344- Mr. Joseph I. S. Whitaker on the 



may be looked upon as having been fairly general throughout 

 Italy, with the exception of its extreme north-western 

 portion. 



Somewhat unaccountably, and strange as it may seem, 

 Piedmont does not appear to have been visited by the Cross- 

 bills as other parts of the kingdom have been during the 

 past year. This is all the more surprising considering the 

 alpine character of its northern boundary and the large tracts 

 of fir-clad country it possesses. My personal experience, 

 however, confirms the general report, for during a period of 

 five weeks which I spent in the Val d'Aosta last summer, 

 although constantly on the look-out for birds, I never 

 once saw a Crossbill, nor could I learn of any having been 

 seen by others during that time. The species is, however, 

 said to be resident in some of the northern districts of Italy, 

 and I understand that it breeds in some parts of the Val 

 d'Aosta itself. 



It has also been said to breed in some of the higher districts 

 of the Apennines, although hitherto this statement has, by 

 some authorities, been considered doubtful. There would^ 

 however, appear to be unquestionable evidence of the bird 

 having bred during the past year in the provinces of Emilia 

 and Tuscany. One case of such breeding is recorded by Count 

 Filippo Cavazza, in the ' Bulletin ' of the Italian Zoological 

 Society for 1909, as having occurred, in May, in the gardens 

 of Prince Hercolani near Bologna; another instance has 

 kindly been notified to me by Count Arrigoni degli Oddi as 

 having occurred, also in the month of Mav, on an estate 

 belonging to the Marchesa Paulucci-Panciatichi, near 

 Vallombrosa. 



To the eastward of Piedmont, and throughout the Italian 

 lake-district and the valley of the Ticino, the incursion of 

 Crossbills was very considerable, large numbers of the species 

 having: been observed in several localities from the middle of 

 June onwards until September. 



So far as regards the remainder of Northern Italy, from 

 information which has kindly been communicated to me by 

 Professor Martorelli and Count Arrigoni, I gather that the 



