302 
OUR HOME BIRDS. 
ash ; then turns to bright greenish-yellow, mixed with 
spots of dusky olive ; the second year the yellow plu- 
mage has become light red, and the wings and tail 
are brownish-black, edged with yellow. 
“ The cross-bills are thickest in pine forests, where 
they get their food ; ‘ they appear in large flocks, feed- 
ing on the seeds of the hemlock and white pine ; have 
a loud, sharp, and not unmusical note; chatter as they 
fly ; alight during the prevalence of deep snows be- 
fore the door of the hunter and around the house, 
picking off the clay with which the logs are plastered, 
and settling on the roof of the cabin when disturbed, 
being so tame as to descend the next moment and feed 
as before. When kept in a cage they have many of 
the habits of the parrot, often climbing along the wires 
and using their feet to grasp the cones while taking 
out the seeds.’ 
“ In the swamps, where the beautiful coral berries 
of the black alder gem the bare twigs in November, 
are to be seen flocks of the pine-finch, a little bird 
that is very fond of eating the seeds out of these 
bright-hued berries. As the weather grows colder 
the flocks become larger, and as many as two to three 
hundred have been seen together in an avenue of 
pine trees. They are so tame that you can walk 
within a few yards of the spot where a company of 
