142 OUR IRISH SONG BIRDS. 



wing-coverts, white ; tail, short, outside feathers, black, 

 centre feathers, white and brown. Length, seven inches. 



I have only seen this bird at Rathfarnham and the 

 Phoenix Park, Dublin, where Hawfinches can usually 

 be observed in the neighbourhood of the Chief Secre- 

 tary's Lodge ; but they are very wild and difficult of 

 approach. 



A flock of five or six I saw when in company with 

 Mr. Godden, Head Keeper, never allowed us to get 

 nearer than 400 yards. I had, however, a good 

 view of a male near the road, not far from " The 

 Yellow House," Rathfarnham, County Dublin ; it had 

 been observed in the same place the day before by my 

 friend, Mr. John Hoffe. Mr. Watters states that on two 

 occasions only he was fortunate enough to observe it, 

 "on one at the Scalp, near Dublin, in 1848 ; and on the 

 other at the Phoenix Park, in 1852. In both localities 

 the food was similar, the berry of the hawthorn ; this 

 seemed in all cases to be taken sideways with the beak, 

 and broken with the same movement that forced it from 

 the stem, and this, too, with the greatest apparent ease. 

 This feat, when we recollect the amount of exertion 

 required to break those berries by ourselves, affords a 

 very good idea of the immense strength of the man- 

 dibles." 



Mr. Thompson quotes from an interesting paper on 

 the Birds of Donegal, by Mr. J. V. Stewart, in which he 

 gives the following account of two of these birds, which 

 he killed and examined anatomically. The communica- 

 tion is dated from Ards House, December 4th, 1828. 



i( I shot a pair of these birds a few days ago in fine 

 plumage the first instance, I believe, of their occurring 



