1 04 Zoology. 



tish Ornithology. I have just dissected a female, shot yesterday, while feeding 

 upon a larch tree, the seeds of which, divested of their outer skin, filled the oeso- 

 phagus and crop. The state of the ovary was slightly advanced, some of the 

 eggs having nearly attained the size of a No. 8 shot even. Is it likely that 

 these late flocks will remain and breed in the northern parts of England and 

 Scotland ? This is a question of interest, and it is to be hoped that gentlemen pos- 

 sessing extensive pine and fir woods, and who atttend to ornithology, will endea- 

 vour to ascertain the fact. The appearance of the crossbill is much more fre- 

 quent of late years than it used formerly to be, and this I attribute to the exten- 

 sive plantations made in various directions, all of which contain a large propor- 

 tion of the larch and other species of fir, the seed of which constitutes the fa- 

 vourite and principal food of this bird. The numerous specimens I have ex- 

 amined this season, have all been of the common species, nor have I heard of 

 any authenticated instance of the Loxia pytiopsittacus having been met with. — 

 P. J. S. 



Macrorampus griseus A specimen has been lately procured of this very 



rare European bird in the vicinity of Carlisle, by T. C. Heysham, Esq. This 

 is the third time it has occurred in Britain. Col. Montague's specimen ; one 

 mentioned by Mr Gould killed near Yarmouth ; and that now recorded. 



Curruca atricapilla and Phcenicura tithys wintering in Britain. — Among the 

 Sylviadae which occasionally winter in England is the Blackcap Warbler, Curru- 

 ca atricapilla. This sweet songster, a correspondent informs me, has been a con- 

 stant visitant in his garden, near Bristol, during the whole of the past winter, even 

 whilst the frost and snow were pretty severe. In the winter of 1834-5, also, 

 the same gentleman, about the end of December, shot a female of this species as 

 it flew across in company with another, and he adds, I have heard the male in 

 full song in some of the coldest days we have had. In Northumberland it is 

 one of our earliest spring visitants, and from my notes I perceive that its 

 arrival has sometimes preceded that of the yellow-willow wren, (Sylvia tro- 

 chilus). The usual period of arrival is between the 14th and 18th of April. 

 A specimen of Phaenicura tithys was shot near the same gentleman's resi- 

 dence in December last, flying in company with the stonechat in some gorse and 

 whin bushes — P. J. S. 



Phycis furcatus — has lastly been taken on the coast of the Solway Firth, 

 near Whitehaven. T. C. Heysham, March 1886. " First discovered on the 

 Cornish coast by Mr Couch, occurred also at St Andrews, and seen in the Car- 

 Ksle market in December 1833 by Mr Heysham."* 



Raniceps trifurcatus — Three species were taken in the Firth of Forth in 

 February last (1836,) by the net which is used in the neighbourhood of Alloa 

 for the capture of sparlings ( Osmerus eperlanus. ) They are known there to some 

 of the fishermen by the name of black fish, and acknowledged to be of rare oc- 

 currence R. Parnell. 



Charadrius morinellus, breeding in Cumberland. — In the neighbourhood of 

 * Yarrell, Br. Fishes. 



