140 The Irish Naiuralist. December, 1922. 



Swans in Valentia Harbour. 



-rt m.i}" be of interest: to. readers of. the Irish Naturalist to put on 

 record that wild swans appeared in Valentia Harbour on 19th and 20th 

 of October. I have never seen them here before. Two swans were 

 seen on the 19th and on the morning of 20th. We saw one feeding along 

 the shore ^in shallow water, evidently a young bird. Two birds were 

 seen that day on a small pond but w^ere frightened and hunted, and one 

 was wounded and found dead on 23rd. This bird was measured ; three 

 feet seven inches from tip of beak to end of tail, and six feet across the 

 wings. Tlie bill reddish, with black tip, base of bill and front of head 

 rusty yellow; head, neck, back and wing covers light grey, breast an I 

 under tail white, wings white, quills \-ery light grey, feet and legs greenish 

 grey, black welis, onh^ weighed six lbs. I have kept the wings and 

 covers, and the sternum and trachea, as this is apparently necessary 

 for identification. The trachea is very curious ; it is curved into a 

 cavity in the keel of the sternum which seems to be a peculiarity of the 

 Whooper, according to my books. I should think the bird is young, as 

 plumage looks downy. On November ist two swans seen flying in a 

 south-easterly direction about 9 a.m. On Xovember 2nd a line swan 

 was seen flying south-east at 8.30 a.m. 



AI. J. Delap. 

 Valentia Island, Co. Kerry. 



Swans on Strang^ford Lough. 



;. Wlule visiting the Castle Espie district on Strangford Lough, early in 

 October with a friend, we noticed a very large number of swans on the 

 lough a little north of Castle Espie ; there must have been well over 

 200 in all here. Further south, near Ringneil, we saw another big group 

 of fully 50 mor». Is this not an unusual number of these birds to be seen 

 together on salt water ? 



Belfast. Robert Bell. 



The Gull and the Golf Ball. 



During a match on the Ballj^eastle golf links lately, in the Dolphin 

 Cup competition, a curious incident occurred. A player made a long 

 drive, the ball lying out in the open. Suddenly, to the surprise of those 

 present watching the match, a large sea-gull (Herring Gull or Blackbacked) 

 was seen to swoop down on th? ball, pick it up and fly away with it in its 

 beak. 



Belfast. R. J. Welch. 



