So The htsh Natural i St. April, 1911. 



Wild Cat supposed to be within Historic Times a Native of 



Ireland. 



According to Dr. Scharlt'.s examination of tlu; cat hones from the 

 Co. Clare caves, after comparison with that of Fclis cntus, he ascribes 

 them to belong to an African species, probably a contemporary of the 

 Reindeer, Mammoth, and Arctic Marmot, whose liones were found in the 

 same caves. ITowevcr, so far. there is no reliable information of Felis^ 

 ratits feeing a native among the rt'cords of our list t)f liish naturalists, 

 from the time of Wm. Thompson up to the present date. No doubt 

 there are allegations, from time to time, of the capture and occurrence 

 of Wild Cats, but. unfortunately, no specimens have been produced in 

 proof of the statements ; and as for stories by country people they may 

 be all put asi<lc as being of like value, as other mythical stories of fairies, 

 banshees, cluricaunes, &c. However, from Major Barrett Hamilton's 

 notes in the March number of the Irisli Naturalist (siipya, p. 55), it is 

 very interesting to learn that he has now, fortunately, obtained such 

 authentic information of the Wild Cat being a native, that he says : — 

 " These are so authentic, that I cannot think the fact can any longer 

 be doubted." I am sure that all Irish naturalists will be exceedingly 

 gratified at Major Barrett-Hamilton's success in thus solving this long 

 doubted (jue tion. But it would add greatly to their pleasure and 

 gratification if he would kindly, in the next issue of the IiisJi Naturalist, 

 give the names of the publications from which he gathered this 

 important fact, and not withhold them until the publication of his 

 work on British Mammals, in which I wish him every success. 



RORERT W.^RREN. 



Ardnaree, Monkstown, Co. Cork. 



The Ringed Seal in Irish Waters. 



Mr. Lydekker kindly drew my attention to an important point of 

 difference between the skulls of the Ringed Seal {Phoca foetida) and 

 Common Seal (P. vit:ilina) which I had omitted in my " Notes on Irish 

 Seals " in last month's Irish Naturalist (p. 42, supra). It is the shape 

 of the lower jaw. The two branches or rami of the lower jaw unite in 

 the middle by what is called a symphysis. The latter is longer in the 

 Ringed Seal than in the other seal, and the branches before thcN^ join 

 run almost parallel to one another for a certain distance before they 

 diverge. In the Common Seal the branches of the lower jaw are devoid 

 of that peculiar notch and join almost like the two sides of a triangle. 

 The jaws are also much more massive than those of the Ringed Seal. 

 .Altogether it sliould not be difficult to recognise the Ringed Seal from 

 the jaws alone. 



R. F. SCHARFF. •_ 



National Museum, Dublin. 



