1882] Rare Birds in Private Collections. 295 



collections. Among his earliest experiments in this direc- 

 tion were those with the two scarcer Crakes the Little and 

 Baillon's Crakes. Of neither of these birds was there an 

 Irish specimen in any of the principal Museums. The 

 Little Crake's claim to inclusion in the Irish fauna rested 

 on three specimens, all preserved in separate collections. 

 Of these, one proved on inquiry to be a true Little Crake ; 

 another turned out to be only a Spotted Crake, and the 

 third, when received for examination, was found to be a 

 Baillon's Crake. Baillon's Crake had itself previously 

 been twice reported, and both the specimens were, like all 

 the so-called " Little Crakes," in different private collec- 

 tions. Following the trail of the Baillons he was allowed 

 to examine both, and one (it had been already recorded by 

 Thompson) proved right, while the other turned out to be 

 a Spotted Crake. 



The Crakes, at any rate, were settled in process of time. 

 It was otherwise with their kinsmen the " Porphyries " 

 particularly that mysterious bird which, long ago "found 

 dead in a ditch near Brandon," had ever since reposed in 

 state in a private collection in Kerry. This he never found 

 an opportunity of examining. It has been variously named. 

 Since its first possessor (or at least the first possessor of its 

 corpse) recorded it as Porphyrio hyacinthinus (Purple- 

 backed Porphyrio), Mr. W. Andrews, who had seen it, 

 assured Thompson that it was lonornis martinica (Marti- 

 nico Gallinule) ; and Lord Ventry, who had also seen it, 

 told Mr. More that it seemed identical with a specimen in 

 his (Lord Ventry's) collection, which latter proved to be 

 certainly Porphyrio smaragnotus (Green-backed Porphy- 

 rio) : the bird having thus already three names to its credit, 

 and still awaiting a definite identification. 



In the latter half of 1881, he recorded two birds new to 

 the Irish Fauna, or at least not previously included with 

 any certainty : the Iceland Falcon (Hierofalco islandus) and 

 the Sooty Shearwater (Puffinus griseus). Both were from 

 private collections, the Shearwater having been killed a 

 number of years ago off the coast of Kerry, and the Falcon 

 {of which he obtained a loan for the Museum) shot in 1879 

 in Mayo. Both were what might be called "critical 



