Letters, Extracts, Notices, S^c. 297 



vious evening I had observed five birds flying over the bay 

 which had puzzled me, looking too large for ordinary Ducks, 

 and yet not flying like the Ruddy Sheldrake, which we often 

 find here ; and on the Monday morning a friend had noticed 

 two birds looking like dark-coloured Geese (he said they 

 were certainly not Cormorants) flying across the bay. 



I believe the occurrence of this northern bird so far south 

 may be new, and therefore of interest, especially as I see 

 that Col. Howard Irby, in his excellent ^^Ornithology of 

 the Straits of Gibraltar,^' makes no mention of the Brent as 

 occurring on either the Spanish or African side of the 

 Straits. 



Mr. Howard Saunders, in his very valuable ' Manual of 

 British Birds/ says that in cold weather the Brent Goose 

 '^ occasionally reaches the African and Asiatic sides of the 

 basin of the Mediterranean •" ; but this is perhaps the first 

 record of its occurrence on the Atlantic coast of Southern 

 Morocco. There is not the slightest doubt about the bird, 

 which I have compared carefully with the engraving and 

 description in the above-mentioned '' Manual.''^ 



The Bernicle Goose (Bernicla leucopsis) is mentioned by 

 Col. Irby as occurring in Andalusia, but he does not seem 

 to have heard of it on the African side. I find, on reference 

 to my shooting diary, that I saw, in stormy weather on 

 November 3rd, 1887, a couple of unmistakable Bernicle Geese 

 on a flooded plain near here, first apparently consorting with 

 a small party of Ruddy Sheldrakes, but afterwards separate. 

 Though, to my great regret, I failed to secure one, I am 

 quite sure about the birds, one of which appeared to be an 

 adult male in full plumage, and the figure on p. 397 of 

 Mr. Howard Saunders^s ' Manual ' recalled it to me most 



distinctly. 



Yours &c., 



Charles A. Payton. 



74 Leinster Eoad, Dublin, 

 9th March, 1891. 

 Sir, — I wish to place upon record the first appearance in 

 Ireland of the Lesser Kestrel, Falco cenchris. 



On the 20th of February last, Mr. Tank, of Aungier Street, 



