Birds. 



8327 



The saying is a popular one, and implicitly believed in North Yorkshire. The robin 

 is an early builder, and generally lays five eggs, and rears at least two broods a year. 

 The general respect in which they are held causes their nests to be spared by plunder- 

 ing schoolboys, so that they may be supposed to rear their young with less drawbacks 

 than other birds; yet the appearance of the ruddy breast, either in our gardens or 

 hedgerows, in the latter end of July or August, is a rare occurrence, though the young 

 birds with their peculiar plumage are numerous. Considering the advantages they 

 enjoy they ought to be very common, and yet they cannot be said to be so. The hedge- 

 sparrows, whose nests are plundered so frequently and so cruelly, are in all localities 

 much more numerous; in my garden they are at least ten to one. There must be some 

 cause or causes at work to keep down their numbers, for it must be admitted that they 

 have advantages over all other birds in the laying of their eggs and rearing of their 

 young. The question is what are those causes ? — John Whatt ; Kirby Moorside, York- 

 shire. 



The Bluethroated Warbler (Sylvia suecica) at Brighton. — On the 7th of November 

 I saw a most beautiful specimen of the bluethroated warbler at Mr. Pratt's, taxider- 

 mist, Brighton. It was caught by a boy on the Downs, and is sold for £2. — John 

 Button; South Street, Eastbourne. [See also Zool. 8281.— E. N.] 



The Black Redstart (Sylvia Tithys) in the Isle of Wight. — Yesterday, being Sunday, 

 the 2nd of November, no less than six male specimens were seen near Freshwater Gate, 

 and I have had one specimen, a magnificent male, brought to me this morning by 

 Mr. C. Theobald ; a second was wounded, but not being carefully marked down was 

 lost. No doubt that others will be obtained, as they have been observed to-day by dif- 

 ferent persons. Yesterday I heard an unusual call-note from a bird in an elm tree on 

 which the leaves were rather thick. The call was something like " fid-fid, tack-tack.'' 

 I think it was a bird of this species, but I could not get to see it. Since writing the 

 above I have obtained three other specimens, two females and a male, so that I have 

 now two pairs in excellent condition. — Henry Rogers; Freshwater, Isle of Wight, 

 November 3, 1862. 



Parrot Crossbill and Common Crossbill supposed one species. — Mr. Bree doubts the 

 existence of the parrot crossbill (Zool. 8033) as a particular race. If that bird is to be 

 united to Loxia curvirostra, why not also the small species of the Himalayas — Loxia 

 himalayana ? in which case the difference in size of the two extremes is great indeed. In 

 America the L. mexicana corresponds to the L. pityopsittacus of Europe, but on the former 

 continent L. mexicana is a more southern race than L. curvirostra, whereas in Europe 

 L. pityopsittacus is the more northern race of the two. If all these are to be regarded 

 as varieties of one species (in a more special sense than — say — the different kinds of 

 siskin) why not also the two whitewinged crossbills of Europe and America respectively ? 

 And why does not the allied Strobilophaga Enucleator vary in like manner? I have 

 seen many parrot crossbills, and consider them to be better distinguished from the 

 common sort than are the greater and smaller European bullfinches, the single and 

 double bullfinch of the French, the former of which is the true (Loxia) Pyrrhula of 

 Linneus, and the latter of course the Pyrrhula vulgaris of Ray. Strange that the 

 former of these birds should likewise prove an inhabitant of the Azores ! There is a 

 nearly allied bullfinch of Japan which Mr. Gould has figured in his 1 Birds of Asia' 

 as P. japonica of Temminck and Schlegel ; perhaps an older name for this bird is 

 P. griseoventris of Lafresnaye (Rev. Zool. de la Soc. Cuv. 1841 , p. 24). In the Hima- 

 layas four species of this bird have been discovered, viz., P. nipalensis of Hodgson, P. 



