yS The hish Nahiralist. April, 



Luvarus imperialis on the Coast of Donegal. 



On September S, loio. a strange tish was left stranded at Walker's 

 Bay, Killybcgs, Co. Donegal, where we were spending our summer holiday. 

 It measured 4 ft. 3 in. in length, weighed, as far as we could estimate, 

 about a hundredweight, had a shiny porpoise-like skin, and quite brilliant 

 scarlet fins and tail of mackerel shape. Had we known at the time 

 what an exceedingly rare fish we had found we should have made an 

 eitort to preserve it. for it was (juite fresh and in perfect condition, except 

 for absence of eyes and slight da-nage to its head. The eyes had 

 evidently been pecked out by tiie gulls, which hovered around it in large 

 numbers. We did, however, remove the scailet fins and tail and gave 

 them to our host to preserve, but I am sorry to hear from him tliat his 

 eftorts were not successful, and they have gone the way of all flesh. 



We were unable to find any fish resembling it in Varrell's British Fishes, 

 the only book to which we had access, at the time, but a recent visit 

 to the Natural History Museum at South Kensington enabled us at once 

 to identify it as a specimen of Luvarus imperialis. As far as I have 

 been able to discover this fish has been recorded on only four previous 

 occasions in the British and Channel Isles. By the courtesy of Mr. G. 

 A. Boulenger I am able to give the following details and references. 



Luvarus imperialis is a rare pelagic iish, found in the Mediterranean, 

 and has-been occasionally observed on the Italian and Sicilian coasts. 

 Two were thrown ashore on the Cornish shore in 1866 (Day's British 

 Fishes). One was captured at Seven Heads, Co. Cork, in 1901. This 

 specimen was fully described with illustrations by Mr. Longfield, of 

 Enniskean, in the Field of November 23, 1901, and by Dr. R. F. Scharff, 

 Irish Naturalist, vol. x. p. 190. The fourth was found in 1902 at St. 

 Martin's, Gurnscy (Boulenger, Field, October 25, 1902). I may add 

 that the specimen 1 have desci'ibed was seen by several people besides 

 myself and my sons, including Colonel Sinclair, of Ballyloughan, Bruckless, 

 Co. Donegal, and the Rev. J. T. Davies, of the King's School, Chester, 

 who was a member of our party, and was the first person actually 

 to see it. 



W. J. Constable. 

 Uppingham. 



Mealy Redpoll in Co. Carlow. 



While out shooting rabbits here on December 26th last, in a young 

 fir plantation, a Robin settled on a tree near me, closely followed by 

 another small greyish bird that I had never seen before. Wherever the 

 robin went this other bird followed it, and being struck by this behaviour 

 I looked carefully at the second bird and at once saw that it was quite 

 unknown to me. I was able to have a very good look at it as it sat on 

 a tree not two yards from me. The bird was of a uniform speckled 

 browny grey with darker bars across the wings and had a bright crimson 

 patch on the top of the head. As soon as I got home I looked it out 

 in Morris's " British Birds " and had no difficulty in recognising it as a 



