76 The Oologists' Record, December i, 1922. 



air, inspire one to exertion which would be impossible at home. 

 While the memory of the endless tramps, footsore and weary, over 

 snowfield and sodden tundra or sharp screes becomes more and 

 more dim, the recollection of the Arctic sunshine flooding the 

 snow-capped hills and glaciers, with the still waters of the fjord 

 at their feet, forms a mental picture which is unforgettable 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE COMMON CROSSBILL 



Uoxia c curuirostra). 



By Norman Gilroy. 



It was in what is known as the " Breck " district of East Anglia, 

 — the wide area of sandy flint-strewn warrens on the Norfolk and 

 Suffolk borders, through which the Little Ouse winds lazily, and 

 of which the endless belts of Scotch firs, not only bordering the 

 roads but binding the fields and woods themselves, are so prominent 

 a feature — that I first came into somewhat mysterious touch with 

 the Crossbill. LTp to that time — I think it was 1901 — the Crossbill 

 was a species to which I had given only a passing thought. I had 

 looked upon it as a bird which was little more than a casual visitor, 

 breeding no doubt from time to time in odd localities at extraordinary 

 times of the year, and I had relegated it to the extreme background 

 as far as my own observations were concerned. 



Then, on a visit to Norfolk in late April, 1901, I saw two young 

 birds being fed by their parents in the middle of the road. They 

 were nearly fully fledged, but I managed to catch one of them, 

 and the distress of the parent birds was unbounded. The cock 

 actually pitched on my arm, and I knew then that I had stumbled 

 unwittingly on a species that was almost outside my scheme of 

 things. 



There was an intelligent shepherd whose acquaintance I had 

 made, and I deternpned to consult him on the matter. To my 

 astonishment he informed me that, to his own knowledge,, the 

 Crossbill had always bred in the district, and that a year never 

 passed but he either found the nests or saw the young of at least 

 two or three pairs, generally in February or March ; in fact, that 

 the Crossbill, like the Stone Curlew and the Woodlark, was one of 

 the typical birds of the countryside. My main oliject in making 



