1885] Birds in Museums. 325 



Reed- Warbler's. The eggs seem all right, and the Reed-Warbler does 

 not breed in Ireland ; but have you ever heard of such a nest of the 

 Sedge- Warbler ? I was not able to give an answer myself. 



I wonder whether the Sooty Shearwater can be a dark form of 

 P. major analogous to that found in the Skuas. The two birds which I 

 compared here seemed exactly alike except in colour. I hope that 

 Babington is keeping well this year; and how are you yourself? I 

 sometimes get a little Cambridge news through Professor Macalister, 

 when he comes to Dublin, but it is a long time since I heard from your- 

 self. I suppose the Ornithology article for " Encyclopaedia Britannica " 

 must be nearly ready. You were kind enough to give me yours on 

 Birds, and I should much like the other to join to it, if you can spare a 

 copy.* 



[To Mr. S. A. Stewart.] {February 2oth, 1885.} I have just got 

 ready a list of Irish Birds, and I am much puzzled what to say about 

 the Woodlark. I can only say that I have never seen or heard of an 

 Irish specimen, nor has any come into the hands of Mr. Williams in 

 Dublin. Still there seems very good authority for its not unfrequent 

 occurrence near Belfast. Will you, then, be so kind as to ask Mr. 

 Darraghf (and any others), and tell me what you can hear about it ? 

 I should be glad to purchase a bona fide Irish specimen for the 

 Museum, if such can be had in Belfast. By the way, is there one in 

 your Museum ? 



As my list is very nearly ready for the printer, I hope you can give 

 me an answer in the course of a few days. The question is, does the 

 Woodlark stay all the year round and breed in the N.E. of Ireland ? 



[To the same.] (February 25th, 1885.} Thank you very much for the 

 information you have so kindly sent me about the Woodlark. I now 



have another bird to trouble you about : Crested Titmouse. Mr. 



says there are specimens in the Belfast Museum, amongst Irish birds. 

 Can you kindly look and see whether there is any label or history to any 

 of them sufficient to establish the birds as Irish. Surely, so great a 

 rarity ought to have been labelled. 



It was a simple matter to "lump" the Shrikes and "turn 

 out " the Titmouse ; but the Woodlark, which seemed to 

 delight in puzzling ornithologists, proved as unaccountable 

 a creature in Ireland as in Scotland. Of all the birds of 

 Ireland, he sometimes said, the Woodlark had given him 



* He acknowledges it, March 2nd : "Your Ornithology has just arrived, and 

 I feel highly honoured to find my name mentioned." The "mention" is the 

 reference to the "Bird-Cybele," "Though contravening our plan, we must, for 

 its great merit, notice here Mr. More's series of papers in the ' Ibis' for 1865." 



t The Curator of the Belfast Museum. 



