18 THE ©. & (©. SEMI-ANNUAL, 
of evergreen woods, where their food is annually supplied, their 
advent may be looked for regularly, year after year, though the 
number of the visitors may vary, and in such places, even in the cold- 
est weather, their appearance and their notes form a pleasing feature 
in the bird-life of the then melancholy woodland scenery ; but outside 
of such scenes these birds are seidom heard or seen, yet in the early 
days of the pioneer life of backwoods settle, these birds have been 
noticed to alight in a quite familiar manner, and pick up scraps of 
food at the door of the log shanty and amongst the litter of the farm- 
yard. But times have changed, and with them to some extent, the 
habits and nesting places of the Crossbills. Among or towards the 
top of the evergreens, in the deep, wild woods, and in the depths of 
the winter season, these birds are now chiefly to be observed 
in this country, and here, where they are seldom disturbed by man or 
the sound of the human voice, they pass this period of their existance 
in one continual serenade, chattering and feeding. When disturbed, 
or on the impulse of the moment at the signal of the leader, they rise 
in a body and vanish over the tree-tops like a cloud of smoke. 
The Crossbills feed chiefly on the seeds of the evergreens, espec- 
ially those of the pines and hemlocks, which they extract from the 
cones in a very dexterous manner by means of their bills, assisted by 
their still more curious tongue. The muscles that move the bill are 
very strong and act upon the two portions latterly; 7. ¢., sideways, 
and by this means separate the scales from the sides of the cone and 
thus expose the seeds or pips in the interior recesses. They will even 
split open large fruit in order to get at the seeds in the center. The 
manner in which the bills of this species are crossed, was when first 
noticed thought to be an accidental distortion ; but on more careful 
examination it proved to be another of the wise provisions of Provi- 
dence, to assist its possessor in securing food. 
When feeding, these birds living about in the branches in every 
possible position, for while some are on the upper parts of the bough, 
others are clinging to the sides, and others again, with back and head 
downward, swing to and fro in the wintry blasts. When they first 
arrive in this country, they appear to be almost fearless of human 
presence ; but if shot at a few times and some of their number taken, 
the rest of the flock become more timid and fly off on the first appre- 
hension of danger. 
The nesting habits of this species are very little known, although 
