Notes. 2C 



choceUs jyestachia and Tlimcra j^cnnaria. Sugar was a total failure producinir 

 nothing but disappointment, and a dissipated specimen of XvlovluisUt 

 monoglypha,—W . F. Johnson, Armagh. " 



FISHES. 

 Sharks In Irish Waters,— Mr. W. F. dc V. Kane conlrihutes to 

 the i'V/(/ of loth December, 1S92, an interesting article on this sul)iect 

 giving accounts of the capture of the Great Basking-Shark (S>l„.-U 

 nnaxima) off the west coast, and discussing the economic value of the 

 fishery. 



B IR D S . 

 The Birds of Lougrh SwIIIy — Having an intimate acquaintance 

 with Co. Donegal generally, and those parts south and west of Lough 

 Swilly more particularly, I was greatly interested in Professor Leebody's 

 paper on the "Birds of Ivough Swilly," but must take exception to his 

 statement [Irish Naturalist, vol. i., p. 175), as to Wigeon flying to inland 

 waters at dusk, and to sea or saltwater at dawn. They may do so at Inch, 

 but they do exactly the opposite on the western side of the lough, where 

 often m flight-shooting I have brought down Wild Duck, Teal, and 

 Wigeon, at night on their way /rom Lough Fern to Lough Swillv, and in 

 the morning have frequently seen them return. Within the last few years 

 Cormorants have come in great numbers from Lough Swillv to Lough 

 Fern in the evening. Formerly they did not do so, although' there were 

 always a few about the lough, both by day and night. Lough Fern 

 is a sheet of fresh water about one and a-half miles long by one mile 

 broad, some four miles as the crow flies, west of Lough Swilly'—J. H. H. 

 SwiNEY, Belfast. 



Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) and Grey Phalarope (Ph. 

 funcarius)'near lYluIIing-ar. It may interest readers of the//- /.v/( X<itn- 

 ralist to know that I shot these birds in November, the latter on Lough 

 Bnnell. — J. Tayi^or, Belvidere, Mullingar. 



Nesting of the Great Crested Grebe (Podicipes cristatus, 



L.). To the Zoologist for December Rev. Allan Ellison contributes an in- 

 teresting note on the nesting of this bird at Hillsborough, Co. Down, 

 where several pairs bred last season. 



Honey Buzzard (Pernis apivorus, L.) in Co. Wexford. Mr. 



E. Williams records in the Zoologist for December a male Honey Buzzard, 

 shot in the middle of October, in a wood near the town of Gorey. 



Bee-eater (Merops apiaster L.) in Co. Wicklow. A female 



Bee-eater in first year's plumage was shot b3'Mr. John Gra^don on a bog 

 near Delgany. It was one of a flock of six. — E. Wii^ijams (in the Zoo- 

 logist for December). 

 Snowy Owl (Nyctea scandiaca, Linn.), on Achill Island. In 



the " Irish Times " of December 14th, Mr. R. Harvey states that he shot 

 a specimen of this rare owl on Achill Island. 



MA M M A LS . 

 The supposed Hybrid Hare and Rabbit an English Hare. In 



the October number of the Irish Naturalist (vol. i. p. 147) I described a 

 supposed hybrid between hare and rabbit, which I had received. Mr. 

 Eagle Clarke, of the Edinburgh Museum, has given this specimen care- 

 ful examination, and finds that it is only Lcpus timidus~the English Hare, 

 which has been introduced at a few places in Ireland.— Arthur J. 

 Coi,i,iNS, Belfast. 



The Badger (IVIeles taxus), in Ireland. Various correspondents 

 to the Field, in November, 1892, agree in stating that this animal is fairly 

 common in Ireland, though it is unfrequcntly seen on account of its 

 nocturnal habits. 



