192 BILL OF THE CROSSBILL. 



the seeds of those trees. These seeds are contained 

 under tough woody scales, which continue pretty- 

 close for some time after the seeds are ripe ; and the 

 chief labour of the bird is to raise these scales by the 

 oblique motions of the bill, till the seeds can be 

 scooped out by means of the tongue ; and they do 

 this, or even split a piece of dry wood into strips, 

 with great rapidity. Sometimes, from causes not very 

 well understood, as they are not regular migrants, 

 they leave their native forests in considerable num- 

 bers, and do no small damage to orchards of apples 

 by splitting the pulp in pieces to get at the pips. 



Crossbill. 



The strong muscles on the sides of the head give 

 them something of the air of parrots; and though 

 they are not climbers as these are, they resemble the 

 parrot tribe a little in their plumage. One species 

 {Loxia pytiopsittacus) is popularly termed the parrot 

 crossbill. Indeed, though their habitations are in 

 the opposite extremes of cUmate, and the parrots get 

 at their food by climbing, and prepare it by cracking 

 the rind or shell with the mandibles, while the cross- 

 bills get at theirs by flight, and raise the scales with- 

 out separating the cone from the tree, yet the two 

 families have many points of resemblance. 



