38 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



poised at the very extremity of a long, upwardly- 

 projecting bough, some thirty feet from the ground, 

 where the sun, shining full on him, rendered his 

 already beauteous garb doubly beautiful. The nest 

 as it so happened was on the selfsame branch, 

 about four feet from the parent stem, and there- 

 fore easily accessible. It looked quite ready for 

 eggs. This tree, although standing in somewhat 

 of a clearing, was a good thirty yards from the 

 margin of the wood, and further inside covert than 

 any tree I have yet seen containing a Crossbill's 

 nest. 



As I climbed to it, the male who at first had 

 flown off and female, joined by a third Crossbill, 

 were all very excited, and the owners of the nest 

 especially approached me very closely indeed, 

 attitudinizing on the adjacent branches and 

 chu/c-ing their displeasure vehemently and per- 

 sistently. The hen in particular came very near, 

 and let me admire her dull, greenish-drab garb, 

 which was only relieved from absolute dowdiness 

 by the yellowish -green colour of her upper 

 tail -coverts. 



Revisiting this nest on the 14th when it should 

 have held a complete clutch of eggs I was dis- 

 gusted, but not surprised, to find that squirrels had 

 forestalled me : fragments of shell alone reposed 

 in the cup of the nest. Externally, this example 

 boasted as have all the nests I have examined 

 a quite pronounced and projecting, though rather 



