CH. V.] GROSSBEAK WRYNECK, &C. 205 



the Merlin, though the converse is, I believe, the 

 case throughout the southern parts of Hampshire 

 and Dorsetshire. I can call to mind indeed but 

 a single instance of its being met with there. 



The Grossbeak (Loxia coccothraustes) was, 

 some twenty or twenty-five years ago, very com- 

 mon during one or two winters, when my brothers 

 and I (as boys) used to shoot so many in common 

 with Blackbirds and Thrushes, that we scarcely 

 thought more of them than of those birds, and 

 many were the pies and roties to which they 

 contributed in no mean proportion. Since that 

 time, however, they have become comparatively 

 scarce, and two, or perhaps three, stragglers is the 

 most that I remember to have seen. The last was 

 in January or February 1858. The Wryneck 

 (Yunx torquilla Vectick "Barley-bird") used to 

 be one of our most regular visitors, but has gra- 

 dually become more and more rare, and we are 

 now scarcely ever greeted by his lively call. The 

 Grasshopper-warbler (Salicaria locustella) is not 

 common, and appears to confine himself exclu- 

 sively to particular spots. I know of only one 

 covert (of about four acres) in which he is to be 

 heard, but this apparently never fails to contain 

 one or two during the summer. Till within the 



