The Crossbill is a very early breeder, and generally begins to lay its eggs 

 in the end of February or the beginning of March, often when the ground is 

 still covered with snow. The nest is usually built in a fir-tree of some sort, 

 and is very difficult to find. The favourite position is at the end of some 

 horizontal branch near the top of a high tree, or in the fork formed by the 

 topmost twigs. It is almost impossible to discover it, unless the male be 

 observed taking food to the sitting bird. 



The nest is built on the same principle as the Bullfinch's, having an out- 

 side nest of sticks loosely put together in a sort of platform, and an inner one 

 of soft materials, usually rather deeper than the former. The outside platform 

 of sticks is made of fairly thick twigs of the Scotch fir, generally dead, and loosely 

 put together ; inside* this, and interwoven with it, is placed the nest proper, 

 which is composed chiefly of lichens and a little dry grass, and lined with 

 moss, wool, and the green spikes of the Scotch fir, more rarely a few feathers. 

 Some nests have large quantities of deer's hair in them. The cup in which 

 the eggs are placed is usually about 2f inches across, and about i^ inch deep; 

 the nest is often placed under the shelter of some small bunch of foliage. 



The number of eggs laid varies from three to five, though four is perhaps the 

 most common number found. They vary in length from '98 to '80 inch, and 

 from 72 to '60 inch in breadth. The ground-colour varies from a dirty white 

 to pale greenish blue, and the surface markings are dark purple brown or 

 reddish brown, not very large as a rule, some of them being spots, others 

 streaks, and a few hair-lines or scrawlings occasionally may be found. The 

 underlying spots are pale reddish brown, and are usually of the same character 

 as the surface markings. The markings are generally most numerous on the 

 large end of the egg. 



The female sits very close, often not leaving the nest until the branch in 

 which it is placed is roughly shaken. The male is very attentive to her, and 

 feeds her on the nest ; and it is only by watching him to the tree and hearing 

 the low chirruping of the female that the nest is in most cases to be 

 discovered. 



When the young are hatched they are fed by their parents on the larvae 

 of insects and small grubs until they can fly, when the family party generally 

 joins the others in the neighbourhood, forming a flock, which at once commences 

 its gypsy life, wandering from place to place for fresh feeding-grounds. Cones 

 stripped by the Crossbill may be found lying in hundreds under the trees 

 which they frequent. 



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