230 FEINGILLID^. 



it quickly towards the body, I easily secured them ; others 

 I took with a limed twig, fixed in such a manner in the 

 end of a rod that, on touching the bird, the twig quickly 

 became disengaged, adhered to the feathers, rendered the 

 wiugs useless, and caused the poor bird to fall perfectly 

 helpless on the ground. In this manner, in windy wealiier, 

 I have taken several from the same tree, vsdthout causing 

 any suspicion of danger. On warm sunny days, after feed- 

 ing 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 occasionally for the 

 purpose of drinking, their food being of so dry a nature. 

 To captivity they were quickly reconciled, and soon became 

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

 suit them, I fixed branches of the larch against the sides 

 of the room in which I confined them, and threw them a 

 quantity 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 were both amusement and employment, 

 I continued to furnish them with a plentiful supply. I 

 had about four dozen of them ; and frequently, whilst I 

 havo 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." These accounts are most interesting, yet 

 they are all equally defective in failing to describe the mode 

 in which Buffon's " useless deformity," the crossed bill, is 

 employed in the work of spHtting open a cone. This defect 

 is supplied partially by Mr. Townson's description, quoted 

 by Yarrell, and partly by the latter author in his own 

 words. " Their mode of operation is thus : — They first fix 



