DUBLIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. 163 



Thus, the immature Iceland Gull (Lams Islandicus), I am sure, is, 

 at certain seasons, frequent on the west coast. It has been shot near 

 Tralee, and the immature bird has been seen in numbers. 



In the Transactions of this Society are recorded the immense flocks 

 of the Greater Shearwater (Puffinus major) seen in Dingle Bay, and also 

 notes of the Bridled and Brunnich's Guillemots (Uria lacrymans and 

 Brunnichii), having been observed breeding on the Tiraght Kock. The 

 former bird, with the eggs, have been obtained at the entrance of the 

 Shannon, by Henry Burton, Esq., of Carrigaholt Castle. The King Eider 

 Duck (Somateria spectaoilis), and several rare species of Tringa, have 

 also been captured in Kerry. 



The Martinique Gallinule (Gallinula Martinico), which was cap- 

 tured in the living state in a drain at Clehane, Brandon, county of 

 Kerry, was at first by Mr. W. Thompson supposed to be, and described 

 as, the Sicilian Gallinule (Porphyri'o hyacinthinus), from the supposed 

 impossibility of a bird of the United States of America being met with 

 in Ireland. An examination of its characters satisfied me it must be 

 the Martinique Gallinule, and I wrote so to Mr. "W". Thompson, who 

 afterwards admitted that my views were correct. 



The Dusky Petrel (Puffinus obscurus), a bird of Australia, was also 

 obtained alive off Yalentia Island, and was exhibited in this Society in 

 1854. 



The Bohemian "Waxwing (Bombycilla garrula) has several times 

 been noticed in Kerry. A very beautiful specimen is in the Museum of 

 the Society, taken near Miltown, county of Kerry, and presented through 

 the kindness of one of the Members, Joseph Anderson, Esq. 



You have already had recorded the Membranaceous Duck (Mala- 

 corynchus membranaceus), which was shot in Castlemaine Bay, where 

 six were observed together, and supposed by the sportsman to have been 

 teal. It has been remarked, that this bird " could not have occurred in 

 Kerry except as one escaped from confinement." I believe in no Bri- 

 tish collection has this species existed but in that of the late Earl of 

 Derby, and I have been informed that none were lost from that collec- 

 tion. It might just as well be imagined that the Great Spotted Cuckoo 

 (Cuculus glandarius) and the Belted Kingfisher (Alcedo alcyon) were 

 escapes from confinement. 



The two very fine specimens of the Crane ( Grus cinerea) which are 

 in our Museum, were shot the same season in this county, one of them 

 near Ballinskelligs Bay, county of Kerry, out of a flock of five. It was sent 

 to me by my esteemed friend, the late Maurice O'Connell, Esq., of Derry- 

 nane Abbey, supposing it to be the Great American Heron (Ardea He- 

 rodias), which, with the exception of its great size, is similar to the 

 Common Heron of Europe. The former bird averages 4 ft. 7 in. in 

 height, and weighs 7 lbs., while the latter but 3 ft. 3 in., and weighing 

 4 lbs. Ardea Herodias frequents the gloomy solitudes of the tallest 

 cedar swamps of New Jersey ; the Common Heron (A. cinerea) is not an 

 inhabitant of the United States. The extreme length of the crane ob- 

 tained in Kerry was 4 ft. 7 in., and its weight was 12 lbs. Mr. O'Con- 



