The American Crossbill. 5 



which it daintily picks out the seeds and eats them, rejecting the 

 ripe pulpy fruit in which they have been enveloped. As the 

 Crossbill is rather a voracious bird, the havoc which it will make 

 in an orchard may be imagined. 



The male, as is the case with all birds, has the most beautiful 

 plumage. The throat and breast are red, with here and there a 

 few feathers of drab and yellowish-green; while the head and back 

 are prettily colored with a variegated mixture of green, brown and 

 red, all of which have a peculiar metallic lustre; wings black, turn- 

 ing to a brownish hue at the shoulders; abdomen, drab; tail, black; 

 tail coverts, bright red; bill, black, and three-fourths of an inch in 

 length. 



Although Dame Nature has not decked the female with quite so 

 lavish a hand, she is, nevertheless, very prettily arrayed. The 

 throat, head and breast are clothed in a mixture of yellow, green, 

 red and drab; back, red, green and black; tail feathers, black with 

 white margin; tail coverts, bright yellow; abdomen, drab; wings, 

 black and white. The total length of the Crossbill, from tip of 

 beak to extremity of tail, is six inches. The tail has a very deep 

 nitch in the end, which is very conspicuous when flying. 



The nest is generally built in fir trees in a somewhat secluded 

 spot, and contains generally four greenish-white eggs, spotted and 

 dotted with varying shades of lavender-brown, with a few heavy 

 surface spots of dark purple-brown. The eggs average in size 

 •75 t>y -56. — Naturalist' s Companion. 



A RABBIT HUNT 



One Monday morning I set out with my dog on a mile and a 

 half walk, to meet a friend with whom I had engaged to go on a 

 rabbit hunt. I had the good luck to get a ride part of the way, 

 and soon arrived at my friend's house. After a little delay, we 

 started with guns over our shoulders, and on our feet rubber boots 

 suitable for wading in deep snow. We had not gone far when we 

 heard near us the baying of hounds, and soon came upon two 

 other hunters. One was an old dog-trainer who lived in the same 

 town that I lived in, and with whom I had been hunting many 

 times. He had with him a ferret, which we valued as highly as a 

 boy values a gun. We told him that if he would come with us we 

 would show him some rabbit holes, where he might use his ferret. 

 He readily complied with our request, and we were soon walking 

 briskly on, 



When we reached the hole he got down on his knees, cleared 

 out the snow and leaves, took out his ferret very carefully, and 

 let it go hesitatingly in. Meanwhile one of us stood at the other 

 end of the hole, and placed his hands so that if the rabbit tried to 

 run out, he must run between his fingers. After waiting a minute, 

 the man [suddenly exclaimed, ' I've got him,' and lifted up a fine 



