32 FRINGILLID.E. 



tlic cavity witli the eye on that side to which the under nian- 

 lible is curved, 



" The degree of the lateral power," says Mr. Townson, 

 " is surprising, and they are fond of exercising it for mere 

 amusement ; they are, therefore, not a little mischievous. 

 My pets would often come to my table whilst I was writ- 

 ing, and carry off my pencils, little chip boxes in which I 

 occasionally kept insects, and other similar objects, and tear 

 them to pieces in a minute. Their mode of operation is by 

 first pecking a little hole, in this they insert their bill, and 

 then split or tear the object by the lateral force. When I 

 treated them, as I often did, with almonds in their shells, 

 they got at the kernel in the same manner ; first pecking a 

 hole in the shell, and then enlarging it by wrenching off 

 pieces by the lateral power." 



Notwithstanding BufFon"'s assertion to the contrary, they 

 can pick up and eat the smallest seeds ; and they shell or 

 husk hemp, and similar seeds, like other birds, so perfect and 

 useful is this singular instrument. The remarks of BufFon 

 on the beak of this bird, which he characterises as " an error 

 and defect of Nature, and a useless deformity," exhibit, to 

 say the least of them, an erroneous and hasty conclusion, un- 

 worthy the spirit of the science he cultivated. During a 

 series of observations on the habits and structure of British 

 Birds, I have never met with a more interesting, or more 

 beautiful example, of the adaptation of means to an end, than 

 is to be found in the beak, the tongue, and their muscles, in 

 the Crossbill. 



Explanation of the vignette : — 



Fig. 1. Head of the Crossbill, side view ; a, temporal 

 muscle ; h, great pyramidal muscle. 

 2. Head viewed from below : c, c, pterygoid mus- 

 cles ; <Z, d, graciles muscles. 

 8. Head, side view : a, pterygoid process ; 6, os 

 omoideum ; c, os quadratum ; d, d, os jugale. 



