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 



