possessed lost that brilliant colour at the first moult, 
and never regained it; Iam by no means certain that 
this red phase is not occasionally assumed by old hen- 
birds in the wild state, still less that it is a proof of 
complete maturity in the males, but on this compli- 
cated subject I do not pretend to speak with any 
authority. 
With reference to the migrations of the Crossbill I 
think that the following free translation of part of a 
letter addressed to me in September 1889 by H.R.H. 
the Duke of Braganga, now King Carlos of Portugal, 
may not be without interest to my readers; it was 
written from the Palace of Belem, but is not dated :— 
“Five days ago we went to some extensive pine-woods 
on the coast to wait for the customary passage of 
Turtle Doves; I had killed about forty of these, when 
one of my companions called my attention to a great 
flight of little birds that uttered a call-note to which 
we were not accustomed; this flight was out of shot- 
range, but was succeeded by a second which flew lower, 
and my companion and I managed to shoot four of 
them ; to our great surprise they were Zoxie, Crossbills 
T think they are called in English. Both species of 
Lowia are rare in Portugal, being only found on the high 
mountains, and even there in small numbers, and here 
on a plain on the sea-coast, and evidently on passage, 
in three successive days we killed more than 150, and 
did zof kill three or four thousand simply because we 
had no wish to do so; the air on all sides was dark 
with them. Jor nine years I have annually attended 
this passage of the Doves, but never before saw a 
