194 OTIDIDA 
in Tipperary. With regard to these occurrences, Messrs. 
Williams and Son published a paragraph in the ‘ Zoo- 
logist,’ 1908, p. 153-4, which has been criticised in the pages 
of the ‘Irish Naturalist,’ 1903, p. 198. To the criticisms 
Messrs. Williams and Son reply on p. 248 of the same 
Journal. 
The first note reads :— 
GREAT BUSTARD IN IRELAND. 
‘Two large birds were observed frequenting some fields 
near Thurles, co. Tipperary, during the month of December, 
1902. On the 20th one fell to the gun of a farmer’s son, 
who thought it was a Wild Goose; it was sent to us for 
identification, and proved to be a female Great Bustard in 
excellent plumage. Its stomach contained turnip-tops. 
This, we believe, is the first record of this species in 
Treland. The gentleman who turned down the Great 
Bustards in Norfolk has carefully examined the specimen, 
but cannot identify it as one of his birds.”’ 
Criticism: ‘‘ Messrs. Williams and Son record in the 
Zoologist for April the occurrence of two Great Bustards 
in co. Tipperary in December last year, one being shot. 
But the recent liberation of a number of Great Bustards in 
Norfolk seriously affects the value of what would otherwise 
be a new record for Ireland. To put it mildly, it is a 
singular coincidence that the jist appearance of the species 
in Ireland should so closely follow its deliberate introduc- 
tion into England.” 
(The writer of this criticism does not give his name.) 
Reply: ‘In the Irish Naturalist for July (p. 198 supra), 
we see a paragraph casting doubt on the Great Bustard shot 
in Tipperary being a genuine wild bird. We received the 
same week in December a very fine specimen from Glamor- 
ganshire. As two years have elapsed since the fifteen Great 
Bustards were liberated in Norfolk, and in a recent number 
of the Field every single liberated bird has been accounted 
for, we may safely conclude that the Irish specimen has 
not had an assisted passage; we may also remark that both 
specimens, Irish and Welsh, have been carefully examined 
by the gentleman who brought the birds to Norfolk, and 
his conclusion was that they were bond-fide travellers. Of 
course there will always be a certain amount of doubt when 
there is only one occurrence of a species in a locality, but in 
