from its younger members sufficient to keep the troop
together.*
From what has just been stated it will be perceived that
the seeds of various conifers—pines, firs and larches nowadays
supply the chief food of this species, but besides the
pips of apples to which reference has been already made,
the seeds of the rowan, or mountain-ash, appear from the
observations of Macgillivray and Saxby to be at times laid
under contribution. The berries of this tree it will even
follow to the ground if it fails to secure the bunch at the first
intention. The Editor has more than once known the buds
of the elm to be eaten by the Crossbill and that at a season
when they cannot be sought, as Saxby states they are in
Shetland, for the sake of the aphides which gather on the
underside of the leaves of this tree, though he is no doubt
right in saying that such insects and those which infest the
sycamore are greedily devoured by it. In confinement the
bird soon becomes tame, and is a most amusing subject of
observation, climbing like a Parrot with the help of its bill
in any direction.! Introduced to hempseed, the Crossbill, like
most birds, quickly takes to that attractive diet, shelling each
seed deftly with the cutting edges of its mandibles, but even
then its fondness for the seeds of the Conifer a is not forgotten.
Its efforts to free itself from captivity are so unceasing that
a cage of very hard wood or of well-riveted metal is needed
* A most faithful account of the habits of the Crossbill was furnished to the
Author by Mr. R. F. Wright of Hinton Blewit in Somerset, and printed at
length in former editions of this work. So much has since been written on the
subject, that it seems unnecessary at this time to give the words of this communication,
the important parts of which are incorporated with other information in the
above paragraph. In like manner it would be but a repetition here to insert
the notice, formerly introduced, of a flock of Crossbills seen by Macgillivray (Br.
B. i. p. 425), graphic and excellent as it is. The chief fact of which he was a
witness will be immediately mentioned in the text. Owing tp the wide range
of the Crossbill in England there must now be but few ornithologists in the
country who have not had the opportunity of personally observing it.
+ This peculiarity, together with that of their holding in their foot the fruit
from which they are extracting the seeds, has led some naturalists to consider the
Crossbills allied to the Psittaci, and their representatives in the northern hemisphere,
a belief to which very slight knowledge of Comparative Anatomy gives a
positive denial.
to keep it a prisoner, since it will busily ply its bill so as to
whittle away the bars and bend an ordinary wire. Still it is
by no means an impatient prisoner,516 and is therefore often
kept in confinement. The principal bird-dealers in London
and other large towns are seldom without examples for sale.
Its flesh too is esteemed for the table, perhaps mostly by
those who cannot at the moment get a better viand, but in
many parts of the continent it is certainly in request, and
even in England it has been eaten with relish.
The nidification of this species has been more or less
fully described by many writers, though it has fallen under
the observation of comparatively few ornithologists. For
three centuries and more the Crossbill has been known
to breed almost in the depth of winter or very early in
the year— “ circa natalitia Christi ” even, as an old author!
has it. But second broods are apparently not uncommonly
produced, or if not certain individuals must delay their
breeding-season for some months. Most of the nests observed
in these islands have been found in March or April, but
February is not too early nor May too late to look for them
when the birds by their constancy to some particular spot
give hope of their breeding there. Without being really
sociable it often happens that several pairs breed in propinquity.
The nest is generally built on the horizontal bough
of a fir—though an apple-tree has also been recorded as a
site, at an elevation varying from five to forty feet, and nearly
always concealed by the foliage. In close woods, remarks
Mr. Hancock, where the lower branches have fallen off it is
necessarily placed high up, but where these (the trees having
room) are retained, they are not unfrequently preferred.
The nest from the Holt Forest, exhibited in 1839 to the
Zoological Society (ut swpra), was rather small in proportion
to the size of the bird, measuring externally only four inches
and a half across the top, and the cup but three inches in
diameter. The outside was strengthened by a few slender
* I t has heen known to build a nest and lay eggs in the aviary at Audley End
as recorded by Mr. Clarke (loc. cit.).
f Schwenckfeld, ‘ Theriotropheum Silesies.’ Lignicii: 1608, 4to, p. 253.