OCCASIONAL NOTES. 403 
an old or young bird could be seen on or near the cliffs, so that in this 
case the whistling must have proceeded from the Guillemot, and I am 
certain that this was the case. It appears, therefore, from the paragraph 
from Saxby, as well as the local name common to both, that the cries of 
the young fledglings are alike. Should this be the case it is rather 
remarkable, sceing the notes of the old birds in the two species are so very 
dissimilar.—Joan Corpraux (Great Cotes, Ulceby). 
STaRLINGs veRsus Sxy Larxs.—Some time since I directed attention 
to the fact that Sky Larks were diminishing in numbers in this immediate 
neighbourhood, and I blamed the Starlings for causing this result (Zool. 
1878, p. 427). I have seen no reason to change my opinion as then 
expressed. A few days ago I cut the following from the ‘ Dumfries 
Courier’:—* It is said that the Lark has within the last two or three years 
been rapidly disappearing from several districts in Scotland, where it used 
to be found in great numbers in spring and early summer. Districts in 
the counties of Perth and Forfar are specially referred to. The disappearance 
of the Lark is believed to be due to the prodigious increase in the numbers 
of the Starling, which swarm in droves and plunder the nests.” On the 
22nd July, in the ‘ Kirkcudbrightshire Advertiser,’ I met with the sub- 
joined statement relative to the western portion of Kirkcudbrightshire, but 
which would apply equally well to the eastern side of the county :—* The 
Lark is unfortunately rapidly vanishing from this district, and I fear the 
Starling must be credited with the marked scarcity of this our sweetest 
songster. The habits of the Starling when rearing young lead them to 
grass-fields, and just to places most affected by the Lark when nesting; 
and although the writer has never caught the Starling flayrante delicto, yet 
he has more than once come on the nest of a Lark containing broken 
eggs, and all round Starlings were poking about in a suggestive manner 
among the grass.” I do not mean to say that, in Natural History matters, 
newspapers are to be taken as reliable informants, but such paragraphs as 
the above show that the scarcity of Sky Larks, and the connection (real 
or fancied) of the Starling with their disappearance, is attracting attention. 
Probably some one resident in the districts named above may communicate 
the result of his observations to the pages of ‘The Zoologist.—RoBerr 
Service (Maxwelltown, Dumfries, N.B.) 
CRossBILL BREEDING NEAR York.—Although the Crossbill, as a rule, 
retires to northern latitudes to breed, still there are several instances on 
record of its remaining to nest in England. Every authentic instance 
should be recorded, for in consequence of its breeding so early in spring its 
nest is seldom found. My friend Mr. Widdas found this bird breeding in 
a fir plantation at Stockton-on-Forest, near York. He and another friend 
were rambling through the plantation very early in spring, when they saw, 
