68 CROSSBILLS 



ones, which bounded lightly away, and joined the rest 

 of the flock without more ado, seemingly none the 

 worse for their twelve days' fast. Three half-breds 

 that is, half blackface, half Cheviot on the same farm 

 lay in a drift for four days. These were helpless when 

 taken out, and had to be fed on gruel for a fortnight 

 before they were able to go with the rest of the flock. 

 Instances have been reported of blackfaced sheep, 

 buried in the same storm, surviving after entombment 

 for twenty-five days. 



XXX 



The winter of 1894-5 will remain memorable for the 

 number of unusual winged visitors it brought to our 



inhospitable shores ; and, as it seems impos- 



Crossbills . r . -, ,. ' J7"j 



sible for an Englishman to see a rare bird 



without instantly taking measures for its destruction, 

 there is the inevitable tale to tell of beautiful and 

 interesting creatures done to death. 



Two species of crossbill have their place in the 

 British List, one of which, Loxia curvirostra, is a 

 regular native, though very far from common. The 

 other, Loxia bifasciata, is so named because of two 

 conspicuous bars of white across the wing coverts. It 

 is a rare straggler from the pine forests of Russia and 

 Siberia, and the plumage is of a richer and brighter 

 crimson than that of the regular British species. A 

 small party of these two-barred crossbills were forced 

 hither by stress of weather in February. One male, in 



