441. 



FIELD NOTES. 



BIRDS. 



Crossbills in Durham. — The Crossbills, in their sorhewhat 

 more than ordinary migration to England this year, were first 

 noticed in a wood in the East of the County of Durham, in the 

 last week of June (1909). By the middle of July they were 

 pretty frequent in the Wear Valley, near Durham and Wolsing- 

 ham, and in the last week of the same month, were'noticed in the 

 woods in the Upper Browney Valley, feeding on the green 

 cones of the larch. At the same time they were in the Derwent 

 Valley, and also over in Hexhamshire in Northumberland. — 

 J. W. Fawcett, Saltley, Towlow, Co. Durham. 



Common Scoter at Doncaster. — On Sattu'day, September 

 i8th, at about 8-30 p.m., when near the Town Moor, Doncaster, 

 I heard ducks flying overhead, their call notes being un- 

 familiar to me. On the following Monday, on telling Mr. 

 Phillips about them, he said that he had been shown a duck 

 that had been found wounded near the place where I had 

 heard them, and that it was a Scoter. On the 21st inst., 

 I obtained the bird from its captor, and found it to be an 

 adult male Common Scoter, in good plumage. It has been 

 set up for the Doncaster Museum. The middle of September 

 is a remarkably early date, and Doncaster a remarkable locality 

 for such a marine species. — H. H. Corbett. 



Cream=coloured Variety of the House Sparrow. — 

 The keeper from Cusworth a few days ago brought me a very 

 interesting Sparrow. The wings, tail and sides of the neck 

 are very pale cream colour ; throat and side of head, under 

 parts and back fawn colour, fading to pale cream colour. — 

 H. H. Corbett, Doncaster. 



Glossy ibis near Doncaster. — On Wednesday, October 

 27th, I saw a Glossy Ibis exposed for sale along with other 

 wild fowl, in a game-dealer's shop. I learnt from the shop- 

 keeper that it had come in that day from Misson, near Bawtry. 

 It is a young bird, with the head and neck spotted. It is being 

 set up for the Doncaster Museum. — H. H. Corbett, Doncaster, 



Glossy Ibis at Whitby. — A remarkably fine specimen of 

 the Glossy Ibis was shot on the Old Hall Farm, Ruswarp, 

 near Whitby, on October 20th. The place where it was shot 

 is a quiet sheltered marsh}^ spot (about a mile from the sea), 

 where it had frequented for some days. It was an adult bird 



1909 Nov. I. 



