Mr. W. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 179 



tree planted in the spring, and which formed one of a young plan- 

 tation on the mountain side. The bird was consequently seen on the 

 nest from some distance. She did not leave it until we approached 

 within seven or eight paces, and then flew but a short distance before 

 alighting : — there were two very young birds on the bare ground ; 

 and about the distance of a foot from where they then were, it was 

 stated that the eggs had been incubated. 



The goatsucker is noticed by J. V. Stewart, Esq., as common in 

 the north of Donegal. It is stated to be a regular vernal migrant to 

 the county of Wicklow, — the " Vale of Ovoca," a name familiar to 

 the lovers of the " Irish Melodies," is said to be one of its favourite 

 places of resort. Mr. R. Davis, jun., of Clonmel, says that this spe- 

 cies is not uncommon, and annually breeds in some heath-clad moun- 

 tains near that town. Captain Walker of Belmont, near Wexford, 

 informs me that the "fern-owl" is rather common there. Mr. G. 

 J. Allman, of Bandon, states that it is occasionally shot in that 

 neighbourhood, but is not known to him as regularly frequenting 

 any locality. A young plantation of limited extent, on the high 

 banks above the river Blackwater, near Youghal, was pointed out to 

 me in July 1834 by Mr. R. Ball as annually resorted to by these 

 birds. In three specimens sent him from the locality, the ghost- 

 moth (Hepialus Humuli) only was found ; one stomach contained the 

 remains of nine of these insects. When visiting the Lakes of Kil- 

 larney, in company with Mr. R. Ball, in July 1834, we had the gra- 

 tification of seeing three goatsuckers hawking about, and very near 

 to each other, as we were passing from the upper to the lower lake, 

 and near the highly picturesque mountain called the Eagle's Nest : 

 in the twilight, the white markings on the tail of one of them — said 

 to denote the male bird — were quite conspicuous. On the following 

 evening we saw another between Innisfallen and Ross Island. 



Dr. J. L. Drummond informs me, that when H.M.S. San Juan 

 (of which he was surgeon) was anchored near Gibraltar, a few 

 goatsuckers flew on board, in the spring of the year. During the 

 passage of H.M.S. Beacon, at the end of April 1841, as particularly 

 noticed in 'Annals,' vol. viii. p. 128, several goatsuckers were seen, 

 and some shot. On the evening of the 1st of June two were killed, 

 and others seen, in the barren and now uninhabited island of Delos, 

 by some of my companions, the officers of H.M.S. Magpie. 



White, in his ' History of Selborne,' gives an extremely interest- 

 ing account of the goatsucker ; Sir Wm. Jardine very fully notes its 

 various modes of flight ; and in Macgillivray's * British Birds ' an 

 ample description is given by the author, to which are added valuable 

 contributions from Mr. Harley and Mr. Weir ; the observations of 

 the former having been made near Leicester, and the latter at Bath- 

 gate, Linlithgowshire. 



[To be continued.] 



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