244 The hish Nahcralist. November, 



Former occurrence of the Goshawk in Ireland. 



The position of this bird in ancient Ireland, as recorded in books of 



falconry (see Ussher, " List of Irish Birds." page 28), is very vague and 



uncertain. It may be, therefore, well to have recorded in the pages of 



the Irish Naturalist the mention of an eyrie said to exist, in 1583, in 



Glenmurlane, Cleanglas, County Limerick, as recorded in the Survey of 



the Confiscated Estate of Gerald, Earl of Desmond, and preserved in the 



Public Record Office, Dublin. This is alluded to by Westropp in 



his recent paper on the Forests of the Lower Shannon Valley, Proceedings 



Royal Irish Academy, page 293, April, 1909. I give the record for what it 



is worth, without expressing opinion as to the identity' of the bird. 



G. E. H. Barrett-Hamii^ton. 

 Kilmanock, County Wexford. 



Occurrence of the Osprey in Sligo. 



About mid-day on Saturday, May 29, 1909, while fishing on Lough 



Arrow, I saw a fine adult Osprey circling slowly over the lough within 



gunshot. I called Mr. H. B, Greenfield's attention to it, and we both 



had a good view of it before it sailed away towards the north. The 



occurrence so late in the spring seems remarkable in view of the fact 



that there is no record of the breeding of this species in Ireland. 



J. Henderson. 

 Clifton House, Ashbourne, Derb)- shire. 



Records of Hawks. 



A female Honey Buzzard in adult plumage was trapped on Lord Ash- 

 town's property at Glenahiery, Co. Tipperary, on the 12th June. A 

 Montague's Harrier, male, in adult plumage, was shot near Rathdrum, 

 Co. Wicklow, on August 27th ; his stomach was empty, but grouse 



feathers were adhering to his talons. 



W. J. Wl 1,1,1AM s. 

 Rathgar, Dublin. 



Birds of Skerries, Co. Dublin. 



In Prof. Patten's notes on Skerries (p. 185 supa), I was rather surprised 

 to see he has evidently overlooked the Tree Sparrow, or failed to 

 identify it. It breeds in places along the shore between Skerries and 

 Balbriggan, and I have met it in small parties in the corn-fields 

 bordering the Balbriggan road. I should hardl}' think the Wood- 

 pigeon would feed on the undigested droppings of the Herring Gull, 

 when the stubbles were full of grain. I have seen Wood-pigeons leave 

 corn-fields to fly to the beach to get salt, which all pigeons like, and 

 I have often flushed them from rock-pools close to the road. 



W. J. WlI^UAMS. 



Rathgar, Dublin, 



Crossbills near Dublin. J ^ 



A flock of twenty Crossbills were observed by me in Palmerston Park 

 on the i6th July. 



W. J. WlI.T,IAMS. 



Rathgar, Dublin. 



