Further Notes ou the Crossbill.



115



breed ill confinement; so I separated the voting bird (a lien) from the two

old birds and put them in a secluded room, though not entirely isolating

the last year’s young bird from the old birds, as she might have pined at

such a critical period as that of the breeding season. I allowed the male

and female to remain in the same cage, though not a very large one, as it

might have unsettled them had I shifted them into a larger cage, and

placed an elder branch with a crotch on it in the cage, putting a kind of

barricade of smaller twigs to make a lodgment for the nest should they

have such a thing.


I then procured the necessaries for the making of the nest, and, as

they showed signs of nidification, I continued to do so, and fancy ! I have

now got the female sitting on four eggs, since Tuesday, April 26th, in the

cage. I think you will admit that I have achieved an unprecedented feat

in the annals of natural history this time.


The old birds are so tame that I can stand beside the cage while the

female is sitting 011 the nest, and the male will eat out of my hand and

then feed the female as she sits on the nest.


The securing the material for the nest was tolerably easy, though

rather laborious in one way, as a very great deal of stuff was required;

for instance, you might get a whole handful of different stuff, and pro¬

bably the Crossbill would not take any as it did not suit her. She would

look at each shred and reject it, but I overcame these difficulties, as I

gave her any amount of material to choose from ; of course it is exactly

the reverse in their wild state, the)' get what they require to a nicety.

Before despatching this letter to you I thought it more desirable to wait

till I could give you the result of the eggs—whether they were barren or

not. Well, I am very glad to be able to tell you that after the female sat

twelve days two young birds were hatched. She (the old bird) began to

sit on April 26th, and the young birds were hatched on Sunday, May 8th.

A third young bird was hatched the following day May 9th. The young

birds are beginning to get their feathers and were a week old yesterday

and are thriving well.


It may be interesting for you to know the size of the cage which

they (the young birds) were bred in. The dimensions are as follows, viz. :

Length, 2 feet; breadth, 13 inches; height, 15! inches. The material

which I gave the Crossbills to make their nest with was inner decayed

bark of the lime tree, thin fibre roots, alder and larch twigs, wool, hair,

and fine grass.


I shall be very glad to hear from you on the subject, and whether

the Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) has been known to breed in confinement

before. Hugh F. Rose.


Professor Newton, in Yarrell’s British Birds, records the

nesting of a pair in the Andley End aviaries in the year 1836,



