460 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
NOLES? AND QU ense 

AVES. 
Supposed Occurrence of Scarlet Grosbeak (Pyrrhula erythrina) in 
Oxfordshire —On Jan. 31st, 1912, during a spell of hard weather, 
with north and east winds prevailing, Miss J. H. Blunt, of Adder- 
bury Manor (and, from another window, three adult members of her 
household), watched, as it was feeding among some birds for whom 
food had been put out in a courtyard, a bird unknown at the time, 
but identified by a reference to Howard Saunders’s ‘Manual’ as 
a Scarlet Grosbeak (Pyrrhula erythrina). A coloured sketch of the 
bird was prepared from memory of its appearance directly afterwards, 
and most kindly sent to me, and I do not think that anyone who saw 
this would have any doubt as to the correctness of the identification. 
The peculiar cap of burnished carmine is characteristic, and well 
represented in the sketch, and I think the bird must have been a 
quite adult male. Miss Blunt writes: “It looked like a jewel 
(ruby) in the sun, on the head and breast ...a sort of rose-crimson 
—so different from the red on most other birds.” It was not seen 
again after that day. I will only add that Mr. Harvie-Brown (who, 
of course, knows this bird well in life), to whom Miss Blunt wrote 
describing the bird seen at Adderbury, thought it was undoubtedly a 
Scarlet Grosbeak. This is a welcome addition to our Oxfordshire list 
of rare birds.—O. V. Apuin (Bloxham, Oxon). 
The Perching Habits of Starlings.—For the main purpose of my 
paper in ‘The Zoologist’ (ante, p. 281), I made no distinction between 
sheep and cattle. Perhaps deer might be included also, for I have 
noticed Starlings on these animals; but I find now that I have no 
notes, nor any safe recollection, relating to horses. To the Jackdaw 
mentioned by Mr. Morris, I would add the Wagtails, which often 
perch on cattle. It has occurred to me that a map showing the dis- 
tribution of the habit in our islands would be rather interesting, and 
might hold some surprises. For example, the information already 
available suggests that the whole of Cheshire, and perhaps the whole 
of Ireland, must be viewed as ‘‘non-perching”’ areas. I should be 
glad to receive notes relating to any locality, and if I get a sufficient 
