COMMON (ROSSBILL. ]9 



Avithout ofFeriiig them any molestation. They clung to the 

 twigs in all sorts of positions, and went through the operation 

 of feeding in a quiet and business-like manner, each attend- 

 ing to his own affairs without interfering with his neighbours. 

 It was indeed a pleasant sight to see how the little creatures 

 fluttered among the twigs, all in continued action, like so 

 many bees on a cluster of flowers in sunshine after rain. 

 Their brilliant colours, so much more gaudy than those of our 

 common birds, seemed to convert the rude scenery around 

 into that of some far-distant land, where the Redbird sports 

 among the flowers of the magnolia. In that year, flocks of 

 these birds were observed in various parts of Scotland." 



The visits of Crossbills to fir-trees, and their mode of feed- 

 ing on the seeds lodged between the scales and the body of 

 the cone, are thus described by R. F. Wright, Esq. of 

 Hinton Blewit, Old Down, Somersetshire, who very kindly 

 sent me the following communication : — 



" Having for some time remarked the cones, under a large 

 fir-tree in the garden, lying in considerable numbers, and 

 mostly pecked, I could not account for the circumstance, 

 until, passing near the tree one afternoon in the beginning of 

 August 1838, my attention was attracted by a shrill chirping, 

 which I soon discovered proceeded from a small flock of 

 birds, about six in number, who were disporting on the 

 higher branches of the tree. I soon succeeded in having three 

 of them killed ; and they proved to be the Loxia curvirostra 

 in fine plumage. They were extremely tame, and seemed 

 unconscious of harm ; for when the first was killed, the rest 

 only flew into the thicker parts of the tree, and it was not 

 until two others were shot, that the remainder took their de- 

 parture, and I saw no more of them for some days : however, 

 in a short time, three returned, and I did not suffer them to 

 be molested in any way, intending to observe their motions; 

 but after the recent attack upon them, they were evidently 



c 2 



