334 BRITISH BIRDS. 



berland, [1821], 1838, 1869. Cheviot Hills, 1898. Car- 

 narvon, 1890 or 1891. Merioneth, [1897]. Montgomery, 

 1880. 



Scotland. — ^An early autumn-immigrant as in England, 

 but apparantly not so regular ; subject to similar irrup- 

 tions, when it appears in numbers in the far northern 

 and western isles. Breeds sporadically and rarely in 

 southern Scotland, and may also do so in the territory 

 of Loxia c. scotica, but proof is so far wanting. The 

 Common Crossbill seems to have nested in the following 

 counties :— Ayr, 1864, [1884]. Dumfries, [1838-91, 1888. 

 Kincardine, 1903. Linlithgow, 1839. Stirling, 1839. 



Ireland. — Xow resident, but not indigenous. Ap- 

 parently only migrates to Ireland in j^ears of " irruptions." 

 Following the irruption of 1838, it bred in co. Tipperary, 

 in 1867 in co. Kildare ; since 1868 it has settled down in 

 Fermanagh ; since 1881 in King's county ; between 1883 

 and 1895 in Westmeath. Following the irruption of 

 1887-8, it increased and bred more widely, and is now 

 established (with fluctuations) in large plantations of 

 conifers in each province (c/. R. J. Ussher, Birds of 

 Ireland). 



The Scottish Crossbill, Loxia curvirostra scotica, Hart. 



The published information with regard to the distribu- 

 tion and immigrations of the Scottish Crossbill, which is 

 confined as a breeding-bird to Scotland, is very scanty, 

 and much more observation must be made concerning it 

 before we can give at all a complete account of its status. 

 From the information available this appears to be as 

 foUows : — Resident in northern Scotland, where it breeds 

 from south-eastern Sutherland, throughout the INIoray 

 Basin southwards to Dunkeld (Perth), westward to Loch 

 Maree (western Ross), and eastwards to Huntley (Banff). 

 Has occurred sporadically in winter in very small numbers 

 in the following southern counties of Scotland, but does 

 not appear to be a regular migrant from the data at 

 present available : — Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Fife. 



