1899O A T otcs* 27 



West Coast, agreed w'.th my' identification. In iSSi Frank Buckland 

 wrote :— "The Black Fish, an inhabitant of the Mediterranean, has been 

 only four or five times seen on our coast." Generally it was captured 

 on the Cornish coast. The appearance of this specimen within a few 

 days of the Lesser Rorqual on the same strand is most interesting. 

 One is typically northern in its home, and the other is typically southern. 

 Their presence is a good illustration of the character of the fauna and 

 flora of Donegal, combining as it does, species reaching their northern 

 limits from the south around the west coast, and others of a high 

 northern character. 



Carrablagh, Co. Donegal. 



H. C. Hart. 



BfKDS. 



Hawfinch and Long-tailed Duck in north Co. Dublin. 



On the 13th February last a mature male Hawfinch (Coccothraastes 

 vulgaris, Pallas), was obtained at the Grange, Portmarnock. I have not 

 previously heard of it been taken in this district. Mr. John Wellington, 

 a local fowler, has kindly given me an immafure female Long-tailed Duck 

 {Harelda glacialis, Linn.), which he shot on the Malahide estuary on 19th 

 October. This is the only occurrence that has come under my notice 

 during the last ten years. 



Malahide. J. Trumbuu,. 



Eider Duck in Innishowen. 



On 2nd November I examined a female Eider Duck [Smnateria 

 mollissima), shot near Carndonagh, Co. Donegal, a few days before. This 

 is the first time the species has come under my notice here. 



Londonderry. D. C. Campbeu,. 



MAMMALS. 



Lesser Rorqual on the Coast of Co. Cork. 



During the early part of Maj- (189S), the carcase of a Lesser Rorqual 

 (Bala.noptera rostrata) was found by some fishermen floating in the Bay of 

 Clonakilty. Though in a very decomposed condition, it was towed to 

 shore, but was found to be of 110 value, and, after having lain for four or 

 five days on the beach, was again taken out to sea by order of the local 

 coast-guards. Late in the same month the carcase was again washed 

 ashore at a distance of about a mile from the Coast-guard Station at 

 Ring Bar, Clonakilty. Mr. David Stewart, the Station Officer at Ring 

 Bar, was good enough to visit the carcase on my behalf, and states that 

 the total length was 14 feet 4 inches, and the depth 3 feet 10 inches. 

 The extreme length of the flippers was 2 feet, and the colour of the body 

 black above and white beneath. Mr. Stewart was also good enough to 

 send me the jaw-bones of the animal to London, so that there can be no 

 doubt as to the identification of the specimen. I recorded the stranding' 

 of another specimen of the same species on the coast of Co. Cork in 

 October, 1891 {Zoologist, February, 1892, p. 75). 



Kilmanock, Co. Wexford. G. E. H. Barrett-Hamii/Ton. 



