ISO THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



knowledge, in Ireland Mr. W. Bagwell shot four 

 (out of about thirty) White-fronted Geese on the 

 private lake at Marlfield, co. Tipperary. The same 

 month many large gaggles were seen near Temple- 

 more and Broughall (Capt. Dugmore). Though a 

 common species in the north of Ireland, they are 

 very rarely seen in such numbers in the south as 

 herein noted. 



Like the Bean Goose, the " White-fronted " is 

 an inland feeding bird. In January, 1881, in 

 unexampled bitter weather, nine of these geese 

 pitched and ravenously fed on some refuse vegetables 

 in the main street of Tullamore, King's County. 

 It being Court-day, many persons observed them. 

 My informant knew their species well, describing 

 the barred breast and the white mark round the 

 base of the bill, like that on the head of a female 

 Scaup. The White-fronted Goose, though frequently 

 met with in Ireland, is, as stated, much oftener seen 

 in the north than in the south. Mr. Robert Warren, 

 of Ballina, co. Mayo, one of the best naturalists and 

 fowlers in Ireland, tells me, that of country-feeding 

 Geese in the north of Ireland, he considers the White- 

 fronted the commonest, and the Greylag the rarest. 

 All my informants, who know the inland districts of 

 the north and west of Ireland, agree that this goose 

 is very common ; the Bean fairly numerous, and the 

 Greylag the most rare. Would that the two pursuits 

 of shooting and Natural History were oftener com- 

 bined ; for who has such rare opportunities of study- 

 ing habits and species as the fowler ? The very 

 fact of such a man's success being attendant on 

 his overreaching these wild birds when least sus- 



