FRINGILLIDJ2. 



the way of Glenlivat and along the Spey, I had the pleasure 

 of observing, near the influx of a tributary of that river, a 

 flock of several hundreds of Crossbills busily engaged in 

 shelling the seeds of the berries which hung in clusters on a 

 clump of rowan-trees.* So intent were they on satisfying 

 their hunger, that they seemed not to take the least heed of 

 me ; and as I had not a gun, I was content with gazing on 

 them, without offering them any molestation. They clung 

 to the twigs in all sorts of positions, and went through the 

 operation of feeding in a quiet and business-like manner, 

 each attending to his own affairs without interfering with 

 his neighbours. It was indeed a pleasant sight to see how 

 the little creatures fluttered among the twigs, all in con- 

 tinued action, like so many bees on a cluster of flowers in 

 sunshine after rain. Their brilliant colours, so much more 

 gaudy than those of our common birds, seemed to convert 

 the rude scenery around into that of some far-distant land, 

 where the Redbird sports among the flowers of the magnolia. 

 In that year, flocks of these birds were observed in various 

 parts of Scotland." 



The visits of Crossbills to fir-trees, and their mode of 

 feeding on the seeds lodged between the scales and 

 the body of the cone, are thus described by E. F. Wright, 

 Esq., of Hinton Blewit, Old Down, Somersetshire, who 

 very kindly sent me the following communication : 



" Having for some time remarked the cones, under a 

 large fir-tree in the garden, lying in considerable numbers, 

 and mostly pecked, I could not account for the circum- 

 stance, until, passing near the tree one afternoon in the 

 beginning of August 1838, my attention was attracted by a 

 shrill chirping, which I soon discovered proceeded from a 

 small flock of birds, about six in number, who were disport- 



* The mountain ash Pyrus aucuparia. 



