No/i's. 1 £ -> 



/ NS £ C 7\V 



Sirex&ig:as in the North of Ireland. This fuK Saw-Ih. though 

 not yet known as a permanent resident in the Nortli of ifehmd, is 

 apparently on the increase in that district, owin^ cither t(} a }<reater 

 number of imported specimens, or to the establishment of small colonies 

 in spots which have not yet been discovered. While a number of the 

 recent local captures of this animal point to its introduction in timber or 

 otherwise, other specimens were taken in the open country, and many 

 have had a local origin. As the Irish records of this species are few, 

 possibly a note of its recent occurrences in the north-east may be of 

 interest. Between 1885 and 1888 several specimens were taken in the 

 neighbourhood of Belfast, of which no note was kept, in 1888 one was 

 taken in a timber yard in Armagh, and another in a shop- window in the 

 same city (see Entomologists Monthly Mag. vol. xxv., ist series, p. 132). In 

 1889 three were found in Lord Lurgan's vinery at Lurgan. In 1890 one 

 was taken at the Sirocco Works at Belfast. The following year yielded 

 a number of specimens. Mr. John Hamilton received one which was 

 captured in a Belfast warehouse; two Armagh timber yards yielded a 

 specimen each ; one was taken at Conlig, Co. Down, by Mr. G. B. Coulter, 

 and several in the neighbourhood of Holywood. In 1892 ]\Ir. J. II. Uavies 

 captured two in the open air at Lisburn; Lady Clanmorris forwarded a 

 Bangor specimen to the Belfast Museum; one occurrefl in Messrs. INIar- 

 tin's timber yard in Belfast; Dr. J. S. Darling forwarded me a specimen 

 taken on a grocer's window in Lurgan; and a very fine example was 

 found by Mr. H. T. Mercer crawling on a road at Cultra, near Holywood. 

 All the specimens which I have seen, or which were described to me, 

 were females. I have heard of several other occurrences, of which, how- 

 ever, I have not been able to procure authentic information. I have to 

 thank Rev. W. F. Johnson, M.A., Dr. J. S. Darling, and Messrs. S. A. 

 Stewart, R. M. Young, John Hamilton, and J. H. Davies, for assisting 

 me in the above compilation. — R. Lloyd Prakgkr. 



BIRDS. 



The Eagle Owl (Bubo maximus) in Ireland, and former 

 scarcity of the Magpie (Pica rustica).— No record of the capture 

 of this large Owl in modern times in Ireland has been substantiated, I 

 believe, but the following memoranda may be of interest, as it is quite 

 possible that when natural history pursuits become more generally in 

 favour, many rare species may be discovered. When in conversation 

 lately with Robert B. Evatt, Esq., of Mount Louise, Monaghan, now a 

 very old man, he assured me that many years ago he had seen two Eagle 

 Owls at rest in the daytime on a wooded island in upper Lough Erne, 

 belonging to Mr. Porter of Belleisle, and was deeply impressed by their 

 size and noble appearance. Mr. Evatt is a -practical naturalist of long 

 and wide experience, and Mr. Williams, senior, the well known 

 taxidermist of Dublin, owes his first lessons in bird-stuffing to his 

 instructions. He is thoroughly conversant with our common species of 

 Owl such as the Long-Eared and Woodcock Owls, so that his testimonv 

 cannot be well ignored. But, in the absence of a specimen, and of 

 further corroboration it is insufficient to entitle the species to a place in 

 the category of modern Irish birds. The bird appears, however, ancientlv 

 to have been acknowledged indigenous here, as in the ]MS. preserved 

 among the Molyneux documents, and referred to in my remarks under 

 the heading of " Is the Frog a Native of Ireland," I find "ye cock of ve 

 wood Urooallus majors and "ye Great Irish Owle," set down as " Birds 

 found in Ireland, not in England." With reference to the Magpie which 

 is entered as "rare in Ireland but common in England {i.e, about the 

 year 1700), there is also an interesting record of a flight ofJNIagpies 

 from England in 1670 " landing where the English first did (Barony ot 

 Forth) " Co Wexford.— Wm. Fras. De V. Kank, Drumreask, Monaghan. 



