244 HKITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiv. 



which lies off Yarmouth has been another excellent post of 

 observation, and from it the late Mr. Booth, of Brighton, 

 received many hundreds of wings, but of recent years the}^ 

 have not been collected. A new Lightship, the " Cromer 

 Knoll," has now . been anchored twenty miles N.N.E. of 

 Cromer, and is in charge of an officer who promises to keep 

 bird notes, with what result we cannot yet say. 



Classified Notes. 



Hooded Crow [Corviis c. comix). 

 Early sottthivard passage. — It would seem that this passage 

 is almost annual, and that it generally takes place on or near 

 the coast, which acts as a useful guide line to so many birds, 

 only in the case of the Hooded Crow the movement is too 

 early to be called autumnal migration. A Hooded Crow 

 was detected by Mr. C. G. Doughty on June nth, and on 

 the 13th Mr. Arthur Patterson saw no less than ten, while 

 on July 22nd Dr. Long came across a couple at Horse}', 

 which seemed to be young ones. These would appear to 

 have been the advance guard following the coast from more 

 northern counties, or from Scotland, and not home-bred 

 birds as might be at first supposed. Nidification in Norfolk, 

 although suspected, has never been actually proved. 



Carrion-Crow^ (C. c. corone). 

 Unlike the Hooded Crow, the Carrion-Crow breeds every year 

 in Norfolk, but in very small numbers ; there is very little 

 proof of its receiving migratory additions in the autumn, 

 although in this connection the observations of Professor 

 Newton {Zoologist, 1878, p. 49) must be taken into considera- 

 tion. I preserve two pair at Keswick and they reward me 

 by stealing eggs. On June 13th I saw one of them attack a 

 Waterhen. 



House-Sparrow {Passer d. domestic its). 

 September 24th. Three flocks to-day, each about two 

 hundred yards from the cliff, containing fifty Sparrows or 

 so apiece, for the most part immature. The question has 

 been often asked whether the flocks of House-Sparrows, 

 which are to be seen every autumn — especially in September — ■ 

 near the low line of cliffs running for several miles to the 

 east and west of Cromer, and in many other parts of the coast, 

 are migrants from over the sea. If the evidence of our 

 Norfolk floating lightships, such as the " Leman and Ower," 

 is to be accepted, the answer must be in the negative, for 

 among the many wings which have been furnished b}^ these 



