THE SPJELDRAKE. 63 



same place. Those I shot were paddling quietly 

 along in open water near Rostellan Bay, an adult 

 male and two females. They were very tame, 

 and allowed me to kill two of them on the water, 

 and a third flying, from an ordinary boat, with a 

 shoulder-gun. I should have passed them by as 

 Teal had I not remarked the white streaked neck 

 of the male bird. 



I might have spared them had I thought they 

 would nest in the locality safely, or that others 

 armed with guns would have been equally con- 

 siderate. But to a specimen-hunter such a chance 

 was irresistible, and not likely to occur again. They 

 would, probably, have been sold and eaten if killed 

 by another fowler, and though lost to view, be ever 

 regretted in my memory. It is, indeed, hard to 

 know how to treat honourably a rara avis in Ire- 

 land ; if you do not secure it, the chances are some 

 one else will. A Hoopoe not long since paid my 

 garden a visit in April. How I treasured it! But 

 what was my delight when a second took up its 

 quarters with the first. I guarded them night and 

 day, and hoped they would nest. Alas ! I soon 

 missed one, and was in despair. My search was 

 unavailing. Passing through a small coast village 

 a few days after, and near where I was then living, 

 I found a poor fowler exhibiting for a " penny a 

 peep " what he called a " Foreigner," in reality a 

 Hoopoe, and of a surety my lost bird ! 



THE SHELDRAKE (Tadorna vulpanser] presents 

 a purely black and white appearance until almost 

 within shot : the chestnut markings may then be 

 discerned. These birds vary considerably in size, 



