THE CROSSBILLS. 567 



and beautiful. Its diet is insectivorous, grasshoppers and 

 crickets being its principal bill of fare here, while in some 

 localities it regales itself on wild strawberries, and in others 

 on the cantharides, the last making its flesh a violent 

 emetic. 



Breeding in the Middle States generally, and reaching 

 Maine or Nova Scotia in the east, the Saskatchawan, or even 

 Alaska, in the northwest, and the Rocky Mountains west- 

 ward, it gathers in families and flocks late in summer, mov- 

 ing leisurely in its southward migration, which may extend 

 even to Brazil. It has been found as a straggler in Europe 

 and Australia. As it nears the south and the southwest in 

 early autumn, it is often in immense flocks. It is said to be 

 especially abundant in Dakota in the breeding season. Its 

 flesh is generally excellent. 



THE CROSSBILLS. 



Most curious of all the song-birds of the north are the 

 Crossbills. Their most marked peculiarity in structure is 

 indicated by their common name. The bill, which is quite 

 long and deep at the base, is much compressed, especially 

 towards the tips of the mandibles; and these are so abruptly 

 bent — the upper one downward and the lower one upward 

 — that their sharp points cross each other at an angle of at 

 least forty-five degrees. The head is large, the stout jaws, 

 so apparent through the feathers, giving it quite a chuckle- 

 headed appearance; the wings are tolerably long and 

 pointed; the short tail is deeply emarginate; the feet are 

 rather large, and the legs are short and robust. Thus this 

 little bird, some six and a half to seven inches long — the 

 mature male a mottled red and the female a mottled green 

 — bears a crude analogy to a Hawk or an Owl, or even to a 

 Parrot. 



