330 INSESSORES. LOXIA. CROSSBILL. 



with the account given of the early period at which they 

 breed in the higher latitudes. They continued with us till 

 towards the autumn, but kept moving northward, as I found 

 them, in September, particularly abundant in all the fir tracts 

 of Scotland, after they had nearly disappeared to the south- 

 ward of the River Tweed. Since that time we seem not to 

 have been revisited by these birds ; at least none have come 

 under my observation.* 



In the southern parts of the kingdom, during their occa- 

 sional visits, they commit great havoc, in the apple and pear 

 orchards, by splitting the fruit in halves, for the sake of the 

 Food, inclosed pips. Their principal support, however, is derived 

 from the seeds of the various firs, which they easily obtain 

 by the lateral expansion of their bill, when inserted between 

 the scales of the cone. 



The manners of these birds are interesting when in a state 

 of confinement (to which they become speedily accustomed), 

 as they strongly resemble the parrot tribe in climbing along 

 the wires of the cage in any direction, by means of their bill 

 and claws. The call-notes of the Crossbill are a kind of twit- 

 ter, which it constantly repeats when feeding ; and a louder 

 one, uttered when on wing, not unlike that of the Greenfinch, 

 but rather shriller. According to WILLOUGHBY, and the 

 older authors, it also possesses a pleasant song, only heard 

 during the winter months, or season of incubation. 



It is a native of the pine forests of Germany, Poland, 

 Sweden, and other northern countries, breeding (as before 

 stated) during the winter, or the earliest period of spring. 

 Nest, &c. The nest is placed in the fork of a branch, and composed of 

 moss, lichens, &c. lined with feathers. The eggs are four or 

 five in number, greyish-white, marked at the larger end with 

 irregular patches of arterial blood-red, with smaller specks 

 dispersed over the other parts. According to TEMMINCK, 

 and other eminent continental ornithologists the " Loxia cur- 



* Since the publication of the first edition of this volume, Crossbills 

 have repeatedly visited us, but never in such numbers as in the year 1821. 



