possessed lost that brilliant colour at the first moult, 

 and never regained it ; I am by no means certain that 

 this red phase is not occasionally assumed by old hen- 

 birds in the wild state, still less that it is a proof of 

 complete maturity in the males, but on this compli- 

 cated subject I do not pretend to speak with any 

 authority. 



With reference to the migrations of the Crossbill I 

 think that the following free translation of part of a 

 letter addressed to me in September 1889 by H.R.H. 

 the Duke of Braganca, now King Carlos of Portugal, 

 may not be without interest to my readers ; it was 

 written from the Palace of Belem, but is not dated : — 

 " Five days ago we went to some extensive pine-woods 

 on the coast to wait for the customary passage of 

 Turtle Doves ; I had killed about forty of these, when 

 one of my companions called my attention to a great 

 flight of little birds that uttered a call-note to which 

 we were not accustomed ; this flight was out of shot- 

 range, but was succeeded by a second which flew lower, 

 and my companion and I managed to shoot four of 

 them ; to our great surprise they were Loxice, Crossbills 

 I think they are called in English. Both species of 

 Loxia are rare in Portugal, being only found on the high 

 mountains, and even there in small numbers, and here 

 on a plain on the sea-coast, and evidently on passage, 

 in three successive days we killed more than 150, and 

 did not kill three or four thousand simply because we 

 had no wish to do so; the air on all sides was dark 

 with them. Por nine years I have annually attended 

 this passage of the Doves, but never before saw a 



