THE CROSSBILLS 



THE CONE-EATERS 



{Figs. 49-52) 



OME winter day you may be sur- 

 prised by seeing what at first glance 

 looks like a. flock of red and green 

 Paroquets climbing about the 

 branches or hanging to the cones 

 of a spruce or pine. Then you will 

 remember, perhaps, that the only Paroquet we ever 

 had in North America is now practically extinct, and 

 that, in any event, we should not expect to se,e these 

 birds of southern climes in our northern winters. 

 The birds, like most visitors from the far north who 

 know little of man and his ways, are so tame that 

 you can approach them closely, and may ev.en pick 

 one off the tree as you would the cone on which it 

 is feeding. You will, therefore, have no difficulty 

 in seeing the peculiar form of the bird's bill with 

 its singularly crossed tips; then if you have looked 



over the list and pictures of birds which may visit 



165 



