24 Transactions of the [Sess. 



VI.— THE HAUNTS AND HABITS OF THE CROSSBILL 

 (LOXIA CURVIEOSTRA). 



By Me ARCHIBALD CRAIG, JuN. 



{Read Jan. 26, 1882.) 



This very curious bird is of mucli commoner occurrence in 

 various parts of Scotland than is generally supposed, which may 

 be accounted for in part by its chiefly inhabiting the dense Fir- 

 forests of the north, — its general quiet habits also rendering it at 

 times a matter of some difficulty to discover its whereabouts. The 

 district where the species most abounds is Strathspey, particularly 

 in the plantations around Castle Grant, where, by the way, they 

 used to be denominated the " American Bird " by the youth of the 

 neighbourhood. But besides that locality, numbers have occurred 

 at different periods of the year in the woods of Dulsie, near Elgin, 

 in the Fir forests of Eoss-shire, Sutherlandshire, Dumfriesshire, 

 Peeblesshire, and also in Glen Urquhart, Inverness-shire. Judging 

 from accounts contained in works on ornithology, its numbers must 

 have vastly increased in Scotland of late years ; but there can be 

 little difficulty in accounting for that circumstance, when we take 

 into consideration the great extent of country now planted with 

 Firs, which in the early part of the present century was barren 

 muirland or rough hillside ; so consequently the birds, finding a 

 sufficient supply of food, remain all the year round, in place of 

 migrating to foreign lands. Numerous instances are on record of 

 their sudden appearance in various parts of England, where they 

 were quite unknown previously — as far back even as the year 

 1254, also during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and at various 

 other periods, — for information as to which, reference may be made 

 to Yarrell's or Morris's ' British Birds.' In the former work will be 

 found a quaint description in old English of a flock which visited 

 Kent in 1593, but which it is unnecessary to quote here. A still 

 older mention of the Crossbill is contained in a fanciful superstition 

 from the German, translated and versified by the poet Longfellow, 

 and appearing in his poems under the title of "Legend of the 

 Crossbill." The conception is a strange one, savouring slightly of 

 absurdity ; yet, however fantastic and unreal the idea may appear 

 to the reader, the subject is hardly one to be commented upon in 

 a paper like this, and certainly of too solemn a nature to be turned 

 into ridicule. Other instances might be quoted to show that its 

 presence in many parts of Great Britain has been noticed from time 



