CROSS-BILL. 
" The c l oss- Bill," says BufFon, is dis- 
tinguished only by a sort of deformity in it's 
bill ; a character, or rather a defeft, which be- 
longs to it alone of all the winged tribe. 
What proves that it is adefcil — an error of na- 
ture, rather than a permanent feature — is, thai it 
is variable : the bill in some stibje£l:s crosses to 
the left, in others ,to the right; but the produc- 
tions of nature are regular in their develope- 
ment, and uniform in their arrangement. I 
should therefore impute this difference of posi» 
tion to the way in which the bird has used it's 
bill, according as it has been more accustomed 
lo employ the one side or the other to lay hold 
of it's food: the same takes place in men; 
-who, from habit, prefer the right hand to the 
left. Each mandible of the Cross-Bill is af- 
fedled by an exuberance of growth ; so that, in 
time, the two points are parted asunder, and 
the bird can take it's food only by the side : 
and hence, if it oftener uses the left, the bill 
will protrude to the right, and vice versa. But 
every 
