200 The Irish Nahi7 alist. July, 1903- 



On the 28th of April I found a fine specimen of the Fulmar washed 

 up on the shore here ; it was quite fresh, but quite spoiled by the Great 

 Black-backed Gulls, so was useless for preserving. Of our summer 

 visitors the Chiff-chafF was the first arrival, one being seen and heard in 

 the garden here on the 9th of April. The Sandwich Terns, though 

 late, were the next arrivals, a pair being seen in the estuarj' on the loth. 

 On the 30th I observed some Little Terns in the channel ; and, although 

 no Common Terns came under my notice, yet Mr. H. Scroope, of 

 Ballina, told me that he saw some on Lough Conn on the 3rd of May 

 and heard both Cuckoo and Corncrake on 29th April, also near the 

 Lough. Although Swallows were seen at Ballina about 23rd April, 

 yet none visited Moyview until the ist May, and it was only on May 7th 

 that the Cuckoo was heard here. On the 27tli of April Captain 

 Kirkwood observed a pair of White Wagtails at Bartragh, and securing 

 one bird kindly sent me the specimen. This being the sixth season in 

 succession that Motacilla alba has visited Bartragh, I think estab- 

 lishes the fact bej'ond any doubt, that their line of spring migration to 

 their northerly haunts regularly passes over the Island of Bartragh every 

 year. 



ROBKRT W^ARREN. 



Moyview, Ballina. 



Raccoons at the Dublin Zoological Gardens 



A very extraordinary occurrence, which deserves special mention, 

 happened at the Zoological Gardens a few weeks ago. The Raccoons 

 have for some time been placed in an open air wire enclosure surround- 

 ing an old tree. The}' spend the day mostly coiled up on the branches 

 of the tree, while at night they descend and roam about the enclosure. 

 One of the female Raccoons seemed particularly unhappy in her new 

 abode, and after many fruitless attempts managed to scale the fence and 

 make her escape. Probably attracted by the r.mell of flesh, she made 

 her way through a skylight into the lion-house, and there concealed 

 herself so effectually that for some time she could not be found by the 

 keepers, who were on the look out. However, the night watchman 

 discovered her one evening prowling about the lion house, and she was 

 secured next morning and returned to her old quarters. She had given 

 birth to two young while in the lion house, for the following morning, 

 Flood, the keeper, noticed a young dead Raccoon with one of the 

 Lionesses^ and in another cage a living and perfectly healthy Raccoon 

 was found. It had apparently crawled from the floor into the lioness's 

 den, and had not been injured by her, so that the keeper was able to lift 

 out the little Raccoon and restore it to its lawful mother. 



R. F. SCHARFF. 



Dublin Museum. 



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