196 THE BIRDS OF KENT 



to fly, of this species, is now in the Maidstone Museum. 

 It was caught ahve by Mr. H. Lamb in the Cemetery, 

 Maidstone, on May 25, 1899, and preserved by Mr. H. 

 Elgar. It appears that the late Mr. H. Lamb had been 

 for some time on the watch for the breeding place of the 

 Crossbills, which were frequently seen in that district. 



Professor Newton, in the last edition of Yarrell's 

 British Birds (vol. ii., p. 200), adds as a note: "Blyth 

 says {Field Naturalist, i., p. 130) he was informed by a 

 man who saw a brood taken near Sevenoaks, in Kent, 

 that the nestlings when about half-fledged ' had the bill 

 as much crossed as the adults.' But Blyth did not assert 

 this on his own authority, and it is clearly a mistake." 



PAKEOT CEOSSBILL. 



Loxia j^ityopsittacus. Bechstein. Oiii. Tasclienh.^ 

 i., p. 106 (1802). 



The first notice of the Parrot Crossbill in Kent is 

 given by Morris in his History of British Birds, 1852, 

 who states that " a small flock was seen at Dodington, 

 in Kent, in September, 1851." There is a skin of a 

 female in the British Museum which was obtained at 

 Bostal Common, Plumstead, in Kent, in January, 1868, 

 and presented by Mr. H. Whitely, of Woolwich. 

 According to Mr. H. Seebohm {British Birds, 1884), the 

 Parrot Crossbill " has been known to breed in Kent," 

 but without the slightest clue as to how this information 

 was obtained. 



Mr. G. Dowker, in his Birds of East Kent, 1889, on 

 the authority of the late Mr. C. Gordon, of Dover, gives 

 East Kent as a locality in which it has been obtained,, 

 without data. 



