210 CITIZEN BIRD 



do not ha^e to go far from home for their market- 

 ing." 



'' But their beaks are so crooked that I don't see how 

 they can pick out the cone seeds," said Nat. 



'' These curiously twisted bills, like pincers, are made 

 expressly for the purpose of wrenching the scales from 

 the cones, so that the seeds are laid bare." 



''It's very funny," said Nat ; ''whenever we think a 

 bird is queer or awkward and would be better in some 

 other way, it is sure to be made the very best way, 

 only we don't know it." 



" By and by, when the eggs are laid and the young 

 are hatched," continued the Doctor, " Crossbills make 

 the most devoted parents ; they would let themselves 

 be lifted from the nest rather than leave their family. 



" And when it is midsummer the old and young 

 Crossbills form into flocks. Then the parents begin 

 to think that the young people need a change of air 

 for their health, and a few months of travel to finish 

 their education. So they wander southward through 

 the States without any method or plan, sometimes go- 

 ing as far as New Orleans before winter really begins ; 

 and it is on these journeys that we see them. 



" Some frosty morning in October, if you hear a 

 sound coming from the sky, like the tinkling of little 

 bells — ' Tlink-link-link-link ' — you may be sure there 

 is a flock of Crossbills near, and soon you Avill see 

 them climbing about an evergreen, or quietly picking 

 seeds on a birch or beech. The moment before they 

 move to another tree they begin to call ; this is the 

 only note you will be likely to hear from them, and 

 one which they often keep up during flight. 



