CROSSBILL 



COMMON CROSSBILL SHELL-APPLE. 



PLATE XCIL FIGURE III. 

 Loxia curoirostra, . . . LINNJEUB. LATHAM. 



'TPHE Common Crossbill is generally seen in flocks in 

 1 England from autumn to spring, but occasionally re- 

 mains to breed, though usually nesting in the pine forests 

 of the north of Europe. 



Nidification commences very early, even in February 

 or March. According to Temminck second broods follow 

 the earliest. Several often build together. 



The nest is placed in the angle of the junction of the 

 branches of a tree, naturally the fir, but the apple also has 

 been known, and is loosely compacted of small twigs, 

 grass, straws, stalks, and moss or lichens, according with 

 the colour of the tree it is placed on, lined with softer 

 materials, such as hair, moss, wool, or feathers. They have 

 been known only about five or ten feet from the ground, 

 and up to forty. The edges of the nest extend from three 

 to five inches beyond the middle part. 



The eggs, four or rarely five in number, are white or 

 greyish white, spotted, chiefly at the thicker end, with red- 

 brown, reddish, bluish red, purple, or brown ; in some well- 

 defined, in others shaded off, and in others only lines. 



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