84 The Irish Naturalist, July 1922. 



they are not equally conclusive with regard to the date of the extinction 

 of the animal in Ireland, if it ever really became extinct. 



The authors of the monograph speak of the gap between the end 

 of the fifteenth century when the Squirrel must have been abundant 

 and its reintroduction about 1815, but they overlook the fact that the 

 book of " Rates Outward " scheduled to the Irish Act 14 and 15 

 Car II., Cap. 9 (1662) indicates that in the second half of the seventeenth 

 century Squirrel skins were being exported by the thousand from Ireland. 



This diminishes the gap by half, confirms the statement of O'Flaherty 

 as to the presence of the Squirrel in 1684, and reduces the problem to 

 the question how long it succeeded in surviving the great destruction of 

 woods which took place in Ireland in the seventeenth century. 



T. V. Le Fanu. 

 Abington, Bray. 



Hares in the City of Belfast. 



Looking out of a window in my school, Richmond Lodge, Malone 

 Road, Belfast, one da}^ in April, to my surprise I saw a hare running 

 along the road between the tram-hnes. Surely this is a curious occurrence 

 in a big city like Belfast. iNIr. R. J. Welch tells me that hares are often 

 seen on the lawn of Sir William Whitla's house in Lennoxvale, which is 

 not far away, say about a quarter of a mile — nearer the centre of city, 

 and also in the grounds of another house near at hand. 



Joan Elsa Loewenthal. 

 Belfast. 



About two 5'ears ago a Hare was seen in rather extensive private 

 grounds well within the city boundary of Belfast, inspecting a Rolls 

 Royce motor car, which had just arrived in front of the house. The 

 Hare walked round the car and seemed to inspect it carefully, as something 

 different from what it had ever seen before, stopping and looking at the 

 wheels and other parts. Its inspection cccupied several minutes, and 

 suddenly hearing sound of some one approaching, it pricked up its ears 

 and ran down some stone steps to a terrace below. 



The owner of the grounds chanced to be looking out of a window 

 in the house when the Hare arrived, and it was the first time he realized 

 that his grounds were a refuge or city sanctuary for such a wild animal. 

 He has often since seen Hares on the lawns in the grounds, with some 

 Squirrels, Hedgehogs, and an occasional Stoat. A pair of Pheasants 

 sometimes nest among the trees, while Herons and other wading birds 

 visit a fairly large pond not far from the house, and quite close to one 

 of the main tram lines of the city. 



J. C. 

 Belfast. 



