76 The Naturalist in Siluria. 



us all the year. It is a bird well-known to the denizens 

 of the Forest of Dean. 



The Crossbill {Loxia curvirostra), a yet more interest- 

 ing bird, is certainly a permanent resident in many parts 

 of Herefordshire, as also becoming, year after year, more 

 abundant. Mr. James W. Lloyd, of Kington, records it 

 as occurring in that neighbourhood in the months of May, 

 July, August, October, and during the winter ; and since, 

 in August, he has observed the male, female, and young 

 together, it seems conclusive that they had nested there. 

 The Rev. Clement Ley, of King's Caple, and Arthur Ar- 

 mitage, Esq., of Dadnor, have frequently observed small 

 flocks of them, noting also that they usually appear in the 

 mysterious odd numbers of three, five, or seven. In a 

 very interesting article on the ornithology of Hereford- 

 shire, the joint production of these gentlemen, it is re- 

 marked : "Most curious birds they are, and very interest- 

 ing it has been to watch their parrot-like motions, as they 

 clamber from bough to bough of the spruce fir-trees, 

 frequently breaking off a spray with the cone attached to 

 it, which they grasp in their claws while they extract the 

 seeds, producing a loud, snapping noise with their power- 

 ful bills. Among those which visited us last summer 

 were several young males of the year, whose brilliant rosy 

 plumage formed a striking contrast to the almost sooty 

 hues of their companions." In fact, taking its habits, 

 colour of plumage, and general appearance into account, 

 the Crossbill is as much parrot as finch, and several of 

 the species, as Loxia pityopsitaccus, L. tcenioptera, and L. 

 leucoptera — all occasional, though rarer, visitants to our 

 island — show this alliance in an equal or even greater 

 degree. 



