Zoology. i6i 



it is not infrequently seen in winter; and as late as i6 April 

 the lighthouse keepers report "seventeen eider ducks on 

 the water" (Migration Reports). The King-Eider is ex- 

 tremely rare. Thompson records a female shot in Belfast 

 Lough in March 1850. The late Robert CJage of Rathlin 

 stated he shot a female off the island in November 1861, 

 but the specimen cannot be traced; while on 10 November, 

 1897, the first Irish mature male King-Eider was shot by 

 William H. Shaw near Donaghadee, Co. Down. The 

 Common Scoter is a winter visitor to Belfast Lough in large 

 numbers, flocks of several thousand having been seen ; but 

 in other loughs they do not seem to be so numerous. The 

 Velvet-Scoter is very rare. R. Lloyd Patterson observed a 

 pair in February 1875, ^"^^ "^^^ shot in 1886, and I shot 

 a male on 3 January, 1889, out of a flock of three, all in 

 Belfast Lough. Only one specimen of the Surf-Scoter has 

 occurred in the district ; the first Irish record is thus given 

 by Thompson : " A beautiful adult male was shot at Bally- 

 holme, Belfast Bay, on 9 September, 1846, by Snowden 

 Corken, Esq. ; it was alone. Two of these birds had, a day 

 or two before, been observed in company in the same 

 locality, and one individual was seen several times in the 

 course of a few weeks after the subject of this notice had 

 been killed." This specimen is still in the Belfast Museum. 

 The Goosander is a winter visitor in small numbers ; it has 

 been often seen on Strangford, but seems more partial to 

 inland waters and rivers, although it has been obtained 

 more than once on Rathlin. The *Red-breasted Merganser 

 breeds regularly on islands in Strangford (Down), and occa- 

 sionally on Ram's Island, Lough Neagh (Antrim), and other 

 places, while large flocks are sometimes seen in winter. It 

 seems to be increasing here at all seasons. The Smew 

 is very rare. We only know of five occurrences in the two 

 counties, the last being a female shot by Colonel Bruce on 

 Lough Beg, 22 February, 1901 (R. Lloyd Patterson in 

 Irish Nat.^ 1901, p. 93). It has several times been taken 

 just outside the district, on Lough Neagh. 



Columbae.— The *Ring-Dove (known as Wood-Pigeon) 

 is very common, A nest has been seen five feet from the 

 ground in a slender tree on Ram's Island. Our residents 



