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



turtle-dove in the shop of Mr. Glennon, who assured me that it had 

 been killed about three weeks previously near Donnybrook, a few 

 miles from Dublin. George Selby, Esq. of Alnwick, Northumber- 

 land, (brother to the distinguished naturalist, and imbued with simi- 

 lar tastes,) on visiting Belfast in October 1837, informed me that 

 one of these birds, which admitted of a close approach, was seen by 

 him on the road-side between Armagh and Aughnacloy in the first 

 week of that month. 



When on a tour in Holland and Switzerland in the summer of 

 1826, the turtle-dove was met with, and in the former country was 

 very tame. When proceeding in H.M.S. Beacon from Malta to the 

 Morea in the spring of 1841, a few of these birds appeared on the 

 24th, 25th, 26th, and 27th of April, coming from the south on their 

 way from Africa to Europe. They generally came singly, and not 

 more than two were seen in company*. On the 29th of April I 

 saw one near Navarino ; and again on the 6th of May in the island 

 of Syra : — at the end of this month, numbers were observed in the 

 spacious gardens of the old seraglio at Constantinople. 



The Pheasant — Phasianus Colckicus, Linn. — is a species, which, 

 having unquestionably been introduced to Ireland, has only claims to 

 be considered in a supplementary note. The period of its introduc- 

 tion is unknown to mef. Smith would seem to have imagined that 

 it was indigenous to the island, as in his ' History of Cork' it is ob- 

 served — " They are now [about 1749] indeed very rare, most of our 

 woods being cut down." This splendid bird has for a long time past 

 been common in many parts of the country, where it is carefully 

 preserved and protected. In Down and Antrim the ring-necked va- 

 riety is not uncommon ; and I have seen a few examples (shot in a 

 wild state) of the female in the assumed plumage of the male, but, 

 although his colours were there, they were always dull in hue com- 

 pared with the gloss and splendour of the adult plumage of the 

 veritable cock — on the dissection of one of these, the eggs were ob- 

 served to be not larger than clover-seed. 



I have often remarked the aversion of the pheasant to take wing 

 when near its home, and have seen it, even when cantered directly 

 up to, or charged on horseback, run across a considerable stretch of 

 field to the preserve, rather than take wing. Attention has been 

 called by some writers to the effect of thunder in prompting the 

 pheasant to crow, and on this subject the following note appears in 

 my journal : — " April 7, 1833. When walking along the banks of 

 the Lagan today between four and five o'clock, there were a few 

 peals of thunder, at the immediate commencement of each of which, 

 the pheasants in Belvoir Park crowed, although their ' most sweet 

 voices ! ' were not to be heard at any other time." Mr. Waterton 

 does not believe in the capture of pheasants by means of the fumes 

 of sulphur, but though never present at any such poaching office, I 



* In Annals, vol. viii. p. 128, are further particulars. 



t In the year 1589 it was noticed as common. See note on Quail. 



