Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 1 (1877).djvu/250

224 correspondent would tell us what species of Bats he has found in Donegal. The Hairy-armed Bat has been found in several widely-separated parts of Ireland, so that it may be discovered in other localities if naturalists would only take the trouble to look for it: at present it has been obtained only in the counties of Wicklow, Dublin, Armagh, and the town of Belfast. As for birds, the Tawny Owl is not proved yet to occur in Ireland, even as an accidental visitor, the only evidence on this subject which I have obtained being two eggs in the collection of Mr. Gage, of Rathlin, which that gentleman kindly entrusted to me to send to Prof. Newton, who considers that they probably belong to the Tawny Owl. These eggs are stated to have been found in a wood near Ballycastle, County Antrim. Perhaps, however, Mr. Mahouy means the Long-eared Owl, which is a very common Irish bird. I have never before heard the Song Thrush called the "Irish Nightingale," the bird which is generally called by that honourable title being the Sedge Warbler. Again, out of some hundreds of geese which I have seen from Loughs Swilly and Foyle, I never came across more than half-a-dozen Bernicles; and your correspondent probably means the Brent Goose, which is very common, and is called Bernicle by the peasantry. On p. 151, third line, Chylodadiæ should be Chylocladiæ: and lower down on the same page, Eclimus spheræ is, I presume, a misprint for Echinus sphæra, though I have never found this Urchin anywhere except reposing on sand or rocks, and imagine that a large one would find some difficulty in "prowling over" the fronds of Laminariæ.—J. (Portrush).

[We have received a third letter to the same effect from an esteemed correspondent, who does not, however, desire its publication. By "Ferret" no doubt is intended the Polecat, an animal which, according to Thompson, is "not positively known as an Irish species," although said to inhabit the wild woods of Kerry, and to have been killed in at least one instance in the County Down. The Weasel is another animal whose existence in Ireland there is reason to doubt, although, as we have elsewhere pointed out, Mr. Bell, in his 'History of British Quadrupeds,' does not allude to it. Mr. Andrew Murray, in his 'Geographical Distribution of Mammals' (p. 114) says that the Weasel formerly inhabited Ireland, but is no longer found there. Macgillivray averred that the Weasel is generally distributed in Ireland, but Thompson, on the contrary, remarks that he never met with it there, nor does he consider that it has been proved to be a native, although it may be so. The Stoat, which is called Weasel in Ireland, is common there. It should be noted that the larger size, darker colour, and the black tuft at the end of the tail, will at all seasons distinguish the Stoat from its smaller relative. As regards the Squirrel, we have notes of its occurrence in the Counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, and Longford (where it was introduced in large numbers, at Castle Forbes, by either the father or grandfather of the present Earl Granard). It has been introduced