584^ Natural History in Ireland : — 



S. canescens, Cinereous godwit, re, c Rdllus aquaticus, Water rail, a.p>ra 

 rustlcola. Woodcock, a.p, c Crex, Landrail, s.p, c 



Gallinago, Common snipe, a.p, c i^'ulica chloropus, Com. gallinule,re,c 

 Galllnula, Judcock, re, c 



Pinnatipedes. 

 l^ulica atra. Coot, s.p, ra Colymbus minor, Little grebe, re, c 



Palmipedes. 

 Sterna ^ir undo. Common tern, s.p, c Procellaria pelagica. Stormy petrel, 



minuta, Lesser tern, s.p, c s.p, c \ 



iyarus glaucus. Burgomaster, re, ra ^^nas J'nser, ferus, Greylag goose, 

 marinus, Black-backedgull,re, c a.p, c 



argentatus of Montagu, Lesser erjthropus, Bernacle, a.p, ra 



black-backed gull, re, c Bernicla^ Brent goose, a.p, c 



fuscus. Herring gull, re, c C'ygnus f^rus. Wild swan, a.p, c 



canus. Common gull, re, c ' Tadorna^ Sheldrake, s.p, c 



tridactylus, Kittiwake, s.p, c 1 ^oschas, Mallard, re, c 



^m«. Tarrock gull, s.p, c J Penelope, Wigeon, a.p, c 



~ frecca. Teal, re, c 



glacialis, Long-tailed duck, a.p, 



V J $ 

 Manluy Scaup duck, a.p, ra 

 ferina. Pochard, a.p, ra 

 Clangula, Golden eye, a.p, c || "I 

 Glaucion, Morillion, a.p, c J 



ridibundus,Black-h.guli, re, c*" 



Brown-headed gull, 

 cinerarius. La petite mouette 



cendree of Brisson, re, c 

 erjthropus. Brown gull, re, c 

 parasiticus, Arctic gull, re, raj- 

 crepidatus,Black-toed gull, re, ra 



* This, and the three succeeding, are the four states of plumage of the 

 black-headed gull. The first is the mature bird in the plumage of summer j 

 the second is that state of it when the black on the head has, in autumn, 

 faded into brown ; the third, of which there is a particularly good repre- 

 sentation in Bewick's British Birds, is the bird in its winter plumage, when, 

 in great numbers, they follow the plough ; and the fourth is the plumage 

 of the young bird. I have killed them in all these stages, and in all the 

 intermediate ones, at periods when, from moult, the change from one to 

 the other was quite apparent. The soft tuft of white feathers on the lower 

 eyebrow may be safely taken as a distinguishing characteristic in all these. 



■f The arctic gull seldom approaches the shore. I cannot, therefore, 

 ascertain whether it ever breeds here or not, where, indeed, it is a rare 

 bird. I lately got a specimen of iarus crepidatus, which, from having the 

 two middle tail feathers considerably longer than the others, induces me 

 to consider it identical with parasiticus, of which it has long been supposed 

 to be the young. Much remains yet to be discovered respecting the 

 gulls. I am certain, on further investigation, the number of species will 

 be diminished. 



% These birds breed in great numbers in Tory Island, in the rabbits* 

 holes, like the puffins ; from which circumstance, I have been able to get 

 numbers of them alive : they scarcely ever approach the mainland. 



§ I got a specimen of J'nas glacialis a few days since ; it is the first I 

 have met with in this country : though with nearly the perfect plumage of 

 the female, and without the long tail feathers, it proved, on dissection, to 

 be a male : it must, therefore, be a bird of this year. 



II That -^''nas GlaCicion is the female and immature male of A'nas 

 Clangula cannot be doubted : I have killed them paired with the golden 

 eye, and have constantly seen them mixed with them in winter. The 

 mistake of supposing them distinct has arisen from some of them, on dis- 

 section, proving to be males; a circumstance which never ought to have 

 any weight in this species, or in those in which the males are known, in 

 their immature stages, to have the plumage of the fem.ales. 



