1900.] Notes, 247 



<* WarUIcs " in Horses. 



It is apparently a foct not generally recognized that " warbles " similar 

 to those found in cattle also occur in horses. Last April several warble- 

 maggots were squeezed out of a horse at Ballyhyland, where the coach- 

 man assures me that he has extracted others in former 3'ears. In the 

 Zoologist for July last (p. 340) is a r^sumd of an article on " Enemies of the 

 Horse " by Mr. F. V. Theobald (contributed to the Journal by the South- 

 eastern Agricultural College, Wye), in which some reference is made to 

 this subject. Mr. Theobald is there quoted as saying that a fly, so far 

 unidentified, which forms warbles or tumours under the horse's skin, 

 like the Ox Warble, is probably Hypoderma silenus', its attacks are said to 

 be uncommon in this country. Whatever be the name of the fly, I think 

 it well to mention that it occurs in Co. Wexford, and probably elsewhere 

 in Ireland, though I do not suppose it is anywhere in this country a 

 source of serious mischief. 



Ballyhyland, Co. Wexford, C. B, Moffat. 



BIRDS. 



The Ruff in Ireland. 



I have just had the pleasure of reading Dr. Patten's carefully prepared 

 article on the Ruff {supra, p. 187). In it he treats of the occurrences of 

 this bird in Ireland in more detail than I have had space to do in the 

 " Birds of Ireland," a work w^hicli is now in the publisher's hands. 



In drawing deductions from available records of a rare bird, allowance 

 is to be made for several circumstances before a just estimate can be 

 formed of its range or the season of its visits. Thus the discontinuance 

 of shooting in spring, which was evidently practised a good deal in 

 Thompson's time, may partly account for the more recent absence of 

 records of the Ruff in March, April, and May, such as he cites. 



It is natural that the greater number of the instances that Thompson 

 gives should have taken place near Belfast Lough, the immediate scene 

 of his observations, and also that many Ruffs should have been heard of 

 on Dublin Bay, where many good observers have shot, and where 

 taxidermists are not far off. Thompson had few correspondents in the 

 West, especially in Connaught, and the greater number of records of 

 the Ruff from the western part of Ireland made since his time, may be 

 due to the spread of interest in ornithology rather than to any extension 

 of the range of this species in Ireland. 



Dr. Patten makes one remark in which I am unable to concur, namely, 

 that sportsmen as a rule are keen observers, and that few strange birds 

 pass them unnoticed. I would beg his attention to the following which 

 have been found among game sent in from various parts of Ireland : — 

 the Pink-footed Goose, Snow Goose, Ferruginous Duck, Little Bustard, 

 American Lesser Golden Plover, Pectoral Sandpiper, Bartram's Sand- 

 piper, Red-breasted Snipe, and Eskimo Curlew. No doubt Mr. Williams 

 can add instances of many other occasional visitors that he has found 

 exposed for sale as game in the Dublin markets. These remarks are 

 made in that friendly spirit of free discussion which I would myself 

 gladly invite. 



Cappagh, Co. Waterford. R. J. USSHEiR. 



