ORNITHOLOGICAL BE PORT FOB NOBFOLK. 129 



21st. — Migration of Crossbills. — The first intimation of the 

 great Crossbill immigration having reached Norfolk came from 

 Mr. E. C. Saunders, who had one which had struck the tele- 

 graph-wires near Yarmouth on June 21st. No more were 

 reported during that month, but on July 8th the gardener at 

 Northrepps counted twelve on a spruce-fir. The following day 

 a male occurred at Stalham (Bird), and on the 10th the flock at 

 Northrepps had increased from twelve to sixteen. Although 

 constantly looking out for them, it was not until Sept. 22nd that 

 I obtained my first view of three feeding on a young larch-tree at 

 Northrepps. These soon disappeared, but on Oct. 26th the 

 same small plantation was visited by a much larger flock, my 

 gardener, whose attention was first attracted to them by their 

 notes, counting twenty-five. During November and December 

 a good many were seen in South-west Norfolk, where there is a 

 good deal of uncultivated country, and plenty of fir-trees. Near 

 Thetford they appear to have been almost common (W. G. 

 Clarke), while there were many in the neighbourhood of Swaff- 

 ham (E. T. Danberry), and at Didlington (Upcher), and some at 

 Castle Eising (Tracey). I watched a pair on Jan. 2nd at Thet- 

 ford. It is always an engaging sight to watch their parrot- 

 like ways. One of them detached a good-sized cone from a 

 young Scotch-fir, and flew with it in its beak from the fir-tree 

 on which it had been perched for several yards, but, again 



alighting, began slowly pecking the cone 



to pieces, holding it the while with one 



or both feet, while its strong mandibles 



brought point to point (though this I 



was not near enough to distinguish) 



prised off the scales. Its actions in 



dealing with a cone display great mus- 

 cular strength, and there is hardly any 



attitude which Crossbills are incapable 



of assuming. After some minutes the 



cone was dropped, and I picked up what 



I believe to have been the same one, of 



which Mr. Wilson has made a drawing. On examination it 



does not seem very dissimilar from a cone dealt with by a 



Greater Spotted Woodpecker, which was drawn in a former 



