Page:The Natural History of Ireland vol1.djvu/106

 seen on the moors in August. Among the mountains of Mourne, in Down, this bird has been observed by the Rev. G.M. Black, who remarks, that the ringtail or female may be readily distin- guished, when on the wing, by the whitish marking above the tail. But the species must be rare in that district, as the first adult male, at least, which came under the notice of the gamekeeper at Tolly- more Park, was seen on the mountain early in February, 1845. He described it to me as a very beautiful hawk or kite, of a cream colour.

About Dublin, the adult birds have been obtained at all seasons. At Clifden (Galway), I have met with the species. Mr. M'Calla, after mentioning its peculiar flight, with an easy motion, close to the ground, and taking several turns over the same place, states, that he has often seen it attack grouse in Connemara, when a struggle will take place, the grouse rising into the air contrary to its usual mode of flight.* It is said to be rare there, to nidify in swamps, generally on the margin of lakes, and to be known by the name of sea-gull hawk. The Rev. T. Knox of Toomavara (Tip- perary), informs me, that "white kite" is the name by which the species is known about the Shannon, where it frequents the bogs adjoining the river, and has frequently been seen at a distance by him. He has been able, however, to obtain but one adult male for his collection ; — in this bird, the remains of a bunting and a lark were found. Mr. R. Davis, jun., of Clonmel, writing to me in 1838, remarked, that the hen harrier breeds in that neigh- bourhood, where the eggs and young are easily obtained. He adds : "I have endeavoured for three years past to rear these birds, wishing to have a male in adult plumage, but they always died before attaining it. In a female now living the upper mandible became so hooked as to turn under the lower, and nearly prevented her from

A writer in the Quarterly Review for December, 1845, when descanting on "High- land Sport," (article on Scrope's Days and Nights of Salmon-Fishing) and the enemies of the grouse, observes, that "hawks of all sorts, from the eaglet to the merlin, destroy numbers. The worst of the family, and the most difficult to be destroyed, is the hen harrier. Living wholly on birds of his own killing, he will come to no laid bait, and hunting in an open country he is rarely approached near enough to be shot : skimming low, and quartering his ground like a well-trained pointer, he finds almost every bird, and with sure aim strikes down all he finds." — p. 95.