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In Sweden it is numerous during the winter season; and I shot many near Gefle and in 
other parts of Eastern Sweden during the winter I spent there, and when travelling along the 
Swedish coast by sledge in the winter season. It is said to breed in Quickjock, Lapland; and 
Mr. Wheelwright obtained a nest, with two eggs, taken about an English mile from Quickjock. 
Dr. Sundstrém informs me that it sometimes occurs in the southern parts of Sweden till quite 
late in the spring; he himself saw flocks in Nerike on the 23rd of April, 1859; and a female was 
killed on the 6th of May, 1848, near Nykoping, in Sédermanland. 
In Finland it is common in the winter season throughout the country, and breeds as far 
south as Uleaborg, where I took the nest as stated below. When travelling up the coast from 
St. Petersburg in the spring I repeatedly met with flocks, and saw small parties as late as May, 
some of those I then shot having the testes as large as swan-shot. Near St. Petersburg they are 
common during the winter season; and I have seen thousands brought to the Gostinnoi Dvor, 
and exposed for sale in large, square, shallow baskets. In the Archangel Government they are 
common near the town of Archangel in the spring and autumn, but do not remain there during 
the winter. ‘That they breed in the neighbourhood of that town is certain, as I have received 
from my collector there young birds which could only have left the nest a few days; and 
Mr. Meves observed a female feeding her young near the town of Onega in the month of July. 
Mr. Sabandeff writes to me that “ Professor Kessler met with it in the late summer in the 
Government of Olonetz; and from my own personal observation I believe it breeds in the district 
of Sarapulsk, in the Government of Viatka. It is not uncommon in the south-eastern part of the 
Permsk Ural, and certainly breeds in the Pavlinsk Dacha. On the 26th of May I saw one in a 
forest on the boundary of the Perm and Viatka Governments, near the village of Saigatke, which 
appeared to be enticing a dog away from its nest.” 
It is not uncommon in the Baltic Provinces during the cold season; and Mr. Taczanowski 
writes that “it arrives in Poland during the winter, when it finds abundance of food in berries, 
and late in the season will feed on the buds of fruit-trees. They sometimes remain as late as the 
middle of May, and then leave after having paired.” In North Germany it is, Borggreve writes 
(Vogelf. Nordd. p. 80), ‘more common in the eastern than in the western portions of the country. 
On the Mosel it is rare; Schafer obtained only three. Gloger states that a pair bred in the 
Carlsruhe park, near Appeln; and Blasius likewise records its having bred on one occasion in the 
Stuttgart park.” 
In Denmark it is common during the winter season, leaving again early in the spring, but 
it is not seen in equal numbers every season. In Holland and Belgium it is likewise found 
during the cold season. De Selys states that a couple of years rarely pass without the appearance 
of some of these birds near Liége in the winter months; and according to De la Fontaine they 
visit Luxembourg at intervals in severe weather. It only occurs in Holland during the winter; 
and although my artist, Mr. Keulemans, assures me that it has once been known to breed there, 
I cannot believe that such is the case. In France it occurs at long intervals and during very 
severe winters; Godron records it from near Nancy. It has also occurred in Southern France; 
but Jaubert and Barthélemy-Lapommeraye write that since the great visitations of 1829 and 
1834 this species has not been met with in Provence. I do not find it recorded from Spain or 
Portugal; but Count Salvadori states that in Upper Italy it occurs nearly every year, sometimes 
