252 GRAY LADY AND THE BIRDS 
Gray Lady and Miss Wilde both laughed, Sarah’s con- 
cern for the birds was so real. 
“You are right about the bills not closing at the tip, 
but it is not owing to an accident. Nature developed this 
bill so that the bird, who is a lover of evergreen forests, 
might be able to wrench open the cones, the only winter 
food that is oftentimes to be found. 
“The bird belongs to the Finch and Sparrow family, 
though you would never guess it, and is called the ‘Cross- 
bill.’ The plain red one is the Red-winged Crossbill, and 
the lighter-coloured one, with white markings, the White- 
winged Crossbill. Both birds nest north of New England, 
but travel about the country in little flocks, sometimes 
going as far south as Virginia and the Gulf States.” 
“Listen, I think I can hear the crackling as they tear 
the scales from the cones,” said Goldilocks. 
“Yes, and you can see those that they have dropped 
lying on the fresh snow under the trees,’’ added Sarah. 
At that moment an old-fashioned dinner-bell sounded 
from the direction of the farm-house in the orchard. It 
was Mrs. Wilde letting them know that luncheon was 
ready, for Gray Lady, Goldilocks, and Sarah were to 
lunch at ‘Swallow Chimney,” as Goldilocks had chris- 
tened che restored home, by way of a house-warming. 
As they left, the Crossbills, who had been climbing up 
and down, with all the adroitness of the Chickadees or the 
Upside-down birds themselves, suddenly took to wing, 
giving short, metallic-sounding cries, flew rapidly over the 
orchard, to alight— where do you suppose? On the birds’ 
Christmas tree. Here, after some inspection, they began 
to tear at the popcorn, their twisted beaks doing the work 
