That the Crossbill sometimes breeds in this country there cannot be a doubt, but it does this only as an exception to the general rule; the nest, which has been found at various seasons, has been described as of a loose texture, not unlike that of the Common Greenfinch, though not nearly so well nor so carefully built; the eggs also are not unlike those of that bird but larger. In Norway and Sweden, where the bird habitually breeds, the nest is built in the uppermost branches of the pines and firs; it is composed of grass, moss, and the finer portions of these trees; one has been found here on an apple tree, and another on a fir, and another, near Dartford, in Kent, on the lowest fork of a pine; this was composed of dry twigs, but no eggs were laid in it, the curiosity of frequent observers having driven the bird away. Although we have placed this among our _familiar_ British Birds, the eggs to English collectors are rare and difficult of attainment, and should be prized accordingly. The scientific name given to the species is _Loxia curvirostra_, both the terms having reference to the shape of the beak, the first coming from the Greek _loxos_, curved, and the latter from the Latin _curvus_, curved or bent, and _rostra_, the beak. By some naturalists _EuropÊa_ is the generic term, and this so closely resembles the English name as to require no explanation. STARLING. COMMON STARLING, OR STARE. FIGURE 2. This handsome and well-known bird is sometimes called, when young, the Solitary Thrush. Its scientific name is _Sturnus vulgaris_, which is simply the Latin for the Common Starling. It may be met with in all parts of Britain, even in the Orkney and Shetland Isles, where it sometimes breeds in rocky caves, and fissures, and holes in the turf. More towards the south its nest is found in hollow trees, cavities in chalk-pits, sandy banks and old buildings; it is large and rudely fashioned of straw, roots, dry grass, and other vegetable fibres, with frequently a lining of hair and feathers; the eggs, from four to six in number, are of a delicate greenish blue colour, sometimes altogether plain, but frequently spotted with black; they are of a longish oval shape. "Nidification," as Mr. Morris tells us, in his beautiful work on British Birds, "commences about the beginning or middle of April." This word, my readers should remember, comes from the Latin _nidus_, a nest. Incubation lasts about sixteen days; _incubatio_, as we have already explained in the first series of "Nests and Eggs," is the Latin for to lie or sit upon. These are words we shall often have to use, and therefore we think it well to explain their meaning here, lest they should have escaped the memory of some who take this volume in hand.