1896.] Notes. T19 



questioningly and sidled cautiousl)' towards it, anxious to be assured that 

 all was right. Down came a brisk Blue Titmouse, spied the loaf, and 

 without a moment's hesitation alighted upon it directl}- and commenced 

 joyfully to attack the abundant supply ! I think when the next " Glacial 

 Period" descends upon our northern shores fhdit Farus crri-it lens yfiWho: the 

 last bird to be starved out of its present familiar haunts. 



S. M. Thompson, Belfast. 



MAMMALS. 

 Irish Hare grolng: to Ground.— A discussion on the subject of 

 Hares going to ground has recently been going on in the pages of the 

 Field newspaper, and among other interesting notes is the following'-,' 

 which altough appearing over an anonymous signature ("Aquarius") I 

 can well believe to be true : — " On many Irish mountains the Hares take 

 to natural fissures in the rocks, or to natural water-courses, called b3-the 

 natives water-brakes, formed by the percolation of the water throuo-h 

 the peaty formation overlying the rock or other hard subsoil, often to a 

 depth of several feet. In many localities, as for instance, in the Banner- 

 more'- chain in Donegal, where there is little covert, the Hares become 

 nearly as subterranean in their habits as Rabbits. In these holes or 

 crevices they seek safel}^ from their enemies or shelter from bad weather, 

 coming to the entrances of their "burrows," if such they may be termed, 

 to bask in the sun, their "seats," as they are termed, being clearly 

 marked. It is supposed that the Hares took to this habit to escape from 

 their chief enemies, the eagles, formerly abundant in these mountains, 

 but now pretty nearly extinct." It has not been my good fortune to have 

 any experience of Hares in an open country like that described by 

 "Aquarius," but my knowledge of them in wooded and cultivated dis- 

 tricts, and of w^hat has previously been written on the subject {vide 

 Thompson's Natural History of Ireland, vol. iv., p. 29, Field for Jan. 14, 

 1882, July 18, 1891, and more recent numbers, and for Scotland, Mr. 

 William Evans' remarks in the Annals of Scottish Natural History, 

 Oct., 91, p. 267), leads me to believe that the above remarks are perfectl}' 

 true. It would be interesting, however, if some reader of the Irisk 

 Naturalist could confirm them from his own experience. 



G. B. H. Barrett- Ham 1 1.T0N, London. 



GBOLOGY. 

 The Raised Beach at Fort Stewart, Lough Swiliy.— a 



further examination of material from this raised beach shows the 

 presence of the following shells, additional to those recorded in mv 

 paper on "The Raised Beaches of Inishowen," \\\ the I.N', for October, 

 1895 (vol. iii., pp. 278-285) : — Trochus umbilicatus, Littorina rztdis, Rissoa 

 menihranacea., R. striata, Hydrobia uIzut, Fusus antiqinis. 



R. L1.0YD Praeger. 



^ Field, Feb. 8th, 1896 - .? Barnesmore, Eds. 



