238 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



dental straggler that now and then drops on the 

 Irish coast. I have notes of five shot within a few 

 years, and old fowlers have told me that they knew 

 them well as " black curlew " in years gone by. The 

 plumage of a recently killed specimen is a beautiful 

 shade of shadowy black-green. It soon fades, but 

 for some time resembles in its metallic sheen the 

 body of a large fly or beetle. 



The Ibis was said to be not a rare bird in England 

 and Ireland some forty years ago, and I have notes 

 of eight having been seen together on the Black- 

 water, co. Cork. But, in my opinion, any bird that 

 is still as common as ever abroad would be just as 

 likely to occur in our latitudes now as then ; were 

 it becoming rare in other countries, it would be a 

 different matter. 



As to GODWITS, the Black-tailed species (Limosa 

 czgocephald) is rare in Ireland, but the Bar-tailed God- 

 wit (Limosa lapponica) is fairly numerous, although 

 not in the south to the same extent as, for instance, 

 the Whimbrel. In the north and east I have seen 

 fifty together ; and Mr. Warren tells me that on the 

 Moy estuary he has obtained over thirty at a shot, 

 and that he remarks every year how late they stay 

 into the summer ; adding, he once saw fifty together 

 on the sands in the first week of August. 



THE AVOCET (Recurvirostra avocetta) is a rare 

 species in Ireland, and I have only shot one. I 

 saw this bird wading up a shallow creek. It was in 

 full view, and I was well able to note the curious 

 " one step forward and sweep of the bill sideways 

 on the bottom," as the bird sought its food. I have, 

 however, records of quite a dozen obtained within a 



