160 ANATIDA 
Dingle Bay, co. Kerry, by Dr. Chute (Thompson); the 
other bird, as recorded by Watters (‘Birds of Ireland’), 
was shot in the co. Meath. 
Mr. J. G Muillais is in the possession of a specimen 
supposed to have been killed in Tralee harbour, co. Kerry, 
in 1880. The three remaining birds were shot by Sir R. 
Payne-Gallwey, who writes as follows:—‘‘I had the good 
fortune to kill two of these birds in the south of Ireland in 
December 1878, and a third in the very severe frost of 
January 1881, on the coast of Kerry, after a heavy gale 
from the north-west. All three birds were shot on the 
tide. One was an adult male and two were females. In 
my anxiety to obtain the former I fired at such close 
quarters that I cut its head clean off, but it was afterwards 
fixed to the body when the bird was preserved ”’ (‘ Letters to 
Young Shooters, Third Series, pp. 191, 192). ‘‘ From 
what I saw of those I shot, they appeared to fly faster 
and with a more darting motion than other Mergansers, 
and though diving with equal facility, not excelling their 
congeners’”’ (‘ Fowler in Ireland,’ p. 122). 
A specimen from the Menai Straits, North Wales, 
obtained in the winter of 1830-31, has been described and 
figured by Eyton (‘ History of The Rarer British Birds,’ 
p. 75). Stevenson, in his ‘ Birds of Norfolk,’ i, p. 228, 
refers to a male of this species obtained in Norfolk in the 
winter of 1837-38. Less authenticated statements are 
omitted here. 
From the above data it may be seen that the Hooded 
Merganser has touched most often on the western sea-board 
of Ireland, as we might expect from a Trans-Atlantic 
wanderer. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial—The most noticeable 
part of this bird’s plumage is its handsome black and white 
semi-circular hood, the white feathers of which run back 
from behind the eye! and spread out ina fan-shaped manner, 
the tips of the fan being edged with black. The hood is 
thick and bushy, and composed of short, wavy feathers ; it 
differs materially from the crests of the larger Mergansers, 
the plumes of which are pointed, elongated, and sparsely 
arranged. Neck and back, black; primaries, rump, and 
' A white patch of similar distribution is to be seen on the Buffel- 
headed Duck, so that at a distance the two species might be confounded. 
