VOL. IX.] NOTES. 251 



1911-12, p. 88). Mr. W. Wells Bladen reports one at Great 

 Barr, March 29th, 1914 {Rep. N.S.F.C., 1914-15, p. 84), and 

 now two more are recorded above from Lichfield in 1911 

 and (apparently near Cheadle) in Dec, 1915 {ut supra), so 

 that at least eight occurrences have been recorded. It is 

 evident from the scattered nature of these records, which 

 I have reason to believe are still very imperfect, that the 

 Little Owl is now widely distributed over the county, and has 

 probably been established some time as a breeding species, 

 though up to the present nesting has not been recorded. 



F. C. R. JOURDAIN. 



EXTERMINATION OF THE GOLDEN EAGLE 

 IN IRELAND. 



For some years the Golden Eagle {Aqxila c. chrysaetus) has 

 been on the verge of extinction in Ireland, and with the 

 shooting of two during the year 1915, ornithologists must 

 sadly conclude that this fine species has ceased to exist in 

 Ireland. 



In 1911, and again in 1912, the late R. J. Ussher undertook 

 journeys to the west and north-west of Ireland to investigate 

 the range of the Eagles in their last haunts. By personal 

 observation, and searching inquiries and correspondence, 

 he could trace but one individual in Mayo and one other 

 in Donegal, while he was satisfied that the species was 

 extinct in Kerry (see Irish Naturalist, 1912. pp. 120 and 

 181-182). 



Unfortunately the Donegal bird was shot in that county 

 during the spring of 1915, and the Mayo bird — an old female 

 — was killed in the first week of November, 1915, as she sat 

 asleep on a fence, having devoured a goose thrown out from 

 a farm near Pulathomas, in her native county. It is 

 reasonable to suppose, having regard to Mr. Ussher's minute 

 investigations, that this Eagle was the last of her race. 



At one time a very common bird in Ireland, it bred in 

 most of the higher mountain ranges — some of its former 

 eyries are now tenanted by the Peregrine Falcon — and its 

 disappearance is chiefly due to the vigilance of keepers and 

 to the widespread use of poisoned carcasses set for foxes. 

 Collectors are not responsible, as Mr. Williams of Dublin 

 informs me that no Irish specimen had passed through his 

 hands for twenty-five years previous to the above records. 



When Ussher published the Birds of Ireland in 19C0 he 

 prophesied the early extinction of the species, although he 

 could at that time refer to " a few pairs still resident in the 

 west." The former breeding range of the Golden Eagle in 



