CR0S8BIXL.
:tinl lay. Even in the wild state they may he approached, or themselves
approach very nearly. Of those mentioned before as having occurred
in 1791 many were taken with a noose on the end of a fishing-rod.
I n confinement they shew their connexion with the Parrots by climbing
about their cage in all directions, both with beak and claws; even
when dead they still cling on, with the tenacity of life, to the bough
which has afforded them a r e s t i n g - p l a c e — ' t h e ruling passion strong
in death.' They are reckoned very good eating on the continent, and
a r e sold for the purpose in considerable numbers.
T h e i r fligln is undulated, and at the same time quick and rapid.
In moving to any distance they fly in a strong but rather undulated
manner.
T h e i r food consists of the seeds of the various species of fir trees,
as also at times those of the apple, the pear, the mountain ash, the
alder, the hawthorn, and others, if need be even those of the t h i s t l e;
sand and small fragments of stone are also swallowed. In extracting
t h e seeds from the smaller cones of the larch, s p n i r e , fir, and others
of the pines, they frequently, having first cut one off" from the tree
with their bill, hold it firmly against a branch between the claws
of one or both feet, after having flitted with it to some neighbouring
bough, or removed to the nearest convenient part of the one they are
on. The sound of the cracking of the cones arrests attention. These
a r e ' s p l i t up one or both sides longitudinally, and are so torn in
search for the seeds as to be easily perceived, and mark the progress
of the nock, while the ground beneath is strewed with numbers
which have been unable to withstand their attacks on the branch.*
On the larger ones they perch, and make them at once their diningtable
and their d i n n e r—'mensas consiimimus:' sometimes the cone falls
down—an unfortunate t u r n i n g of the tables for the poor bird. They
occasionally descend to drink.
I n spring, the note, though low, is pleasing and agreeable; at
other times while feeding they keep up a constant chatter—a ' c h i p,
c h i p , ' and 'soc, soc,' accompanied by a movement of the body, and
in Hying from one place to another emit a sharp tone. On warm
sunny days, thev sometimes indulge in a sudden flight, and after
d i s p o r t i n g themselves about for a short time in full chorus, alight on
t h e tops of the trees, c o n t i n u i n g for a time a gentle w a r b l i n g : both
t h e male and female sing.
Nidification commences very early in foreign countries, even in
J a n u a r y or February, the young having been found fledged in March.
According to Temminck, these birds nestle at all seasons of the year.
The nest is placed in the angle of the junction of the branches
of tin1 tree, low down and also high up, and is loosely compacted
of small twigs, grass, small straws, and moss or lichens, according with
the colour of the tree it. is placed on, lined on the inside with the
dry leaves of the fir tree, and also with hair, wool, or feathers.
They have been known only about ten feet from the ground. The
edges of the nest extend from three to five inches beyond the
middle part.
The eggs, four or five in number, arc white or greyish white,
sometimes tinged with blue or green, and spotted, chiefly at the
thicker end, with red brown, reddish, bluish red, purple, or brown.
These birds vary very greatly in size, as they also do in colour,
e x h i b i t i n g a diversity of shades, according to age or season, of
yellow, orange, red, scarlet, green, and olive. They are of a thickset
make. Male; length, from six inches and a quarter to seven and
a half;' the bill, which varies considerably in length, c u r v a t u r e , and
t h e degree of elongation of the lower mandible, is above principally
dark greyish brown, as is the tip of the lower bill, the remainder
being dull yellowish; the upper part sometimes inclines to the right,
and sometimes to the left, and the bill has a lateral expansion, as
well as the ordinary one. Iris, hazel; head and crown, pale dull red;
neck behind and nape, pale red mixed with grey; breast above,
pale dull red with a mixture of yellow, below greyish wrhitc, darker
on the sides. Pack, on the middle part dusky red, the lower part
b r i g h t reddish yellow.
The wings, which are rather long and pointed, expand to the
widtli of a little over eleven inches and a third to eleven and three
q u a r t e r s ; the second quill is the longest, the first a trifle shorter, as
is the third than it, and the fourth than the third; primaries,
secondaries, and tertiaries, deep brown, the smaller feathers tinged
with dull red; greater and lesser under wing coverts, brownish grey.
The tail is rather short, extending one inch beyond the closed wings;
upper tail coverts, dark brown; under tail coverts, greyish brown,
broadly margined with dull white. Legs and toes, purple brown;
claws, brownish black.
The moult takes place in the autumn, and in the height of
summer all the tints are paler, and the plumage, worn on the back,
only shews darker from this cause.
Female; length, seven inches and a sixth to seven and a q u a r t e r;
head, on the sides, crown, neck on the back, nape, and back, dull
greyish brown, light yellowish or greenish grey, the centres of the
feathers only slightly darker; on the lower part the back is deep
yellow or dull yellowish grey, according to the season of the year;