176 THE Fill GKOSBEAK. 



The female is dark grey, tinged on the back with olive green; 

 the rump is a lighter green ; the belly and vent whitish. 



Observations. This bird is found in Germany wherever there 

 are woods of Scotch fir. If not seen in summer, the traces 

 which they leave behind them in winter, in the fir cones lying 

 stripped of their seeds beneath the trees, arc unmistakeable. 

 They sit very still, and eat nearly the whole day ; and only 

 when hopping from tree to tree do they utter a loud harsh call, 

 not unlike that of the species last described, " Gep, gep, gep /" 

 They are generally seen in parties of from twelve to twenty- 

 four. They are not at all shy, nor will a flock of them dis- 

 perse even if fired at. They prefer the highest trees, and are 

 caught in the same manner as the Common Crossbill. When 

 wild, they feed, so far as I know, only on the seeds contained 

 in the fir-cones. In confinement they may be supplied with 

 the same, but will eat hemp, rape seed, the second universal 

 paste, or, indeed, anything that comes to table. They must 

 not be allowed to range the room, as they have a habit 

 of gnawing books, shoes, &c. A couple once in my posses- 

 sion destroyed in this manner a pair of new shoes in one 

 day. 



The males are very constant singers ; their song is like that 

 of the Common Crossbill, but deeper and more interrupted. 

 They are very sociable, even with birds of other species ; and 

 if a pair be kept, they will caress, feed, and follow one another 

 about. They become so tame as to allow themselves to be 

 taken hold of, but their continual cries often make them dis- 

 agreeable. 



I have never succeeded in finding the nest of this bird. I 

 am told, however, that it builds on the tops of very high firs, 

 and hatches its brood of four or five, not in winter, like the 

 Crossbill, but in May. 



ADDITIONAL. PENNANT appears to be the first naturalist who 

 gives this bird a place in our native fauna, and lie only speaks of 

 two specimens, a male and a female, taken in Shropshire, the 

 bills of which, he says, " were remarkably thick and short, more 

 incurvated than that of the common bird, and the ends more 

 blunt." Since the date of this short notice, 1776, but few speci- 

 mens have been taken in this country, although the skins or the 

 bird are frequently, says YAREELL, brought over by the German 

 dealers. TEMMINCK states that the bird is only an occasional 



