i2o The Irish Naturalist. June, 



A^hite Wagtails at the Tuskar Rock. 



On April 13th I collected a White Wagtail on the Tuskar Rock, and 

 from that date till my departure on April 22nd I obtained many observa- 

 tions on this species. I collected a second bird on April 17th. These 

 dates, on an average, are a fortnight earlier in the season than any 

 heretofore recorded in Ireland. Here we seem to have a key to the 

 situation (I do not yet say a master key), namely, that a large percentage 

 of this species arrives about the south-eastern section and that over a 

 wide area, and then spreads itself. The birds observed for so many 

 years by Mr. W^arren at a date a fortnight to three weeks later than my 

 records did not necessarily arrive at the western section of Ireland or 

 even south-western, though, on the other hand, I have no reason to 

 doubt that the migration is more extensive than one might at first sight 

 think. The birds were discovered in the west because Mr. Warren was 

 there ; if Mr. Warren had resided on the opposite side he would in all 

 likelihood have discovered this species long ago. I think I am voicing 

 the opinion of the ornithologists of Ireland when I say we have never 

 had a keener observer and more thorough field naturalist than Mr. 

 Warren. Now that the White Wagtail has been recorded from so many 

 divergent points of Ireland, viz., Mayo (Warren), Inistrahull, Donegal 

 (Barrington), Antrim (Patterson), Dublin (Benson and Williams), and 

 W^exford as recorded by me, it is quite evident that this bird has been 

 much overlooked, and has a wider distribution in Ireland on spring 

 migration than was first considered. 



C. J. Patten. 

 The University, Sheffield. 



The Disappearance of Eagles. 



For some years a solitar}- Eagle has been seen occasionally in Co. Mayo. 

 In spring, 191 1, it was last seen in A chill (E. B. Sheridan). On 13th 

 February, 191 1, a feather was sent to me from Portacloy, and the bird 

 was again seen in that district in July, in November, and on the 12th 

 February, 19 r 2. The old nests now unoccupied are visible on a cliff 

 called Lugruadh over 700 feet high on the north Mayo coast. In July 

 last I visited Mweelrea Mountain and on asking my guide, a shepherd 

 youth, when the last Eagle was poisoned he said, " last March twelve- 

 months." I learn from several persons that Eagles nested in Curraun 

 Mountain within a few years, but were robbed annually. As to Donegal 

 Mr. W. H. Boyd writes to me ; — " I have seen the head stalker of Glenveagh 

 Forest. He tells me that there were two Eagles there until two years 

 ago atid then one disappeared, it was thought through eating poisoned 

 carrion set for foxes. One is still there. They had not bred for many 

 years and were thought to be two females." Mr. M'Lennan, manager 

 at Glenveagh, wrote to the same effect in 1908. He said that a young 

 one had been reared three years previously. Now that Eagles are extinct 

 in Kerry and but one left in Mayo and one in Donegal (their last strong- 

 holds), they must be on the point of extinction. 



R. J. USSHER. 



Cappagh. 



