NOTES. m 



of this species in Great Britain, the first having been recorded 

 from Fair Island by Mr. W. Eagle Clarke. 



The appearance of this Swallow in Great Britain is not so 

 very surprising as an example was obtained on Heligoland on 

 May 31st, 1855. The habitat of this species as given by Mr. 

 Dresser (Man. Pal. Birds, p. 267) is : — " Southern Europe as 

 far west as Italy and Sicily, ranging east through Asia Minor, 

 Palestine to Persia, Afghanistan and Turkestan. In winter it 

 occurs as far south as Abyssinia, and it has strayed on one 

 occasion at least as far north as Heligoland, and has occurred 

 in Malta." 



Both this bird and the Brown Flycatcher (recorded on 

 p. 112) were sent to Mr. Bristow, of St. Leonards, for 

 preservation. 



M. J. Nicoll. 



LESSER REDPOLL NESTING IN ESSEX. 



Last year I was able to record the breeding of the Lesser 

 Redpoll (Linota rufescens) in Essex (c/. Vol. II., p. 203). I am 

 pleased to be able to report that a pair have built in the same 

 place again this year, this time in a crutch at the top of a walnut- 

 tree and about thirty-five feet from the ground, the tree being 

 not more than forty yards from the one used last year. 



A single bird appeared April 10th, and it was not until June 

 that I saw the second one. Incubation did not begin until 

 the last week of June, and the young flew on July 24th. 



I find, on referring to my notes, that last year the young 

 flew just about the same date as this year, so that from these 

 cases and from what Mr. Bond has stated with reference to the 

 same bird in Sussex (supra, p. 22) it would seem as though 

 the species nests later in the south of England than in 

 Sutherlandshire or Cumberland, in both of which counties I 

 have found eggs by the first week in June. 



Leonard Gray. 



THE IRRUPTION OF CROSSBILLS. 



On June 28th, a flight of sixty or so Crossbills, in a somewhat 

 exhausted state, pitched on the rigging of the " Dunottar 

 Castle," about sixty or seventy miles from the Hardanger Fjord, 

 Norway, towards which she was steaming. They took refuge 

 on board about seven in the evening, and after resting a couple 

 of hours took their departure. They first took to the upper 

 rigging, but soon made their way downwards, and finally 

 rested in the boats on the davits. 



My brother, who was on board at the time, gives me the 



