36 



There is a very conspicuous difference in the sizes of the 

 various members of the flock, the ,red and reddish ones being 

 the largest and the green yellow and grey flecked ones the smaller. 



Between the first time I saw them and the last occasion on 

 which they were assembled in one flock they received considerable 

 accessions to their numbers so that at the last there must have 

 been close on 200 of them. 



Some time about the beginning of March the original large 

 flock had split up into many small companies and three weeks 

 later there were a fair number of odd pairs to be seen about the 

 woods, but the main lot had left their former haunts. I am in 

 hopes that some may have even bred here as I saw one pair as 

 late as the beginning of May. 



An unexpected opportunity gave me the chance of examining 

 several specimens of this interesting bird more closely and this 

 investigation proved most interesting. 



The Crossbill is very well adapted for his mode of life and is 

 highly specialized in many directions. 



When examining this bird the first thing that strikes one is the 

 outstanding feature of the beak from which he derives his popular 

 and scientific names. It is very unlike an ordinary beak and the 

 first glance suggests that the bird has suffered some accident in 

 youth which had caused the points of his beak to cross instead of 

 being opposed to one another as in the case of nearly every other 

 kind of bird except Crossbills. But far from this unusual 

 formation being a deformity it is as we shall find on looking more 

 closely into the matter an adaptation of the beak to form a 

 wonderful and ingenious tool for extracting the seed from the 

 larch cones. The beaks do not cross in the same direction in all 

 cases but cases in which the under beak curves up on the right 

 side of the upper mandible as we look at the bird facing us are 

 considerably more common than in which it comes up on the lefc 

 side. 



I have picked up many cones which had been rifled and with 

 their aid have rehearsed the act of getting out the seed. 



The holes and scratches on the cone gave the clue to the manner 

 in which the beak was used. 



It is apparent that there is a considerable side leverage on 

 the lower mandible while the seeds are being extracted and if we 

 examine the head of the bird it will be found that the muse, es 



