1909. • Notes. 207 



Blackbird eating Ivy Berries. 



In a previous number of the Irish Naturalist I referred to the occurrence 



of numerous Iv) seedlings in my garden. The seeds formed part of th^ 



excreta of some bird, but I was unable to say what species. On the i6th 



of April of this year I observed a female Blackbird devouring eighteen 



ivy berries at one meal. In his important pamphlet on "The Food of 



some British Birds," Newstead mentions the Mistle-Thmsh as eating ivy 



berries, but he does not appear to have observed the Blackbird feeding 



on the same species of fruit. 



J. Adams. 

 Royal College of Science, Dublin. 



A Summer Fieldfare in Co. Down. 



On the 8th, 21st, and 26th July I saw a Fieldfare on a rough hill called 



Moneyscalp, in this neighbourhood. The part of the hill on which I saw 



the bird is covered with bracken, and on each occasion the bird was 



hiding in the fern, as if it knew that it had no business to be in these 



parts at this time of the year. I should be glad to know if Fieldfares 



often remain in this country during the summer. 



Ross L. LanXtTrv. 

 Bryansford, Co. Down. 



Wood Wren at Londonderry. 



I believe I can record the occurrence of the Wood Wren ( Phylloscopa 

 sihilatrix Bechstein), at Londonderry. On 17th April, at 7 a.m., I heard 

 the song under my bedroom window in our garden at Templemore Park. 

 Then at 5.55 a.m. on i8th April I heard it again from my neighbour's 

 garden. I hurried out and saw the little bird flying from a sycamore 

 tree but too far off to judge more than that it was a small warbler. 

 I had heard the Wood Wren singing at close quarters in Yorkshire and 

 recognized the song, " Cheep, cheep, cheep, tzie, tzie, tzn\ tzie." It 

 cannot, I think, be confounded with that of any other local biid. I 

 heard the song once or twice on later dates but never managed to get a 

 sight of the bird. 



Londonderry. D. C. Campbei^i,. 



Long-tailed Field-Mice. 



I should be verj' much obliged if readers of the Irish Naturalist takin^'- 



an interest in Mammals would catch as many Long-tailed Field-Mice 



{^Mus sylvatiius)—a.s the}' conveniently can, pickle them, and send them to 

 the British Museum or to the National Museum, Dublin, for examination. 



The reason I want this done is that hitherto no specimen of any re- 

 presentative of the larger Yellow-necked Mouse {Mus flavicollis) has been 

 taken in Ireland, and I should like to make sure that it does not occur 

 over here Its absence from Ireland suggCvSts many theoretical con- 

 siderations concerning the mode of arrival of the Field Mice in this 

 country, and its discovery in Ireland would be of importance. 



G. e;. H. Barrett-Hamii^ton. 

 Kilmanock, Co. Wexford. 



