NOTES. 247 



North Cotes, Lines. Of the Continental Goldcrest 

 {Regulus c. cristatus), I liave specimens from Holkham on 

 September 21st and 26th, 1905, and from the south Yorkshire 

 coast on October 27th, 1909, and have examined specimens in 

 Mr. Caton Haigh's collection from North Cotes, Lines, 

 dated September 28th, 1898 ; October 5th, 1897 ; October 

 18th, 19th and 20th, 1892. H. F. Withers y. 



IMMIGRATION OF CONTINENTAL GREAT TITS IN 

 NORFOLK, SUFFOLK, KENT AND SCILLY. 



One of the features of the autumn-migration of 1910 on the 

 east coast has been the great influx of Great Tits. On 

 October 1st, I saw the first arrivals on the Lowestoft Denes ; 

 on the 12th, I shot a bird in a bush near the sea and saw 

 others. On the 13th and 14th there was a gale from the 

 N.E. and E. becoming less strong on the 15tli and shifting to 

 the S.E. On this latter day and on the next I picked up two 

 Great Tits on the tide-mark and two more were also found 

 and one brought to me. On the 17th there was a very large 

 movement to the south of Chaffinches, Bramblings, Green- 

 finches and Linnets, along the Lowestoft Denes, many flocks 

 passing between 7 and 8.30 a.m. ; amongst these finches I 

 identified Blue and Great Tits, as well as an unmixed flock 

 of the latter birds. All these birds were in fairly compact 

 flocks flying steadily south along the ridge of the Denes and 

 not halting anywhere. Out of one of the flocks I secured a 

 Great Tit. During the middle of October both Blue and 

 Great Tits were, I am informed, unusually plentiful in the 

 gardens round Yarmouth, and on November 1st, a flock of 

 about twenty Great Tits was seen by Mr. Quinton, a bird- 

 catcher, arriving over the sea from the N.E. on to the 

 Yarmouth North Denes. On the next two days, he caught 

 several there, and I received four from him. 



On examining all these Great Tits, I find they belong to 

 the continental form Parus major major. The occurrence of 

 this sub-species in Great Britain has long been susi^ected 

 and doubtless birds seen in the Shetlands {Ann. Scot. Nat. 

 Hist., 1907, p. 50) and in Caithness {t.c, 1904, p. 188) 

 belonged to this form, but, so far as I am aware, this is t!ie 

 first time that it has been positively proved to have occurred 

 in the British Isles. C. B. Ticehuhst. 



Mr. C. D. Borrer sent me a Great Tit for examination 

 which had been shot at Cley, Norfolk, with others on October 

 10th, and this proved to be an example of the Continental 

 form. On November 20th, Mr. T. H. Nelson wrote me that 

 there had been a great irruption of Tits and other birds on 



