34-2 
COMMON CROSSBILL. 
nally, and are so torn in search for the seeds as to 
be easily perceived, and mark the progress of the 
flock, while the ground beneath is strewed with 
numbers which have been unable to withstand 
their attacks on the branch. The larch was less 
frequently here attacked, though in other dis- 
tricts the seeds are much fed upon, and we never 
saw any of the cones of the Scotch fir or pinaster 
broken by them, but this may be accounted for 
by a great prevalence of spruce in the places they 
frequented, and by these trees last years (1838 
and 1839) producing a most abundant crop of 
cones. By using a little caution, one could easily 
gain the foot of the tree where the birds were 
feeding, and examine their motions, and if the 
person remained quiet, they would feed and 
climb about the branches until within a few 
yards of the looker on. On one or two occasions 
when shot at on the top of a tall tree, those un- 
hurt would fly straight towards the person, and 
alight within a few yards, looking about and 
beginning to feed as if nothing had occurred. 
The hidification of the Crossbill in Britain is 
comparatively little known. A few instances are 
recorded of its nest having been found in Eng- 
land, but so scattered as to warrant the conclusion 
that the birds had been detained from their natural 
haunts by some cause. In the south of Scotland, 
the nest has not been lately found, but we have 
little hesitation in believing that for the last years 
they have bred in some numbers in different dis- 
tricts, though the precise locality and their nests 
