The Crossbill is by no means a common bird and very uncertain in its appearances. A fair number breed as early as March in the pine woods of Scotland, and during the rest of the year it wanders about in small parties. Feeding chiefly though not exclusively on the seeds of the pine, which the peculiar formation of its beak enables it to reach with ease, it will generally be found in plantations of evergreens. Essentially of a wandering nature, it never stays long in one locality, but leads a regular roving gipsy existence, frequently making its home wherever it happens to find itself in the breeding season, and from this cause it has nested at irregular intervals in many of the southern counties of England and in Ireland. The nest is always built on the fork or lateral branch of a fir-tree, and is composed of twigs, grass, and moss, lined with finer materials of the same kind.

The eggs are usually four in number and are pale blue with a few reddish spots and streaks towards the larger end. It is a very silent bird and has no song worthy of a name. The call-note is “gip-gip.”

Insects and caterpillars are largely consumed during the summer, but seeds and berries form their chief food in winter.

When first hatched the bill in young birds is straight, but it assumes its characteristic shape very soon after they are fledged.

The adult male is crimson all over except the wings and tail, which are brown. The female is dark greenish yellow with striations of a darker tint. The young resemble the female but are greyer and greener. Young cocks probably do not assume their full plumage until the second or third year but they breed in their immature dress. Old cocks lose the red and become golden yellow. Length 6·5 in.; wing 3·8 in.