FOREST BIRDS 167 



them off to secure the seeds at their base, and you 

 will at once see that it is an excellent tool for an 

 operation of this kind. The sight or sound of these 

 falling scales may sometimes be the first sign we 

 have of the birds feeding above so quietly that we 

 should have passed them had we not seen these 

 "chips from their workshop." 



Many seeds fall with the scales, and on moist or 

 rainy days, when the cone-scales are so tightly closed 

 that they cannot readily be forced off, the birds fre- 

 quent the ground to gather the crumbs, as it were, 

 which have fallen from their table on the dry, sunny 

 days when the scales were invitingly open. 



Like the Paroquets they so much resemble, Cross- 

 bills chatter in low tones to one another while feed- 

 ing, and again, like Paroquets, they all take wing 

 together, uttering a sharp clicking note as they go. 

 The only song I have ever heard was a short, and 

 not loud warbling, but they may reserve their best 

 efforts until they return to their nesting ground in 

 the north; this may be in March, or the birds may 

 remain with us until May, for the Crossbills are as 

 irregular in their going as they are in their coming. 



Nesting time with the Crossbills ranges from 

 March to June. The nest is built of twigs and 

 grasses in an evergreen. The three or four eggs are 



