494 THE CKOSSBILL. 



I presently arose and went to the cage. Oh, my poor, poor bird ; he lay struggling on 

 the floor ; I took him out, I tried to call him back to life in every way that I knew, but 

 it was useless ; I saw he was dpng, his little frame was even then growing cold within 

 my warm palm. I uttered the call he knew so well ; he threw back his head with its yet 

 undimmed eye and tried to answer — the effort was made with his last breath. His eye 

 glazed as I gazed, and his attitude was never changed ; his little heart was broken. I can 

 never forgive myself for my cruelty." 



Those who desire to find the nest of the Bullfinch must search in the thickets and 

 most retired parts of woods or copses, and they may, perhaps, find the nest liidden very 

 carefully away in some leafy branch at no great height from the ground. A thick bush 

 is a very favourite spot for the nest ; but I have more than once found them in hazel 

 branches, so slender that their weight has bent them aside. The eggs are very prettily 

 marked with deep violet and purple-brown streaks and mottlings upon a greenish white 

 ground, and are easily recognisable by the more or less perfect ring which they form 

 round the larger end of the egg. The eggs are generally five in number. 



The parents are very fond of their young, and retain them through the autumn and 

 winter, not casting them off until the next breeding season. The families assemble 

 together in little flocks only five or six in number, and may be seen flying about in 

 company, but never associating with birds of any other species. 



In confinement it is a very jealous and withal a most combative bird, not easily 

 daunted, and fighting with its fellow-prisoners till one or the other is vanquished or even 

 killed. These birds have been known to fight continually with other inhabitants of the 

 same cage, and even to kill the goldfinch in spite of his long pointed bill and high spirit. 

 Many persons who keep Bullfinches find their plumage getting gradually darker until at 

 last it assumes a black hue. This change of colour is mostly produced by two causes — 

 one the confinement in a smoky atmosphere, and the other the presence of hemp-seed in 

 the food. Hemp-seed when too liberally given has often this effect upon the cage-birds, 

 and even the light colours of the goldfinch will darken into dingy black and brown under 

 its influence. The reason of so curious a phenomenon is not known, but it is virtually 

 a problem which when solved may be of considerable value. 



The -colour of the adult male bird is as follows : — 



The base of the neck and the back are beautiful slaty grey, which has been known to 

 take a roseate hue. The top of the head, the greater wing-coverts, the upper tail-coverts, 

 and the chin are jetty black, and the tips of the wing-coverts are snowy white, so that 

 they form a bold white bar across the wing. The quill-feathers of the wing and tail are 

 deep black with a perceptible violet lustre, and the sides of the head, the throat, breast, 

 and abdomen are light and rather peculiar red with a slight chestnut tinge. As is the 

 case with most birds, varieties are not uncommon. The bOl is deep shining black. 



The female is not so brilliantly coloured as her mate, the grey of the back being of a 

 rather dingy cast, and the red of the under portions being of a purplish brown hue. 

 Young birds are coloured like the female, except that the head is not black. The total 

 length of the bird rather exceeds six inches. 



The Crossbills, of which three species are known to inhabit England, are most 

 remarkable birds, and have long been celebrated on account of the singular form of beak 

 from which they derive their name. 



In all these birds, the two mandibles completely cross one another, so that at first 

 si^ht the structure appears to be a malformation, and to prohibit the bird from picking 

 up seeds or feeding itself in any way. But when the Crossbill is seen feeding, it 

 speedily proves itself to l>e favoured with all the ordinary faculties of birds, and to be 

 as capable of obtaining its food as any of the straigLt-beaked birds. 



The food of the Crossbill consists almost, if not wholly, of seeds, which it obtains in a 

 very curious manner. It is very fond of apple-pips, and settling on the tree where ripe 

 apples are to be found, attacks the fruit with its beak, and in a very few moments cuts a 

 hole fairly into the " core," from which it picks out the seeds daintily and eats them, 

 rejecting the ripe pulpy fruit in which they had been enveloped. As the Crossbill 



