Mr. W. Thompson on the Birds of Ireland. 2/7 



Esq. Early in the month of October, snow-buntings make 

 their appearance in the north of Ireland, and occasional!}" re- 

 main until the end of March. Their haunts in mild weather 

 are chiefly the mountain-tops, whence one night's severe frost 

 has been known to drive them to the nearest roads for food. 

 Occasionally in the lower grounds and even on the sea-shore 

 they may be met with when there is neither frost nor snow : 

 to the last they are obliged to resort when the weather sets 

 in very severe. During the great snow-storm of March 1827, 

 flocks appeared in the outskirts of the town of Belfast ; and 

 such numbers were killed on the sea-shore in its vicinity, 

 that they were purchased by Mr. Sinclaire as the cheapest 

 food he could procure for his trained peregrine falcons. Al- 

 though of regular passage to the Belfast range of mountains, 

 snow-buntings are much more numerous in other and less 

 frequented mountainous districts in the county of Antrim, as 

 about Newtown-Crommelin and Clough. At the former of 

 these places, where the Rev. G. M. Black was several years 

 resident, he always observed them during the winter in very 

 large flocks, and in which not more than one in twenty w^ere 

 adult individuals. Fi'om the other locality, examples have 

 been brought to me by Mr. James Garret, who also supplied 

 the following note under date of January 4, 1834 : — " VVhen 

 shooting today about two miles from Clough, I met with an 

 immense flock of snow-buntings, out of which I killed thirty 

 at one discharge as they flew past me. Their call resembled 

 the chirping of the grey-linnet, and the number of wings 

 made a considerable noise, as the flock consisting of several 

 hundreds swept by : some were nearly white, and others of a 

 dark brown colour.^' In any of the flocks which have come 

 under my own observation, the adult males bore only a small 

 proportion to the females and immature birds, but, except in 

 very small flocks, were always present throughout the win- 

 ter*. This speCies, under the name of Cherry-chirper !, is 

 mentioned in Rutty 's 'Natural History of Dublin' as "found 

 on our strand in December 1747 and kept in a cage until 

 December 1748, and fed with oats, hemp-seed and cuttlings." 

 —Vol. i. p. 317. 



Wilson, Audubon, and Dr. Richardson give most interest- 

 ing notes upon this bird from their personal observ^ation in 

 North America, and the last author had the gratification of 

 meeting with it in its breeding-haunt in that continent. Mr. 



• In some of the latest works on British ornithology, the adult birds are 

 stated to appear in Great Britain only late in tlie winter, or when the wea- 

 ther is very severe. On the 23rd of October i once received a fine adult 

 male bird, which was shot on the Belfast mountains. 



