108 BRITISH BIRDS*' EGGS. 



ing with its agreeable notes the deep and silent forests of 

 those frozen tracts. In winter it descends into Canada and 

 the northern and middle States of the Union. " In the 

 countries where they pass the summer, they build their nest 

 on the limb of a pine, towards the centre ; it is composed 

 of grasses and earth, and lined internally with feathers. 

 The female lays five eggs, which are white spotted with 

 yellowish. The young leave the nest in June, and are soon 

 able to join the parent birds in their autumnal migration. 

 In the northern countries, where these birds are very nume- 

 rous, when a deep snow has covered the ground, they 

 appear to lose all sense of danger, and by spreading some 

 favourite food, may be knocked down with sticks, or even 

 caught by hand, while busily engaged in feeding. Their 

 manners are also in other respects very similar to those of 

 the Common Crossbill." Prince Charles Bonaparte, quoted 

 by Mr. Yarrell. 



FISSIROSTRES. CLEFT-BEAKED BIRDS. 



The third group in the Insessorial Order contains the 

 Fissirostres, or Cleft-beaked birds, which are divided into 

 the following families : the Swallows, the Goatsuckers, the 



