NOTES. 363 



The coloration of Blyth's Reed- Warbler is less red than that 

 of the Reed- Warbler, and even slightly more olivaceous and 

 rather darker than that of the Marsh-Warbler, but to dis- 

 tinguish any of these three species by the coloration without 

 very careful comparison is impossible. 



Blyth's Reed-Warbler, however, differs in wing-formula 

 from both the other species, by having a considerably shorter 

 second primary. This in Blyth's Reed- War bier falls between 

 the fifth and seventh (and is sometimes shorter than the 

 seventh), whereas, in the other two species, the second is 

 generally equal to the fourth. 



According to Dr. Hartert {Vog. pal. Fauna, I., p. 564) 

 Blyth's Reed-Warbler breeds in the Himalayas, Altai, Turke- 

 stan, Bokhara, Transcaspia, western Siberia, and in Russia 

 from Orenburg to Moscow and St. Petersburg, and northward 

 to Archangel. It winters in India, southward to Ceylon and 

 Lower Burma. It does not appear to have been noticed 

 previously westward of St. Petersburg. 



GREAT GREY SHRIKE IN MONTGOMERYSHIRE. 



On March 25th, 1911,1 received for identification an adult 

 specimen of the Great Grey Shrike (Lanius excubitor) which 

 had been found at Penybontfawr, near Llangynog ; it had 

 apparently been dead several days. There are very few pre- 

 vious records in the county of Montgomery (c/. Vert. Fauna 

 N. Wales, -p. 12Q). 



Since writing the above, I have seen at the shop of a local 

 taxidermist another example, obtained in the same county in 

 October, 1910 ; the owner does not wish the locality to be 

 pubhshed. H. E. Forrest. 



CROSSBILLS BREEDING IN ENGLAND IN 1911.— 



In Suffolk. 



During the last twelve months I have been in regular com- 

 munication with friends in regard to the movements of Cross- 

 bills [Loxia curvirostra) in Suffolk, and on March 9th, 1911, I 

 received word that many birds were still about, and that they 

 were all in pairs. On the strength of this information, I 

 journeyed to the same locality where I found them breeding 

 last year. On March 12tli a systematic search resulted in the 

 finding of three nests — one with four slightly-incubated eggs, 

 another with three eggs also slightly incubated, and a third 

 without eggs. All the nests were in t^rpical situations in 

 Scotch pines. 



