342 Mr. Joseph I. S. Whitaker on the 



has been kindly sent to me by Dr. Otto Herman, gives some 

 interesting particulars regarding the incursion in Hungary. 

 After a few remarks of a general character and concerning 

 the occurrence of the Crossbill as a resident and breeding: 

 species in the Carpathian Mountains and in other parts of 

 the country, a list is given of the various localities from 

 which reports had been received, in response to the in- 

 vitation which had been issued by the Hungarian Central 

 Bureau for Ornithology. From these reports it is evident 

 that the recent invasion was on a vast scale in Hungary, 

 and that it extended generally throughout the country, 

 having commenced in June, reached its height in July, and 

 continued until the late autumn. With the exception of a 

 single specimen of the Two-barred. Crossbill (L. bifasciata), 

 obtained in the district of Arva, and a few other individuals 

 of that species reported as having been observed in the 

 vicinity of Zotyom, the wanderers appear to have all belonged 

 to the common species, L. curvirostra. 



Allusion is made to the scarcity of cones on the pine- and 

 fir-trees in Hungary during the past season, and some 

 interesting information is given regarding the various sub- 

 stances, other than such cones, on which the Crossbills had 

 been observed feeding. 



From Galicia, Bohemia, Salzburg, the Tyrol, and the Trent 

 districts, Crossbills are reported as having been observed as 

 more or less plentiful throughout the past summer and 

 autumn. In the last-named district the incursion seems to 

 have been particularly marked. 



Prof. A. Bonomi, of Rovereto, writing in a local periodical 

 last June, reported eight individuals of the species as having 

 been seen at Madonna del Monte, near Rovereto, as early as 

 May 30, and alluded to the possibility of this being the 

 prelude to an abundant passage of the birds. He was not 

 wrong, for from that day forward the wandering Crossbills 

 continued to arrive in gradually increasing numbers, the 

 invasion at last assuming such proportions as to constitute a 

 veritable phenomenon. 



In a paper on the subject, dated August the 12th, published 



