FRINGILLIDiE, Z57 



the seed in the cavity, with the eye on that side to wliich 

 the under mandible is curved, and thus can direct the 

 movements of its tongue with the greatest precision. 

 The beak of the Crossbill, then, ftir from being a defect 

 in the organization of this bird, is a perfect instrument 

 always at its owner's command ; faultless alike in design 

 and execution, and exquisitely adapted to its work — not 

 an easy one — of performing, by a single process, the 

 offices of splitting, opening, and securing the contents of 

 a fir-cone ; and he must be a bold man who would venture 

 to suggest an improvement in the mechanism. 



" The nest of the Crossbill is placed on two small 

 branches of a young spruce-pine tree, or at the end of a 

 leafy bough, often at a considerable height from the 

 ground. It is circular, and composed of the small twigs 

 of the s]n-uce-pine. This nest is of large dimensions, the 

 diameter being two feet or more. The entrance is round, 

 but so small that the bird must necessarily squeeze itself 

 into it : the interior is not larger than a man's fist. Such 

 are the nests prepared for the winter. Those intended 

 for the summer are much less in size, more open, and of a 

 much lighter construction. This bird, therefore, builds 

 its nest differently according to the season of the year and 

 the temperature. The female lays from three to four 

 eggs of a somewhat small size, and of a dirty white colour, 

 thickly marked with brown spots. When the young 

 lea^e the nest, they follow the mother, who feeds them, 

 but at this jDeriod the male deserts the family : he is 

 never seen in company with a female that has newly- 

 fledged young. These accompany their mother ; they 

 keep up a terrible noise, screech most unmercifully, and 

 flutter theii' wings. When feeding the young, the female 

 allows the cone to fall to the ground. The young follow 

 her to the cone, out of which she j^lucks the seeds, while 

 they, gaping and screeching, surround her on all sides." — 

 Lloyd's SGandinavian Adventures. 



