NESTING OF THE CROSSBILL IX CO. WATERFORD. 203 



see neither yellow nor green about her. Her mate was red. On May 

 11th I examined this nest again, and found the young birds much 

 grown. Their eyes were open, and their upper mandibles absurdly 

 large. They were not so naked as other young finches, but had 

 a good deal of greyish black down on them, — evidently a provision 

 against the cold of spring in Lapland forests. 



Before leaving the Giant's Rock, I may mention that Cross- 

 bills have been, for many weeks, seen habitually feeding on the 

 cones of Scotch fir and larch trees close to the house, often within 

 a few yards of it, where one may stand and watch them hang with 

 head downwards, bite off a cone at the end of a swaying spray, 

 fly with it to a steady spot, and, holding it in one foot, open it 

 with their twisted beaks. They neither regard much the 

 talking of people, nor the barking of dogs beneath the trees. 

 On May 1 8th they had left the nest. It was of similar mate- 

 rials to the others, but was well lined with wool, and a feather 

 or two. 



A fourth nest of Crossbills was discovered on March 26th, on 

 the summit of the Black Hill (566 feet), the highest point on my 

 property, exposed to every wind that blows. It was built in the 

 dense top of a thick leader, or upper branch of one of a group of 

 low Scotch firs, about twenty feet from the ground. It was 

 difficult to see from the ground, and was discovered by watching 

 the birds. I ascended to this nest on March 28th, when the 

 female — an olive-coloured bird with a yellow rump — showed the 

 same reluctance to leave, remained watching me from a neigh- 

 bouring tree, and soon returned. This nest was built of the 

 same materials as that above described, with the addition of some 

 dried grass as lining. It contained four eggs, heavily spotted 

 with rich red-brown, and short and round for the species. 

 They looked clear and fresh. My caretaker had, on March 20th, 

 seen the two Crossbills pick up sheep's wool close to his house, 

 which is not far from the nest. On April 6th he told me that he 

 had frequently seen the male Crossbill, which was red, come and 

 feed the female at the nest. It used to take a circuit round the 

 group of trees, singing on the wing, and then perch on a tree-top 

 continuing its song, or flit through the branches shuffling and 

 flapping his wings with passionate delight. 



On April 9th a Magpie was shot on the nesting-tree, and the 

 Crossbills' eggs, which I had abstained from taking for my col- 



