106 BRITISH BIRDS* EGGS. 



of the bill, in which the mandibles are bent in contrary di- 

 rections, so that their points cross each other; by this 

 arrangement the birds are enabled to open with facility the 

 pine-cones, while with their tongues they extract the seeds, 

 which form a considerable proportion of their food. But 

 besides the seeds of the fir, hemp-seed and the seeds of 

 apples are eagerly devoured, and they are said to divide an 

 apple in halves with ease, in order to obtain the kernels. 



THE COMMON CROSSBILL. Loxia cnrvirostra. On the 

 European continent the Crossbill is extensively distributed, 

 but chiefly towards the north ; in our own country flocks are 

 occasionally met with, and in some instances the birds have 

 been known to breed with us. In 1839, " Mr. Charlesworth 

 exhibited the nest, eggs, and young of the Crossbill before 

 one of the scientific meetings of the Zoological Society : they 

 were obtained in the neighbourhood of Farnhain in Surrey." 



The Crossbill builds its nest of twigs, upon which is a 

 layer of coarse moss, the lining being composed of the finer 

 and softer portions of the same material. It would require 

 an experienced eye to discriminate between the egg of the 

 Crossbill and some of those of the Greenfinch, if they were 

 mingled together. Those of the former species are from 

 three to five in number. Few birds, we may add, are more 



