2 NOVITATES ZOOLOOICAE XXIV. 1917. 



to say without hesitation that the bird is the Black-throated form of the Black- 

 eared Wheatear, but I cannot say whether it belongs to the Western or Eastern 

 race until I have seen and compared the specimen. The Desert-Wheatear has 

 also a black throat, but the entire tail is black almost to the base, in that way 

 quite different from the description you have given. Therefore I have excluded 

 the possibility of your bird being a Desert-Wheatear. I am glad you furnished 

 me with a description of the tail, it has been a good guide, especially as you 

 omitted to mention the colour of the axUlaries and under wing-coverts, which 

 in the Bl^ck-eared Wheatear are conspicuous for their uniform black colour. 

 These feathers alone serve to distinguish this species from the Desert-Wheatear, 

 in which the axillaries are mottled black and white. You will be interested to 

 learn that this is the first time that a Black-eared Wheatear has been recorded 

 from Ireland. When it arrives I shall wire you the name, feeling confident in 

 the meantime that the provisional diagnosis made in absentia will prove correct." 



On Thursday, May 25th, the bird arrived in a tin box, well packed in cotton- 

 wool. Immediately before being sent by post it was removed from the spirit 

 in which it had been immersed since the day it was procured ; nevertheless its 

 feathers were still quite moist when I received it. With the application of 

 gentle heat it dried out beautifully in less than an hour, and it was gratifying 

 to find that the plumage was good, and the epidermis well fixed. As anticipated, 

 the bird proved to be a Black-eared Wheatear, and I immediately wired Mr. 

 GlanviUe to that effect. Accompanying the specimen was a letter in which, in 

 addition to the more usual technical data, such as the date, locality, hour of 

 capture, meteorological conditions, etc., the following interesting information 

 was given : 



" When I landed at 9.30 a.m. I observed a number of birds on the rock : 

 Whitethroats, Willow- warblers. Sedge-warblers, Swallows, and three Wheat- 

 ears. At once I noticed the strange bird (one of the Wheatears) by its light 

 plumage and by the lower part of its face and throat being black. I kept a 

 sharp look-out all the day when the Wheatears remained. At 6.30 p.m. I caught 

 a Whitethroat asleep with its head under its wing ; this gave me some hope 

 of getting the rare bird. I also met a large brown Wheatear asleep and missed 

 it by a few inches ; this bird also appeared strange to me. I next met the rare 

 bird asleep with its head under its wing, and using the greatest caution I got 

 it before it awoke. The third appeared to be a male Common Wheatear. J. 

 McGinley states that there were dozens of Wheatears and Warblers in the rays 

 of the lantern at 2 a.m. that day, the weather at the time being cloudy with 

 rain, and the wind, coming from the S.S.W., was blowing with the force of a 

 gentle breeze (F 3. Beaufort scale). There is only one species of Wheatear (the 

 Common) described in Morris's British Birds. This is the only Ulustrated book 

 I have, and so I am at a loss to find out the bird's name. I hope it is the first 

 Irish record. The wind had been blowing from the W., S.W., W.N.W., and N.W., 

 for six days previous to its capture, with much rain and fog." 



On receiving the bird my first care was to take several photographs of it 

 in the flesh, and then, having noted the plumage, ascertained the weight and 

 measurements, I took off the skin and dissected the body without delay. The 

 spirit, in which the bird was plunged immediately after death, fixed the epi- 

 dermis splendidly, not a feather was lost, and the body generally was in an 

 excellent state of preservation. I made a first-class skin, which, with other 



