46 FIELD-STUDIES OF RARER BIRDS 



Crossbill sitting (the male seemingly never " sits ") 

 on four slightly incubated eggs. Her nest was 

 only about fifteen feet from the ground, in a tree 

 forming one of a clump of firs by the road, but, for 

 all its low elevation, it was difficult of access by reason 

 of its lying almost at the extreme end of a bough, 

 which was not only projecting, but also perilously 

 dependent. It was poorly and loosely composed, 

 first of a few fancy conifer twigs, then of moss and 

 fine and coarse grass intermixed, lined with fine 

 shredded dry grass, while a small feather or so 

 ornamented the rim. The eggs, although not 

 very dissimilar to those of the Greenfinch (as 

 indeed is the case with all Crossbill's eggs) were, 

 as is fairly constant, decidedly larger and bulkier 

 than that bird's as you would but expect ; the 

 grain of the shell, too, is much coarser. The 

 markings of this ' ' set " (which were chiefly in the 

 form of spots) were in the main evenly, albeit 

 sparingly (as is customary), distributed over the 

 entire surface, and some of the spots w r ere very 

 dark . . . All the same, most careful identifi- 

 cation is required generally a remarkably easy 

 task, seeing that the Crossbill is practically always 

 a very close sitter, besides keeping extremely near 

 the intruder after being compelled to leave its nest 

 for Crossbill's eggs found after about April 18th, 

 because not only does the Greenfinch sometimes 

 begin laying just then, and not only are the nests 

 and eggs (as has been seen) of the two species some- 



