CROSSBILL, 
LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, Linn. 
Loxia curvirostra, Linn. S. N. i. p. 299 (1766) ; Naum. iv. 
p. 356; Hewitson, i. p. 212; Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 187; 
Dresser, iv. p. 127. 
Loxia europea, Macg. i. p. 417. 
Bec-croisé, French; Kreuzschnabel, German; Pico tuerto, 
Spanish. 
As I can add nothing from personal experience to 
the elaborate accounts of the erratic habits, the various 
phases of plumage, and the nesting of this singular 
and interesting species given by the editor of the 4th 
edition of Yarrell’s ‘British Birds’ and other autho- 
rities, I will content myself (and I trust my readers) by 
saying that of late years the Crossbill has been found 
nesting in various parts of the three kingdoms in which 
it was previously regarded merely as a bird of casual 
and irregular passage ; this is doubtlessly due to the 
fact that the nest is often placed high in groves or 
woods of coniferous trees, and that the eggs are gene- 
rally laid early in March, a season when few people 
would think of going a-nesting. I have reason to 
believe also that the Crossbill, though sufficiently voci- 
ferous when travelling in flocks, maintains a discreet 
