Page:The Zoologist, 3rd series, vol 2 (1878).djvu/477

Rh — Referring to the Editor's remarks (pp. 419 — 422) on the further appearance in Ireland of the Snow Goose, and to Mr. Howard Saunders' previous record of what has hitherto been considered the only occurrence of Snow Geese in the British Isles, I should like to bring under notice a previous appearance which has lately been made known to me, but which I believe has never before been recorded. The following are the facts of the case : — The birds alluded to were in the aviary of the thirteenth Earl of Derby at Knowsley, and at his death were sold by public auction by Mr. J.C. Stevens, in August, 1851, the purchaser being Mr. P. Castang, of Leadenhall Market. They are described in the Cata- logue as follows: — " Lot 584. Two Snow Geese (Anser hyperboreus, Pallas ; Anser niveus, Brisson; Anas cærulescens, Linnaeus ; Anas nivalis, Forster), N. America." Mr. Castang has kindly written me the following memoran- dum concerning them :— "I beg to say I purchased a pair of Snow Geese at the late Earl of Derby's sale at £5 the pair, and my old friend Mr. John Thompson afterwards joked me at giving so much, as he had purchased three of them at half-a-crown each while travelling in Ireland, out of a flock of common geese running on a green. I sold them to my valued customer, Mr. W. Domvile, of Santry House, Dublin." The Mr. John Thompson to whom he refers was the superintendent of Lord Derby's Menagerie; but, as he is not now living, I am unable to gather any further particulars as to locality, date, or what became of the third bird mentioned. As Cassin did not describe the species named after him until 1856 (Proc. Acad. Nat. Scien. Phil., 1856, p. 41), it is a matter of doubt to which of the three species the birds in question belonged. H Mr. Domvile has still the birds in his possession, he would no doubt be able to settle the point — one of great interest to ornithologists. — (Richmond, S.W.)

[As twenty-seven years have elapsed since the sale of the Knowsley Menagerie, it is very unlikely that the birds in question are still living. Nevertheless, the skin of one or both may have been preserved ; and if so, Mr. Domvile would confer a favour on ornithologists by forwarding a description of the plumage, with measurements of bill, wing, and tarsus, together with any particulars concerning their capture which he may have committed to memory or to writing. — ]

— Since writing the remarks which appeared in the last number of 'The Zoologist' (pp. 419 — 422), I have received from Mr. Crampton, the owner of the bird still living at Belmullet, a note, iu which he has furnished, at my suggestion, the measurements of the bill, wing, and tarsus. These measurements may be said to prove, I think conclusively, that the bird, as already surmised, is Anser albatus, Cassin. He says, "Bill, 2⅛ inches; wing, about 15 inches; tarsus, 3 inches." Thus it varies only to the extent of one-eighth of an inch in both bill and tarsus from the specimen in Mr. Saunders' collection, which was