S08 NATURALIST'S 



Where found Principal food Nests. 



Notwithstanding the apparent awkwardness of 

 this beak, they are able, by bringing the mandi- 

 bles point to point, even to pick up and eat the 

 smallest seeds. This bird, when kept in a cage, 

 has all the actions of a parrot, climbing, by means 

 of its crooked bill, from the upper to the lower 

 bars. It is an inhabitant of the colder climates, 

 and has been found as far as Greenland. It 

 breeds in Russia, Sweden, Poland, and Germany, 

 in the mountains of Switzerland, and among the 

 Alps and Pyrenees, from whence they migrate in 

 vast flocks into other countries. It is sometimes 

 met with in great numbers ill this country, but 

 its visits are not regular. 



The principal food of these birds is said to be 



the seeds of the pine-tree; the German bird- 



eatchers generally feed them with poppy and 



Other small seeds ; and they shell hemp-seeds in 



eating them as well as any other birds whatever. 



The female begins to build as early as January 



her hemispherical nest in the bare branches of 



the pine-tree, fixing it with the resinous matter 



which exudes from that tree, and besmearing it 



on the outside with the same substance, so that 



melted snow or rain cannot penetrate it. In this 



she lays a fe whitish eggs, spotted towards the 



thicker end with red. They are somewhat rare 



in this country. 



From its mode of scrambling, and the beauty 

 of its colours, this bird has been .called by some 

 the German Parrot. 

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