1923. Notes. 51 



It will be seen that the identity of the animal in question is more or 

 less guesswork, and that Marten is the more likely translation. In this 

 connection Dr. Scharff's paper " On the Irish Names of Animals {Irish 

 Naturalist, vol. xxiv. (1915) PP-45-53. is our best authority. — .Eds. 



Irish Breeding: Birds. 



To the April number of " British Birds " Mr, C. V. Stoney contributes 

 an important article—" Recent Observations on some Irish Breeding 

 Birds " — -giving in a collected form the additions that have been made 

 since the publication of Messrs. Ussher and Warren's " Birds of Ireland " 

 to the list of birds known to breed in this country, and to the counties 

 in which nests of the scarcer species have been found. The paper will 

 be convenient for reference, as the birds added to our list since 1900 are no 

 fewer than five — -the Eider Duck, Common Scoter, Red-necked Phalarope, 

 Black-necked or Eared Grebe, and Fulmar ; while in at least six cases 

 counties have been added to the ascertained breeding range, the Garden- 

 Warbler's nest having been found in Queen's County ; the Wood- Warbler's 

 in Co. Wicklow (where, however, the fact of the bird's breeding had 

 previously been accepted as quite beyond doubt) ; the Tree-Sparrow's in 

 Mayo, Donegal, Derry, and Antrim ; the Siskin's in Derry ; the Crossbill's 

 in Dublin, and the Dunlin's in Fermanagh. The list is admittedly not 

 quite exhaustive, as the writer has refrained in regard to such rare species 

 as the Sandwich and Roseate Tern from naming the counties in which 

 new nesting localities have been found. 



Early Arrival of the Chiffchaff in Co. Down. 



On 22nd March this year a Chiffchaff {Phyllosocopus collyhita Vieill.) 

 was seen by me near McAuley's Lake, a large sheet of water about three 

 miles from Ballynahinch, and almost in the centre of Co. Down. The bird 

 was hopping about in a thorn hedge, and its well-known notes, uttered 

 very faintly, were what first attracted my attention. As I watched, its 

 voice seemed to increase in strength. The day was bright and sunny, 

 and the place a sheltered one. 



Robert N. Morrison. 



Ballynahinch, Co. Down. 



Rev. R. N. Morrison's note supra constitutes, so far as I know, the 

 earliest record of the Chiffchaff in the North of Ireland. Thompson {Nat. 

 Hist, of Ireland, Vol. I., p. 196) gives 3rd April as the earliest date of 

 arrival known to him, and my Hillsborough earliest note is 23rd March, 

 in 191 8. This year I saw it first on 28th March. 



Nevin H. Foster. 

 Hillsborough, Co. Down. 



