VOL. vii] LETTERS. 179 



PROBABLE SCARLET GROSBEAK IN HAMPSHIRE. 



To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — On August 13th, at this place (which is about two miles 

 inland from the Solent), I was startled at seeing a very brilliant scarlet 

 bird perching on a stem where there was a tangled mass of wild-flowers 

 and a hedge. I was able to get close to it with field-glasses. It was 

 certainly of the family Fringillidse, about the size of a Bullfinch, but 

 of a more slender shape ; it was scarlet in varying intensity on head, 

 breast, and rump ; wings and tail dark bro\Mi to dark browTiish-grej''; 

 the wing-coverts tipped with buff, making a dull bar across the wing^ 

 I thought there was some black through the eye, but it may have 

 been the shadow. It uttered a sort of song, several quick notes in 

 succession. On coming home and looking it up in Saunders's Manual^ 

 I could find no bird to answer to the description except the male 

 Scarlet Grosbeak {Carpodacus erythrinus) which exactly fitted it, 

 including the song. Katherine Spear Smith. 



TiTCHFiELD, Hants, August llth, 1913. 



THE SPARROW OF RATHLIN ISLAND. 



To the Editors of British Birds. 



Sirs, — In his article on the occurrence of the Tree-Sparrow in 

 Inishtrahull, Professor Patten suggests (aniea, p. 49) that observa- 

 tions should be made on the Sparrows of the neighbouring islands, 

 including Rathlin, with a view to discovering whether this bird is 

 to be found there also. We were recently in the latter island and 

 inspected the Sparrows carefully, with the result that we did not 

 observe a single Tree-Sparrow either round the crofts or feeding with 

 mixed flocks of House-Sparrows and other finches in the barley- 

 fields, and we could get no information as to this species from the 

 country-people or lightkeepers. The House-Sparrow is tolerably 

 abimdant, although rather local, its distribution depending mainly 

 on the presence of thatched roofs. Many of the newer cottages 

 are slated, and unless there are any bushes near, these are free from 

 Sparrows. For the same reason probably there are no Sparrows 

 on the lighthouse buildings on the east side of the island, although 

 they are abundant round some of the old thatched cabins hah' a mile 



^^^y- Mary G. S. Best. 



October 11th, 1913. Matjd D. Haveland. 



