines also often extend over the 

 whole surface of the egg. 



