112 
CROSSBILL. 
feathers on the back are mottled with dusky ; the wings and tail 
similar to that of the male, but not so dark. We have observed that 
the crossing of the mandibles is not constantly on the same side. 
The Crossbill is not known to breed with us, but is more or less 
found, amongst our fir plantations, from June to the latter end of the 
year, feeding on the seed, by dexterously dividing the scales of the 
cone, for which purpose the bill is admirably adapted. It is sometimes 
found in our orchards in autumn, and will readily divide an apple to 
get at the kernels. In the year 1791 we were informed, by a bird- 
catcher at Bath, that he had taken a hundred pairs in the months of 
June and July : the greater part were males, which were generally 
sold for five shillings each. Many are taken with a call-bird and bird- 
lime ; others are caught by a horse-hair noose fixed to a long fishing- 
rod. So intent are these birds when picking out the seeds of the cone, 
that they will suffer themselves to be taken by the noose being put 
over the head. They are discovered by the twittering noise they make 
while feeding. 
The visits,” says Selby, “of this curious and interesting species 
to our shores, are at irregular periods, sometimes at an interval of 
many years. During the summer of 1821 this kingdom was visited 
by immense flocks of these birds, that spread themselves through the 
country, and were to be seen in all woods and plantations where the 
fir-tree was abundant. Their first appearance was early in June, and 
the greater part of the flocks seemed to consist of females, and the 
young of the year, (the males possessing the red plumage, assumed 
from the first moult to the end of that year.) Many of the females 
that I killed shewed plainly, from the denuded state of their breasts, 
that they had been engaged in incubation some time previous to their 
arrival : which circumstance agrees with the account given of the early 
period at which they breed in the higher latitudes. They continued 
with us till towards the autumn, but kept moving northward, as I 
found them, in September, particularly abundant in all the fir tracts 
of Scotland, after they had nearly disappeared to the southward of the 
river Tweed. Since that time we seem not to have been visited by 
these birds ; at least none have come under my observation. In the 
southern parts of the kingdom, during their occasional visits, they 
commit great havoc in the apple and pear orchards, by splitting the 
fruit in halves for the sake of the inclosed pips.” 
“ That rare bird, the Crossbill,” says Mr. Knapp, “ occasionally 
visits the orchards in our neighbourhood, coming in little parties to 
feed on the seeds of the apple, and, seldom as it appears, it is always 
