72 
The Irish Naturalist. 
May, 
handsomest I have seen. The last was laid that morning, though 
the bird had been on the nest for some days ; but Crossbills seem 
to sit once their first egg is laid. On April 19th and 22nd two 
more nests near the farm buildings contained three eggs each. 
On March 20th, 1915, a Crossbill was sitting on three eggs in 
the top of a Scotch Pine which was left standing at the end 
of a newly-felled screen, and on April 5th a nest high up in a 
Spruce contained four fresh eggs ; while on the 26th the third 
egg was laid in an almost inaccessible nest at the extremity of a 
Scotch Pine bough. In the middle of May I climbed to another 
in a large Scotch Pine down in the lowlands, but it had been 
sacked, probably by Hooded Crows, which bred in the vicinity. 
Only this and the deserted one by the cottage were at any dis- 
tance from the favourite area, and even these were hardly a mile 
away. 
It is noticeable that during six seasons these Crossbills were 
almost unanimous in choosing Scotch Pines, but in the lining of 
their nests they showed no fixed principles. One nest, the neatest 
and most compact, was lined with fine roots, black and white 
horse-hair, dry grass, and a little wool, all beautifully interwoven, 
A loose, untidy structure was profusely "bedded" with soft 
feathers, and others were lined with small tufts of fresh green 
moss mixed with hay and stray feathers ; while an exceptionally 
uncomfortable one was composed internally of hard grey lichens, 
with the addition of a little black wool and some strips of inner 
bark. This shredded bark was not constantly used. A piece of 
briar was once included in the " platform." Otherwise these 
characteristic foundations were built entirely of Scotch Pine, 
Spruce, or Larch twigs. 
Apropos of Mr. C. B. Moffat's interesting article on the food 
of the Crossbill,* it is well to add that these birds in the Galtees 
have fed almost exclusively on the cones of the Scotch Pine, and 
have never touched those of the Spruce. 
Rocklow, Fethard, Co. Tipperary. 
Irish Nat., 1916, pp. 1-6. 
