CROSSBILL. 
215 
plants, firmly felted together with wool; it was lined 
within with horsehair, nearly concealing the other mate¬ 
rials. The outside twigs of larch extended in a loose 
way from three to five inches round the outside of the 
nest, on the margin of which, and hanging about the 
twigs, was a complete mass of the white faeces of the 
young birds.” 
The other nest was built in a larch-fir, and was placed 
close to the trunk of the tree. It contained three young 
ones. These nests, it may be worth observing, were dis¬ 
covered in the same year as those mentioned by Mr. 
Long. 
Their very early period of breeding may account for— 
what puzzled us at the time—our seeing the Crossbills 
whilst in Norway, during the months of May and June, 
always in flocks, most likely accompanied by their young 
ones. 
