Notes. !37 



Exports of Mussels from the Port of Belfast during the months of 



January, February, and March, in the following years :— 



Year. Tons. 



1889, ... 483 



256 

 233 



5 



1 



1,532 



1S90, 



1891, 

 1892, 



1893, 

 1894, 



-R. Leoyd Patterson, Belfast. 



BIRDS. 



Spring Migrants at Armagh. —The arrivals of these birds vary 

 a good deal this year from last, some being much earlier and others 

 somewhat later. The Chiffchaff and Willow Wren came together on 

 March 24. Swallows were seen by Mrs. Johnson at Loughgall on April 

 6th, but I did not observe them here till the 10th. The next arrival was 

 the Cuckoo on April 17th, and on the following day I saw the first 

 Swift. The Corncrake was late, for I did not hear it till April 28th. On 

 May 5th, when out in quest of moths in the evening, I heard the 

 Grasshopper Warbler. The latest arrival was the House Martin, which 

 I did not see till May 7th. The Sand Martin I was not able to observe, 

 as I did not visit any of its haunts. — W. F. Johnson, Armagh. 



Arrival of Spring Migrants in Londonderry District.— Most 



of our summer visitors reached us this year at their usual date, one was 

 however much before its time while another was much later. I heard 

 the Chiffchaff first on 25th March. On the 3rd April the Sand Martins 

 arrived. The Wheatear appeared at Inch on 9th April. Last year I 

 heard the Willow Wren on 3rd April, while this year I did not hear it 

 until 9th. The Swallows did not reach us till 15th April, a very late date 

 for them. The Corncrake arrived on 24th April, the Cuckoo on 26th 

 April, and the Sedge Warbler on 27th April. Mr. Milne saw a Swift on 

 29th April, the earliest date I have ever known it to arrive. I did not 

 see it in numbers until 7th May. — D. C. Campbele, Londonderry. 



Summer Migrants in the Vale of Ovoca. — I heard the Chiff 

 chaff on April 8th, the Sand Martins arrived on March 28th; the Swallows 

 on April 1st, House Martins on April 3rd, Cuckoo on April 12th, Landrail 

 on April 17th, and Swifts on May 7th. — J. HUNTER, Woodenbridge, Co. 

 Wicklow. 



Rare Birds in Achili Island.— In the Zoologist for April, Mr. J. R. 

 Sheridan writes that on 12th December, 1892, he saw a male King Eider 

 (Somatcria speciabilis) near Dugort. Two Surf Scoters ( GZdemia perspicillata) 

 were seen on 25th October, 1870, and one of them was shot. A third 

 specimen was seen in Duach Bay in December, 1890. Two Mealy 

 Redpoles (Lino/a linarid) were shot in Achili Sound in February, 

 1893, by Mrs. Harvey ; Mr. Sheridan thinks this bird visits Achili every 

 winter. An adult male Buffon's Skua (Stercorarius parasiticus) was shot 

 by Mr. Sheridan on 29th December, 1892, near the village of Duach. 



Woodlarks (Alauda arborea), breeding in Co. Wicklow.— 

 After an absence of many years, five of these birds were observed in this 

 locality during October, 1893. They remained all through the winter, 

 and on the 26th of April we were fortunate enough to discover the nest 

 of one pair which contained three young birds and an addled egg.— 

 John Hunter, Woodenbridge, Co. Wicklow. 



Woodcocks in May.— A correspondent writes to the Limerick 

 Chronicle (May 3rd), " that a dav or two since, Mr. Mollison, gamekeeper 

 to the Hon. W. C. Trench, of Castleoliver, Kilfinane, found a Woodcock, 

 with three voung ones apparently about a fortnight old, in the demesne, 

 near the castle."— Ernest Bennis, Limerick. 



