CH. V.] GROSSBEAK—WRYNECK, &c, 205 
the Merlin, though the converse is, I believe, the 
case throughout the southern parts of Hampshire 
and Dorsetshire. I can call to mind indeed but 
a single instance of its being met with there. 
The Grossbeak (Loxia coccothraustes) was, 
some twenty or twenty-five years ago, very com- 
mon during one or two winters, when my brothers 
and I (as boys) used to shoot so many in common 
with Blackbirds and Thrushes, that we scarcely 
thought more of them than of those birds, and 
many were the pies and roties to which they 
contributed in no mean proportion. Since that 
time, however, they have become comparatively 
scarce, and two, or perhaps three, stragglers is the 
most that I remember to have seen. The last was 
in January or February 1858. The Wryneck 
(Yunx torquilla—Vectict “Barley-bird”) used to 
be one of our most regular visitors, but has gra- 
dually become more and more rare, and we are 
now scarcely ever greeted by his lively call. The 
Grasshopper-warbler (Salicaria locustella) is not 
common, and appears to confine himself exclu- 
sively to particular spots. I know of only one 
covert (of about four acres) in which he is to be 
heard, but this apparently never fails to contain 
one or two during the summer. Till within the 
