March 
tion, and thus the two mandibles, instead of 
matching each other, as in other species, over- 
lap. Both parts being rather long and curved 
at the end, it has an awkward appearance ; but 
the bird is thus provided with a doubly hooked 
apparatus that is very ingenious. Mankind is 
a very superficial critic as to the wisdom and 
utility of nature’s manifold devices. 
These birds seem to subsist largely upon the 
seeds of cones, and are therefore commonly 
seen in the evergreens, although they some- 
times eat berries, and in the spring do some 
injury by attacking the buds of various trees. 
They breed far to the north, and are reported 
to have done so in rare instances in northern 
New England. In this region they are not seen 
with the regularity of most of the winter species, 
although perhaps not to be called rare. As 
they hovered about the trees they indulged in 
a peculiar and innocent twitter, which attracted 
my attention, as being unusual, and uttered 
much louder chirps as they flew away. ‘They 
lingered about the Park for some weeks, and 
there were evidently two pairs of them. 
There is another species of crossbill, called 
the white-winged, which any one is fortunate 
to see, not for its greater beauty, but for the 
75 
