480 Miscellaneous. 



at proper times to all who wish to enter, — all members and students 

 of the university having* power to admit visitors, and all strangers, 

 without introduction, on entering their names. That the public are 

 not ungrateful for such generous privileges, is evident from the long 

 list of valuable donations recorded in the document which has given 

 rise to these remarks. When a great and learned college thus sets 

 so honourable an example, the spirit of science is sure to diffuse 

 itself far and wide. We find it at work in Ireland among those who 

 are to instruct the poor as well as among the educators of the higher 

 classes. One of the many active naturalists of Belfast, Mr. R. Pat- 

 terson, has just been delivering a course of lectures on the Inverte- 

 brate animals to a class of 200 masters of the national schools — 

 more than all the members of natural-history classes in London col- 

 lected together ! Yet there is no want of either zeal, ability or elo- 

 quence on the part of our English professors. 



Occurrence of the Belted Kingfisher, Alcedo Alcyon, Linn., in Ireland. 



I have the pleasure to record the occurrence of this North Ame- 

 rican bird in Ireland ; a specimen, as I learn by letter from T. W. 

 Warren, Esq, of Dublin, dated Nov. 21, 1845, having been shot by 

 Capt. Smith at Annsbrook, county of Meath, about the first of the 

 present month. It has fortunately been preserved, and on being 

 shown to Mr. R. Ball (from whom also a letter respecting it has 

 been received) was at once identified as A. Alcyon. Mr. Warren adds, 

 that when at Mr. Glennon's, the well-known bird- preserver, on the 

 day before the date of his letter, the gamekeeper of Mr. Latouche of 

 Luggela (county of Wicklow) called to mention that he had lately- 

 seen a very large kingfisher at a stream connecting two lakes in that 

 neighbourhood. He saw the bird very well, as it admitted of his 

 approach within twenty yards : his description agreeing with the 

 A. Alcyon, the specimen was shown to him, which he at once identi- 

 fied as being of the same species as that which he had seen. 



This kingfisher — said to be the only species inhabiting North Ame- 

 rica — is migratory there, and like other birds from the same conti- 

 nent which have visited Ireland and Great Britain, has appeared here 

 about the migratory period. As an American bird it is fully treated 

 of by Wilson*, Audubonf and Richardson J. The last author states 

 that in summer " it frequents all the large rivers in the fur countries 

 up to the 67th degree of latitude." It retires to winter in the South- 

 ern States and the West India islands (Wilson and Richardson). 

 Audubon remarks that " it is extremely hardy, and those individuals 

 which migrate northward to breed, seldom return towards our 

 Southern States, where they spend the winter, until absolutely forced 

 to do so by the great severity of the weather," vol. v. p. 548. This 

 is I believe the first notice of the species being met with on the 

 eastern side of the Atlantic. 



Belfast, Nov. 22, 1845. Wm. Thompson. 



* Sir W. Jardine's edit., vol. i. p. 348. f Orn. Biog. vols. i. and v. 



+ Fauna Bor. Amer. p. 339. 



