Birds of East Prussia. 367 



drier sandy districts, but perhaps the reasons for its somewhat 

 peculiar distribution are of another kind. 



Emberiza citrinella, L. 

 Common. 



Emberiza calandra, L. (1758) { = E. miliaria, L., ]766). 

 Not rare in the fertile districts, but scarce or mostly 

 absent from the drier wooded parts. 



Plectrophenax nivalis (L.). 



Common in winter, but somewhat less so in mild years. 

 Usually seen going about in large flocks, and rather shy. 



(Centrophanes lapponicus has been caught near Danzig 

 and Thorn in West Prussia, and therefore may occur as a 

 straggler in East Prussia.) 



LOXIA CURVIROSTRA, L. 



This is the common Crossbill in East Prussia, and not 

 the Parrot Crossbill, as would appear from various notes 

 in the literature of the subject. 



LoXIA CURVIROSTRA PITYOPSITTACUS, Bcchst. 



This is a very rare bird, but sometimes large flocks of it 

 occur and probably some individuals remain to breed. If 

 kept separate, it should only be regarded as a subspecies ; 

 but more information is required about these forms, which, 

 in my opinion, are certainly not more than local races. 



Pyrrhula pyrrhula (L.). 



Only the large Eastern and Northern form (the so-called 

 Pyrrhula major, but no doubt the Loxia pyrrhula, Linn.) 

 is found in East Prussia. It is very common during the 

 winter, but a few remain to breed. In Western Germany 

 the large form is only a rare winter visitor, but the form 

 breeding there is the smaller and less brilliantly-coloured 

 Pyrrhula europeea, VieilL, which is merely a subspecies of 

 the former. 



PiNICOLA ENUCLEATOR (L.) . 



In many winters very great numbers arrive in East 

 Prussia, while in others they are rare, and in many years not 



