Great Invasion of Crossbills in 1909. 343 
in the Italian journal f Avicula/ Prof. Bonomi gives some 
interesting particulars regarding the invasion, which he had 
collected from his friends in various parts of the Trent 
district. According to his account, the birds not only 
visited the neighbouring woods, but invaded the village 
gardens and orchards, even perching on the houses in some 
cases. The poor birds, however, naturally remarkably tame 
and confiding, seem to have met with scant hospitality, and 
large numbers of them were killed or captured alive, over 
500 individuals of the species having been sold one day at 
Bonzo. Occasional examples of the Two-barred Crossbill 
( L . bifasciata ) appear to have been met with among the 
flocks of the common species. From what Prof. Bonomi 
says, no invasion of like proportions had ever been known in 
those parts before, although the Crossbill appears to be in 
the habit of visiting the district in certain numbers every 
three or four years, and in the years 1889 and 1905 was 
abundant. Prof. Bonomi alludes to the scarcity of cones on 
the pine-trees in his neighbourhood, and adds that in some 
districts the conifer forests were absolutely bare of fruit. 
From a letter from Prof. Bonomi I learn that the passage 
of Crossbills continued throughout the autumn. 
Italy .—The Crossbill invasion of 1909 was on a vast 
scale, and, so far as can he remembered, of unprecedented 
numerical importance throughout the greater part of the 
country, exceeding in quantity all previous incursions of the 
kind experienced of recent years. Not only has it spread 
throughout a considerable portion of the peninsula, but it has 
also extended to most, if not all, of the Italian islands, both 
large and small, and even to Malta, which is considered as 
part of the Italian zoogeographical region. 
Naturally, some districts have been visited by the wandering 
birds in greater numbers than others, owing to their being 
situated on the direct line of flight, or for other reasons ; and, 
naturally also, reports and observations from the more thinly 
populated districts of the south of the peninsula have been 
fewer and more meagre than from many other parts; but, 
making due allowance for these circumstances, the invasion 
