142 Birds. 



The Wood-chat. A specimen of the wood-chat shrike {Lanius ru- 

 /us), was taken in a fishing-boat at Scilly. The claims of this species 

 to rank as a British bird, at the time Mr. Selby pubhshed the first 

 edition of his * llkistrations of British Ornithology,' were so much 

 doubted by him, that he refrained from giving either a figure or de- 

 scription of the bird, although it had been considered as British by 

 most of our naturalists ; but since the first publication of his valuable 

 work, whatever doubts existed then, some instances have occun-ed 

 of its capture in England ; and I am proud in being able to report 

 that Cornwall can afford one of the instances of the occurrence of so 

 rare a British bird. The specimen, which I now have in my collec- 

 tion, is an adult male bird, equal in size to the red-backed shrike, or 

 common butcher-bird {Lanius Colhirio), which in shape and form it 

 greatly resembles. The figures given by Bewick and Yarrell afford a 

 correct representation of the bird. 



White-winged Crossbill. The next rare bird which has come un- 

 der my notice, and of which a connect figure is given in the second 

 volume of YarrelFs ' British Birds,' is the white-winged crossbill, 

 [Loxia leucoptera). This bird was killed a few years since at Larig- 

 gan, near this place, and was preserved in a very mutilated state as a 

 supposed chaffinch. The two white bars in the wing no doubt caused 

 the mistake, and it was by mere accident that I detected the specimen 

 just in time to prevent its falling to pieces, through the united agen- 

 cies of moths and mildew. This species is not, I observe, included 

 by Selby as a British bird ; and, according to Yarrell, not more than 

 four authenticated instances of its capture in England are recorded. 



With reference to these three instances of very rare British birds 

 being found in our county, I may remark that two out of the three, 

 namely, the white-winged crossbill and the pectoral sandpiper, are 

 North-American species, whilst the wood-chat shrike is found in 

 France, Germany, &c. It is therefore an interesting fact connected 

 with the natural history of the county, and one that cannot but act as 

 an encouragement to our resident scientific naturalists to watch with 

 interest what the seasons may produce, that in the space between the 

 Scilly isles and the Lizard, comprising two of the cardinal points of 

 the kingdom, the most southerly and westerly points, these three rare 

 birds have occurred ; thus showing at least the probability of many 

 of our birds of passage taking advantage of the nearest cardinal point 

 in this country to alight on, if not permanently to reside in, till their 

 migratory calls again induce them to return. 



