EUROPEAN CROSSBILL. 427 



ground. In this manner, in windy weather, I have taken 

 several from the same tree, without causing any suspicion of 

 danger. On warm sunny days, after feeding a considerable 

 time, they would suddenly take wing, and, after flying round 

 for a short time in full chorus, alight on some lofty tree in the 

 neighbourhood of the plantations, warbling to each other in 

 low pleasing strains ; they would also fly from the trees occa- 

 sionally for the purpose of drinking, their food being of so dry 

 a nature. 



" In captivity they were quickly reconciled, and soon be- 

 came very familiar. As, at first, I was not aware what food 

 w^ould suit them, I fixed branches of the larch against the sides 

 of the room in which I had confined them, and threw^ a quan- 

 tity of the cones on the floor. I found that they not only 

 closely searched the cones on the branches, but, in a few days, 

 not one was left in the room that had not been pried into. I 

 gave them canary and hemp seed ; but, thinking the cones 

 w^ere both amusement and employment, I continued to furnish 

 them with a plentiful supply. I had about four dozen of them ; 

 and frequently, whilst I have been in the room, they would 

 fly down, seize a cone with their beak, carry it to a perch, 

 quickly transfer it to their claws, and in a very short time 

 empty it of its seeds, as I have very many times witnessed, to 

 my surprise and amusement. As the spring advanced, the 

 male birds in the plantations were frequently singing on the 

 tops of the firs, in low but very agreeable notes ; yet they con- 

 tinued in flocks, and were seen in some parts of the county 

 until the beginning of June. I had hopes of their breeding 

 in confinement, and I accordingly ke-pt them in different rooms, 

 fixing the tops of young fir trees on the floor, and against the 

 walls, and supplying them with as great a variety of food as 

 possible ; but all to no purpose, as neither those I had confined 

 in this manner, nor those in cages, ever shewed any inclination 

 to breed. They are amusing birds in confinement, as they 

 have some of the habits of the parrot tribe ; climbing about 

 the cage with both beak and claws. '"* 



Young. — The young when fledged are of a dull greenish- 



