CROSSBILL. 



LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, Linn. 



Loxia curvirostra, Linn. S. N. i. p. 299 (1766) ; Naum. iv. 



p. 356; Hewitson, i. p. 212; Yarr. ed. 4, ii. p. 187; 



Dresser, iv. p. 127. 

 Loxia europsea, Macg. i. p. 417. 



Bec-croisd, French ; Kreuzschnabel, German ; Pico tuerto, 

 Spanish. 



As I can add nothing from personal experience to 

 the elaborate accounts of the erratic habits, the various 

 phases of plumage, and the nesting of this singular 

 and interesting species given by the editor of the 4th 

 edition of Yarrell's ' British Birds ' and other autho- 

 rities, I will content myself (and I trust my readers) by 

 saying that of late years the Crossbill has been found 

 nesting in various parts of the three kingdoms in which 

 it was previously regarded merely as a bird of casual 

 and irregular passage ; this is doubtlessly due to the 

 fact that the nest is often placed high in groves or 

 woods of coniferous trees, and that the eggs are gene- 

 rally laid early in March, a season when few people 

 would think of going a-nesting. I have reason to 

 believe also that the Crossbill, though sufficiently voci- 

 ferous when travelling in flocks, maintains a discreet 



