COMMON CROSSBILL, 
539 
at times very abundant visitors, feeding so steadily on 
the seeds of the white pine and hemlock spruce, as to be 
approached without taking alarm. They have also a loud, 
sharp, and not unmusical note, chattering as they fly ; 
and, during the prevalence of deep snows, become so 
tamed by hunger as to alight round the mountain cabins, 
even settling on the roofs when disturbed, and, like 
pigeons, descending in the next moment to feed as if 
they had never been molested. They are then easily 
trapped, and so eager and unsuspicious, as to allow an 
approach so near that they may be knocked down with 
sticks. In these very familiar visits they are observed 
even to pick off the clay from the logs of the house, and 
to swallow the mere earth to allay the cravings of hunger. 
In cages they show many of the habits of the Parrot, 
climbing up the sides and holding the pine cones given 
them in one claw while they extract the seeds. Like 
the same bird, in Louisiana, they also do considerable 
damage at times in the orchard, by tearing apples to 
pieces for the sake of getting at the seeds only. They 
feed likewise on the seeds of the alder, as well as the 
kernels of other fruits, and the buds of trees. None 
of these birds have yet been observed to breed within 
the United States, as they retire for this purpose to 
their favorite pine forests in high and more cool lati- 
tudes, where in security and solitude they pursue the 
duties of procreation. Like the preceding, they often 
breed in winter in more temperate countries, as in Jan- 
uary and February, and the young fly in March. The 
nest is said to be fixed in the forks of fir-trees ; and the 
eggs, 4 or 5, are of a greenish-grey, with a circle of red- 
dish-brown spots, points, and lines, disposed chiefly at 
the larger end ; the lines also often extend over the 
whole surface of the egg. 
