130 



side of the Rocky Mountains and in Vancouver's Island by Mr. J. K. Lord; and we have also before us a 

 series from the collections of Canon Tristram, Mr. R. Swinhoe, and Dresser. The measurements of these are 

 as follows : — Total length 5 - 5-5'75 inches, wing 33-35, tail 225, tarsus 05, culmen 06, height of bill at base 

 035, width of lower mandible at base 03. 



Loxia himalayana is the smallest of the Crossbills. In colour it approaches nearer to the L. americana 

 than to L. curvirostra. In the British Museum there are three females, one adult male, and a young bird, all 

 collected in Nepal by Mr. B. H. Hodgson, which we have had an opportunity of examining and measuring. 

 The measurements of the adult male are as follows : — Total length 5 inches, wing 3"1, tail 2, tarsus 05, 

 culmen 0'52, height of bill at base 0'37, width of lower mandible at base 03. 



The range of this species extends over the whole of the Palsearctic Region, being replaced in 

 the Nearctic Region by a closely allied species, Loxia americana. To Great Britain it comes 

 periodically, in some seasons in large flocks ; but in Scotland it is a resident in several counties. 

 Yarrell refers to some curious records of the appearance of large flocks in 1254 and in 1593, and 

 copies some interesting details from an old MS. respecting the latter occurrence. There are 

 few, if any, counties in England whence the Crossbill has not been recorded ; and, as stated by 

 Mr. More, its nest has been found in Devonshire, Somerset, Hants, Sussex, Kent, Surrey, Essex, 

 Herts, Norfolk, Gloucester, East York, West York, Durham, Northumberland, and Cumberland. 

 Mr. Gurney informs us that " Mr. Gunn, of Norwich, has a male which was shot at Westwick on 

 the 28th of September, 1871, having dull white tips to the feathers of both sets of wing-coverts, 

 like Mr. Doubleday's varieties described in Yarrell (B. B. ii. 25). It was at first supposed to 

 have been a White-winged Crossbill; and Mr. Stevenson mentions a specimen in which the 

 upper mandible, instead of merely crossing the lower, grew straight downwards to more than 

 half its natural length. I saw a very similar one at M. Buchillot's, at Metz." In Ireland, 

 according to Thompson, it is an occasional visitant ; and he refers to a supposed instance of its 

 having bred near Cahir in 1838. Mr. A. B. Brooke informs us that they appeared at Colebrooke, 

 co. Fermanagh, in considerable numbers during the winter of 1867, and a few pair remained to 

 breed ; but unfortunately, in spite of a close watch, no nest was found, though a young bird was 

 shot early in the summer of 1868. With regard to its range and nidification in Scotland we are 

 indebted to Mr. J. A. Harvie Brown for the following notes : — " Mr. A. G. More writes, ' The 

 Crossbill appears to be an increasing species in Scotland ; ' and Mr. Robert Gray says, ' Throughout 

 Scotland generally the Crossbill is widely distributed, having been taken in every county, though 

 not, as far as I am aware, in any of the outer islands.' In Caithness, though the bird has been 

 procured, we are not aware that it has been found nesting. In Sutherland, since the extensive 

 fir plantations have grown up, they have increased in numbers, and breed rather plentifully in 

 the east of the county ; and this was predicted by the late Mr. St. John as long ago as 1849 (Tour 

 in Sutherland, i.). We have also reliable information that the nest has been once at least pro- 

 cured in the north of the county. In East Ross it nests annually. In Inverness the Crossbill 

 breeds in the forest of Rothiemurchus and on the banks of the river Spey. It was here that 

 Mr. Hancock saw a nest ' at so great a height that it could not be procured.'" There is evidence 

 also of its nesting in Nairn and Moray ; and Mr. A. G. More includes it also as breeding in Banff. 

 In Aberdeen it breeds on the banks of the Dee, as also in other parts of the county. Southwards 

 it is found in Perthshire and Forfarshire ; and in Stirlingshire it has bred in the east of the 



