84 MARCH 



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 

 Crossbills 



brought to our inhospitable shores ; and, 



as it seems impossible 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 curvirostm, 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 Eussia 

 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 cross- 



