140 The Irish Nahualist, Julj-, 



Fecundity of the Chaffinch. 



In the June number of the Irhh Naturalist last year (vol. xvi., p. 207) 

 I\Ir. Moffat, quoting on the authority of the Rev. Allan Ellison, who has 

 an extensive acquaintance with the habits of the Chaffinch in Ireland, 

 states that this species is 20 per cent, less prolific in Ireland than in 

 Herefordshire, where clutches of six are by no means uncommon, and 

 clutches under five are unusual. If this is so, and we have no reason to 

 doubt Mr. Ellison's authorit}-, it opens up a very interesting question. 

 The cause of the increased fecundity of the Chaffinch in England, as 

 compared with Ireland, is assigned by Mr. Ellison to its being more 

 persecuted, in which view I scarcel}- share. I can hardly believe that 

 the Chaffinch is more persecuted in Herefordshire than Yorkshire, and 

 yet the average clutch of eggs in this district cannot be more than 4.75. 

 Six eggs in a nest is an exceptional number in the Bradford district, 

 and this variation in the fertility of this species in the range of its 

 distribution owes its origin probably to other and more deep-seated 

 causes than is accounted for by Mr. Ellison. 



E- P. BUTTERFIEI^D. 

 Bank, House, Wilsdeu. 



Supposed Occurrence of a Wild Cat in the West of Cork. 



A species of Wild Cat is proved b}' its fossil remains to have inhabited 

 Ireland at no very remote period, as Dr. vScharff has .'■hown in his ver;- 

 careful paper (Proc. R. I. Academy, January, 1906), and he also urged 

 that enquiries should be made as to whether such an animal has been 

 seen or heard of lately {^Irish Naturalist, 1905, p. 79). Though the specimen 

 referred to below has unfortunately perished, and conclusive proof of its 

 species is therefore unattainable, it may be well to record the remarkable 

 descriptions given me by several members of the Becher family. 



In 1881 I made a note of the statement of Mr. E. W. Becher and his 

 sister to the effect that some years previously their elder brother shot a 

 Wild Cat at Liss Ard, The O'Donovan's place. 



" It had a broad head, short legs, and a short, bristly tail ; the colour 

 " was brindled, with bars of black on a dark grey, with a dash of tan 

 " colour." 



1 have recently met their elder brother, the Rev. H. Becher, who at 

 my request has written the following account : — 



" Castlehaven Rectory, Skibbereeu, May %th, 1S9S. 



"I shot what I took to be a Wild Cat at Liss Ard, vSkibbereen, during 

 •' the winter of 1873-74, probably in January, 1874. The place was high, 

 '• rocky ground, on the skirt of a young plantation .1 just got a glimpse 

 " of it passing through the gorse and brambles, and thought it might be 

 " a IVIarten Cat. We were beating for Woodcocks. The retriever fetched 

 * it, and when she came out of the covert the Cat had her by the nose. 



