Page:The Natural History of Ireland vol1.djvu/126

 have been invariably captured within a very short time. In the few instances in which I have seen dead prey seized, the four claws were used.*

The preceding account of Mr. Langtry's birds was published in the Annals of Natural History for June, 1838. Two of them were soon after that period sent to the Zoological Garden, in the Phoenix Park, Dublin. Respecting the one which survived the longest, I made the following notes on the 6th of Sept., 1845: — "This bird, now more than eight years old, appears in the highest state of health, and from the exceeding richness of its soft downy plumage, is extremely beautiful. It is much whiter than any of the individuals represented in the works at hand for reference, namely, those of Bewick, Wilson,t Selby, Bennett,^ Yarrell, and Jardine.|| At a front view, — the bird looking towards me, — it is purely white without a single spot ; viewed dorsally, the upper half of its plumage is also white, but on the coverts about the middle of the wing, two or three blackish-brown spots appear. The only other markings of this colour are a very few spots dis- posed at random on the lowest portion of the wing-coverts, and a few bands towards the tips of two of the secondaries. The bird is wholly white excepting the wings, to which the dark markings are confined, and these are different on each wing." This bird died in the middle of October, 1846, and a post-mortem exami- nation of its body took place. Outwardly all looked fair, but within "not a muscle, vessel, or portion of viscera but was diseased." (Ball.)

The following notes were published in the Annals of Natural History for April, 1839:—

I have the pleasure on this occasion of recording a novel and interesting fact in the history of that beautiful bird, the snowy owl. By the ship John and Robert, (Captain M'Kechnie), of 501 tons burthen, belonging to the port of Belfast, that arrived here from Quebec early in the month of December, 1838, three speci-

See observation to the contrary in the last-cited work, p. 310.

Amer. Ornith.

Gard. and Menag. Zool. Soc.

Hist. Brit. Birds.