98 The Irish NaturalisU April, 



We have received two specimens of a southern visitor, the Glossy Ibis 

 {Plegadis falcinellus), one from Rev, F. Coughlan at Buttevaut and the 

 other from Dr. Hutch, Conna, which was sent on October ist. The 

 latter bird, which has the head and neck speckled, has much longer legs 

 than the former. 



On the i6th December we received what in all probability was a 

 specimen of the Red-necked Grebe {Podicipes griseigena) which was 

 obtained at East-ferry; the head and neck of this specimen was so badly 

 injured by dogs as to render identification almost impossible. We have, 

 however, hopes of proving same beyond doubt. At present we cannot 

 state definitely. On the 4th January a Spotted Crake i^Porzana maruethi) 

 reached us from Buttevant. 



F. R. ROHU & Son. 



Cork. 



Were the Irish Elk and the Reindeer contemporaneous in 



Ireland ? 



The late Professor Leith Adams (" On the recent and extinct Irish 

 Mammals," Scient. Proc. Royal Dublin Society, vol. ii., 1880, p. 78), asserted 

 that the Reindeer and the Irish Elk had lived contemporaneously in 

 Ireland in former times. 



Mr. W. Williams (" On an attempt to elucidate the history of Cervus 

 Megaceros, commonly called the Irish Elk," Scient. Proc. Royal Dublin 

 Society, vol. ii., 1880, p. iio), however, has since shown that in the case of 

 the Ballybetagh Bog at any rate, the antlers of these two species of deer 

 were not found on the same level (p. no). 



He pointed out that both Reindeer and Irish Elk remains occurred in 

 the deposit underlying the peat, but that those of the former animal 

 were discovered in the upper clay, and the remains of the Irish Elk in 

 the stratified lake sediment beneath the clay. Mr. Williams concluded 

 that the lower deposit must have been laid down during a temperate 

 climate, while arctic conditions prevailed when the Reindeer lived in 

 Ireland. 



Without wishing here to discuss the soundness of Mr. Williams' con- 

 clusions, I should like to draw attention to a second apparently contem- 

 poraneous occurrence of Irish Elk and Reindeer remains near Mullingar, 

 in the County Westmeath. 



Mr. Cleary, a veterinary surgeon at Mullingar, had a drain cut on his 

 property in the townlaud of Kilpatrick, about two miles from Mullingar. 

 During the operation he discovered a number of bones which he offered 

 to the National Museum in Dublin. 



I was unable at the time to inspect the site, but James Duffy— a 

 museum attendant, who has shown particular interest in fossils, and 

 whose judgment and power of observation can be relied upon - was sent 

 to fetch the bones and report on the circumstances of their discovery. 

 He brought back a fine head with incomplete antlers of the Irish Elk, 



