RED-NECKED PHALAROPE 265 
“Before giving an account of the discovery of this bird 
as a breeding species in Ireland, I may say that, seeing the 
sad havoc that has occurred to the species in the Orkneys 
and Shetlands by egg collectors and others, I have resolved, 
in consultation with a few leading Irish ornithologists, not 
to divulge the exact locality of the breeding ground, but to 
say in a general way ‘ the West of Ireland.’ I am also glad 
to say that the gentleman on whose property this very in- 
teresting discovery has been made shows every disposition 
to have the birds rigidly protected. 
‘Karly in the month of July last this gentleman sent 
me the skin of a Phalarope which had been rather roughly 
handled, but thinking that he had been on a yachting cruise 
round Scotland, and had probably obtained a specimen, it 
did not interest me much. In acknowledging the receipt 
I just said, ‘Of course the bird is not Imsh.’ Judge of my 
surprise when I received the following letter: ‘The Red- 
necked Phalarope which I sent you was, of course, Trish, 
otherwise I would not have sent it to you. JI now send two 
others shot to-day within a mile of the house. The birds 
breed here, and have, according to my keeper, done so for 
many years; he has also frequently found their nests, and 
on my questioning him he gave me a correct description of 
their eggs, colour, &c., &e. You will kindly set them up and 
give them on loan to the Natural History Museum’ (where 
they now are). 
‘In my reply I said that ornithologists would scarcely 
credit such a thing that this, a polar-breeding species, should 
be found breeding so far south, and begged him to set 
matters beyond all doubt by obtaining either an egg or 
young bird in the down. To my great delight, on Ist of 
August, I received a baby Phalarope, with a note, in which 
my correspondent said:—‘I am sorry to have to send you 
an uncontrovertible proof of the Red-necked Phalarope’s 
nesting here. This is one of their chicks—I saw one other. 
The distress of the two old birds made it very hard to kill 
this little thing. During my tramp through the bog I 
counted seventeen, but there may have been many more ; 
the most of the birds I saw were females. ‘The tameness of 
these is very marked, as apparently unconcernedly they are 
seeking food within a distance of a few feet. It is my 
greatest desire that these birds should be perfectly protected 
and unmolested. I am surprised that these little chicks 
are able to survive their many enemies, especially as there 
are always a lot of Black-backed and other Gulls on the bog.’ 
