Miscellaneous. 351 
OCCURRENCE OF AQUILA N#VIA IN IRELAND. 
Clonmel, Oct. 7, 1845. 
To Richard Taylor. 
Dear Friznv,—At the request of my friend William ‘Thompson 
of Belfast, I write to inform thee of the occurrence in the south of 
Ireland of an eagle new to these countries, Aquila nevia (Linn.). I 
need enter into no description of the bird, as of course it is well-de- 
scribed in works on continental ornithology, but will just remark, 
that it is in the immature or spotted stage of plumage ; in contour it 
closely resembles the golden eagle, but is much smaller. 
This specimen (which is now in my possession on loan) was shot 
on the estate of the Earl of Shannon, and was in a fallow-field in the 
act of devouring a rabbit at the time; this was in lst month (Jan.) 
1845 ; and another said to be similarly marked, but of rather a lighter 
colour, is stated to have been shot in the same place a few days be- 
fore : both had been observed in the neighbourhood (between Castle- 
martyr and Clay Castle near Youghal, co. Cork) for several weeks 
previous, sweeping over the low grounds there. 
It at present belongs to my friend Samuel Moss of Youghal, who 
had it from the gamekeeper who killed it, but I think it is probable 
that before long it will be placed in the Museum of ‘Trinity College, 
Dublin. 
I have made a rough coloured drawing of it which I sent to Wm. 
Yarrell *, with similar information to what this note contains. 
I am, thy friend, 
Ropert Dass, Jun. ie 
ON MOUNTING MINUTE ALGH FOR THE MICROSCOPE. 
In describing the method pursued by Mr. 'Thwaites in the prepa- 
ration of algze for microscopical observation, I stated that the cells 
were made of gold-size. As this is however liable to be softened 
and redissolved by the gold-size employed in fastening down the 
piece of thin glass, he found it advisable to look out for some more 
convenient substance. 
He now uses two compositions, one suitable for very shallow, and 
the other for somewhat deeper cells. For the former he takes equal 
measures of finely-powdered lamp-black and litharge; a portion of 
this is rubbed down with equal parts of gold-size and black japan, 
and the cells immediately formed on the glass slides with a camel’s 
hair pencil. As the composition hardens very rapidly, the cells 
should be made as quick as possible, and to save time and trouble, a 
good many should be made at once. If the mixture becomes too 
thick for use before all the intended cells have been made, a little 
more gold-size may be rubbed down with it, and this may be repeated 
if necessary, but the last-made cells will take longer drying than the 
first. Before the walls are quite hard, they may be flattened by 
pressing them with a piece of wet glass. If this is not done, it takes 
* For insertion in his 2nd edition of ‘ British Birds,’ expected to appear 
next month. 
