146 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



feathers prolonged from the shoulder-tufts or from the 

 tail. In the species in Fig. 120 (p. 145) there is a most bril- 

 liant display of colors. The body, breast, and lower parts 

 are of a deep rich brown ; the front set close with black 

 feathers shot with green ; the throat is of a rich golden 

 green ; the head yellow ; the sides of the tail have a long, 

 full, splendid plume of downy feathers of a soft yellow 

 color. The poetical story that this bird lives on dew, is, 

 of course, false, and its food consists of grasshoppers and 

 other insects, together with seeds and figs. 



243. The Cross-bill family are distinguished by the 

 crossing of the points of the beak, as seen in Fig. 121, 



and a horny scoop at the 

 tip of the tongue. The bird 

 uses these tools in obtain- 

 ing the seeds of the fir and 

 pine cones, on which it lives. 

 The process is this : the 

 points of the closed beak 

 are insinuated beneath the 

 scales of the cone, and then, 

 by a sidewise motion of the 

 mandibles, separating the 

 points farther from each 

 other, the scale is raised, so 

 Fig. 121. Cross-bin. as to allow the horny scoop 



of the tongue to dislodge the seed and carry it into the 

 mouth. It can also, with its powerful beak, extract ker- 

 nels from hard shells. It will cut an apple in two to get 

 at the pips. When confined in a cage, it very dexterous- 

 ly draws the ends of the wires from the wood-work, and 

 soon sets itself free. There are three species of Cross- 

 bills in this country. 



244. The Horn-bill family are remarkable for the very 

 large size of the beak, and for an extraordinary protuber- 

 ance with which it is surmounted, as seen iij the Rhinoc- 

 eros Horn -bill, Fig. 122 (p. 147). This enormous bill, 



