66 
The Irish Naturalist, 
April, 
The Crossbill and its Diet. 
Since the publication of my article on this subject in January (supra, 
pp. 1-6), I have had an interesting letter from Mr. Nevin Foster, informing 
me that the Crossbills which visited Hillsborough in 1909 were observed 
by him feeding on seeds of the Spruce — and breaking off the cones, as they 
do those of other coniferous trees — on the 4th of December in that year. 
In 1 90 1, also, Crossbills remained for a considerable period in a Spruce - 
wood in the same neighbourhood, where, as Mr. Foster adds, " there are 
many Spruces, but the Scots Pine only occurs sparingly, whilst the Larch 
is represented by only a few trees." There can, therefore, be no doubt 
that in Co. Down the Crossbill must make the Spruce a main article in 
its diet. As yet, however, I have no information of its doing so in any 
locality where Larch or Pine is plentiful. Mr. T. A. Coward writes to me 
that in Cheshire he has seen Crossbills feeding in Pine-trees, though their 
principal food there is the Larch. He does not mention the Spruce. I 
should be glad if more local notes on the subject were forthcoming. Mr. J. 
P. Burkitt kindly writes from Enniskillen that he hopes to look into the 
matter. 
C. B. Moffat. 
Ballj^hyland, Co. Wexford. 
A few Notes on Birds about Kingstown. 
One Common Guillemot seems to have stopped about Kingstown all 
through the past winter. I have seen it on different dates each month 
generally outside the West Pier, and sometimes in the Harbour. 
I saw a specimen of the Black Guillemot in its winter plumage which 
was shot in the Harbour on the 5th of January last. I saw another one in 
similar plumage near where the light -ships are moored on the 8th of 
January. 
The first occasion this winter on which I saw a Razorbill about here 
was on the 21st of January near Seapoint it was in immature plumage. I 
have seen it on various dates since. It nearly always happens that if 
you see these birds in the winter months in this country, they are immature 
specimens. A few years ago I picked up two mature Razorbills dead on 
the North Bull shore on the 15th of February, after a storm. The first 
Kittiwake Gull I saw in Kingstown Harbour this winter was on the 26th of 
January ; they have been getting more numerous here since that date. 
I noticed two Blackheaded Gulls with their heads becoming distinctlj'- 
black on the loth of January, one was near Seapoint and the other near 
Sandycove. These two seem to have been a good deal earlier than the 
others about here in changing the colour of their heads. 
The Purple Sandpiper stayed in this vicinity from the 25th of November 
1915 (the date on which I first noticed it) until the 7th of February (the 
last date on which I saw it). I saw it frequently between these dates. 
I saw two of them near the forty -foot hole at Sandycove on the 25th of 
January, the only occasion on which I saw more than one. 
