146 NATURAL HISTORY. 
feathers prolonged from the shoulder-tufts or from the 
tail. In the species in Fig. 120 (p. 145) there is a most bril-- 
liant display of colors. The body, breast, and lower parts 
are of a deep rich brown; the front set close with black 
feathers shot with green; the throat is of a rich golden 
green; the head yellow; the sides of the tail have a long, 
full, splendid plume of downy feathers of a soft yellow 
color. The poetical story that this bird lives on dew, is, 
of course, false, and its food consists of grasshoppers and 
other insects, together with seeds and figs. 
243. The Cross-bill family are distinguished by the 
crossing of the points of the beak, as seen in Fig. 121, 
and a horny scoop at the 
tip of the tongue. The bird 
uses these tools in obtain- 
ing the seeds of the fir and 
pine cones, on which it lives. 
The process is this: the 
points of the closed beak 
are insinuated beneath the 
seales of the cone, and then, 
by a sidewise motion of the 
mandibles, separating the 
points farther from each 
other, the scale is raised, so 
Fig. 121.—Cross-Dill. as to allow the horny scoop 
of the tongue to dislodge the seed and carry it into the 
mouth. It can also, with its powerful beak, extract ker- 
nels from hard shells. It will cut an apple in two to get 
at the pips. When confined im a cage, it very dexterous- 
ly draws the ends of the wires from the wood-work, and 
soon sets itself free. There are three species of Cross- 
bills in this country. 
244. The Horn-bill family are remarkable for the very 
large size of the beak, and for an extraordinary protuber- 
ance with which it is surmounted, as seen in the Rhinoc- 
eros Horn-bill, Fig. 122 (p. 147). This enormous bill, 
