576 Natural Hi storij in Ireland, 



in considerable numbers. The rocks to the eastward of this 

 bay do not partake so largely of the wildness which charac- 

 terises those I had passed ; but they possess an aspect of bold- 

 ness and grandeur which commands admiration. They are 

 adorned with most of the plants already enumerated, besides 

 abundance of Agrimonia ^upatorm and Silene ni\tans. Fol- 

 lowing their windings with a joyous step and a delighted eye, 

 I reached Montrose just as the sun was smiling adieu to the 

 landscape, and the blackbird breathing his mellow effusions 

 into the ear of departing day. — William Gardiner^ jimim\ 

 Dundee, Jan, IS, \SS2, 



Art. III. Natural History in Ireland, 



VARIOUS COUNTIES. 



Rarer Birds taken in Ireland^ principally in the Vicinity of 

 Dublin, in the Winter of 1831-2. — Sir, In relation to the 

 title of this article, I may first mention the dun-diver ; my 

 description of the trachea and other characteristics of which 

 you have inserted under Queries (p. 397.) j for the purpose 

 of acquiring the specific name of my particular specimen 

 from some competent ornithologist. Besides this were the 

 following: — Two of the great northern diver (Colymbus 

 glacialis L.). The first is a female, and answers to the descrip- 

 tion in Montagu : it had been preserved before I saw it. The 

 other was brought to me (Jan. 10. 1832), and proved to be a 

 male: it weighed 10 lbs. 2 oz. : length, 2 ft. 8 in.; breadth, 

 4- ft. 6 in. : length of bill to the forehead, 3 J in. ; to the corner 

 of the mouth, 5 in. : the upper edge of the bill dusky, the under 

 light-coloured : there are no bands on the neck, as in the ma- 

 ture male, nor are the spots at all numerous ; they are scattered 

 over the wing coverts and scapulars very sparingly, and are 

 generally of an oval shape. I imagine that it is in its second 

 plumage; and, from its great weight, would probably have 

 attained its mature plumage in July : it is considerably 

 larger than the female: they were both shot, I believe, in 

 Lambay. A crested cormorant (Phalacrocorax cristatus 

 Cuvier) was brought to me on Jan. 24. 1832: for further 

 facts on it, see Queries (p. 397.). The grey phalarope 

 (Phalaropus platyrhynchus Tern,) was shot in Dublin Bay 

 last Nov. [1831]. Three of the fork-tailed petrels (Thalassi- 

 droma LeachzV) were lately taken ; two of them were sent 

 from the north of Ireland, the other was taken alive at sea, 

 but died for want of proper food ; it is now in the museum of 

 the Dublin Society. A white-fronted goose (v4^nas albifrons) 



