248 THE FOWLER IN IRELAND. 



County, in July, 1877. Lord Carberry has a fine 

 specimen of this bird, which was shot by his keeper 

 near the lake at Castle Freke, co. Cork, on the i5th 

 July, 1879. 



THE PURPLE HERON (Ardea purpurea] is only 

 known to have occurred once in Ireland. This 

 specimen was procured so long ago as 1834, at 

 Carrickmacross, as recorded by Thompson (vol. ii. 

 p. 155), and was preserved by Mr. Glennon, of 

 Dublin, who received it in a fresh state, for the 

 collection of Mr. Harrington. 



THE BITTERN (Botaurus stellaris) is not very 

 rare in Ireland in severe winters, especially in the 

 south and west. Five of these birds were shot in 

 the winter of 1878-79 in one county (Cork), one 

 of which was caught alive in the suburb of Douglas, 

 only two miles from the city of Cork, and kept as a 

 pet for some weeks. 



Bitterns seem to arrive in flights, and then spread 

 in pairs over the country. If one is shot, another 

 is almost certain to be near at hand. A Snipe- 

 shooter once brought me a female Bittern which he 

 had shot in a morass. I regretted it was not a male 

 bird and in better plumage. The man at once said 

 that he was sure there must be another not far from 

 where he had obtained the first, though he had not 

 seen it, for he seldom found one without seeing or 

 killing a second in the same locality. A few days 

 afterwards he proved the truth of his supposition 

 by bringing me another, a fine male bird in perfect 

 plumage, which he had flushed in the same marsh 

 which held its mate. From my experience and 

 I have shot several Bitterns frequent only the 



