48 BIRD BEHAVIOUR 



prey than a game-bird. Now, the cock tastes far 

 more of turpentine than the hen, and he is known 

 to feed more on pine and fir-shoots, his mate, 

 with her small ordinary game-bird's beak, seeking 

 her food more upon the ground. 



This brings us to the consideration of vegetable- 

 feeding birds ; but in the case of these there is 

 seldom much modification of the bill, nearly all the 

 sensational beaks, if we may thus express it, belong- 

 ing to animal-feeding birds. There is, however, a 

 very peculiar speciaHzed beak in a bird which, Hke 

 the Capercailzie, is especially a haunter of coniferous 

 woods, and derives its food from them — ^the Cross- 

 bill, in other respects a very ordinary member of 

 the group of Finches. In this bird, often a winter 

 visitor here, and one which has of late years bred 

 quite frequently in Britain, the beak is crossed at 

 the tip, both jaws being curved ; the jaws may 

 cross either to the right or the left, and this crossing 

 is quite accidental or indifferent, having nothing 

 to do with sex. 



The young Crossbill has, up to the time of 

 leaving the nest, the ordinary Finch-beak shutting 

 evenly ; presumably the direction of the crossing 

 depends on the nestUng being right- or left-beaked, 

 i.e. using its beak instinctively more on one side 

 than another. The particular use of the bill is to 

 prise open the scales of pine- and fir-cones, the 

 underlying seeds of which form the Crossbill's 

 favourite food, and are scooped out by the tongue, 

 which is unusually long for a bird of this group. 



