124 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
relation the Chaffinch; but in the present instance the.sexes seem to have 
been pretty evenly balanced, although perhaps the males were slightly in 
excess—of the twenty-nine birds I saw twelve were females. About the — 
same time as the large flocks were in the forest, a flock of some fifty or 
sixty birds was seen in the fir-woods on the western side of the river, but 
so far as I know these escaped molestation, and, strange to say, at the 
present time (Feb. 2nd) they seem to have entirely disappeared from both 
localities, whether gone further south or west to seek ‘‘ new pastures ” and 
less persecution, or (deceived by the spring-like weather) back to their home 
in the far north, I cannot say. One thing is certain, they did not stay long © 
enough to consume all the beech-mast.—G. B. Corbin (Ringwood, Hants). 
Abundance of Crossbills in the Severn Valley.—I have noticed more I 
Crossbills (Lowia curvirostra) in the Severn Valley this winter than usual. — 
I have several times counted as many as a dozen feeding at the same time — 
on my lawn. It would be interesting to know whether observers in other 
parts of the country have noticed an abnormal increase.—R. H. Rams- 
BoTHAM (Monkmoor, Shrewsbury). 
Rooks and Buttercup Bulbs.— While walking in a large meadownear _ 
Kingham last January, Mr. H. C. Playne and myself noticed that the Rooks 
had been turning up the bulbs of Ranunculus bulbosus, which lay scattered 
in every direction over the field. ‘The same process had also been pursued 4 
in other fields in the neighbourhood. In every case the bulb had been 
partially eaten by a grub, and it was this of course that the birds were : 
after. I have not been able to find the grub in the act so as to identify it. 
This performance of the Rooks is new to me, and also to Mr. O. V. Aplin, — 
who has studied the habits of Corvus frugilegus in relation to agriculture. | 
Were the birds in this case doing good or harm to the field? The grubs #) 
would seem to have been benefiting it by keeping down the growth of 
buttercups, which are acrid and unpalatable to cattle. On the other hand, A 
the Rooks were finishing the work of the grubs by pulling the damaged 
bulb clean out of the ground. — W. Warbr Fow ter (Lincoln College, 
Oxford). 
Rough-legged Buzzard near Ringwood.—In January, 1897, a speci- | 
men of Buteo lagopus was killed not far from the Avon in this neighbour- 
hood, and its occurrence in this locality being, so far as I know, “few and | 
far between,” I thought it worth noting—although rather a stale record— 
but illness prevented my doing so previously. The bird was a uoble 
specimen, although badly shot, and to a person not familiar with the — 
species its soft Owl-like plumage appeared peculiar, so unlike the compara- — 
tively stiff and close-set feathers of a Peregrine Falcon, or even the softer 
plumage of a Harrier. The specimen in question had been feeding upon 
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