KED-NECKED PHALAKOPE 265 



" Before giving an account of the discovery of this bird 

 as a breeding species in Ireland, I may say that, seeing the 

 sad havoc that has occurred to the species in the Orkneys 

 and Shetlands by egg collectors and others, I have resolved, 

 in consultation with a few leading Irish ornithologists, not 

 to divulge the exact locality of the breeding ground, but to 

 say in a general way ' the West of Ireland.' I am also glad 

 to say that the gentleman on whose property this very in- 

 teresting discovery has been made shows every disposition 

 to have the birds rigidly protected. 



" Early in the month of July last this gentleman sent 

 me the skin of a Phalarope which had been rather roughly 

 handled, but thinking that he had been on a yachting cruise 

 round Scotland, and had probably obtained a specimen, it 

 did not interest me much. In acknowledging the receipt 

 I just said, ' Of course the bird is not Irish.' Judge of my 

 surprise when I received the following letter : ' The Red- 

 necked Phalarope which I sent you was, of course, Irish, 

 otherwise I would not have sent it to you. I now send two 

 others shot to-day within a mile of the house. The birds 

 breed here, and have, according to my keeper, done so for 

 many years ; he has also frequently found their nests, and 

 on my questioning him he gave me a correct description of 

 their eggs, colour, &c., &c. You will kindly set them up and 

 give them on loan to the Natural History Museum ' (where 

 they now are). 



"In my reply I said that ornithologists would scarcely 

 credit such a thing that this, a polar-breeding species, should 

 be found breeding so far south, and begged him to set 

 matters beyond all doubt by obtaining either an egg or 

 young bird in the down. To my great delight, on 1st of 

 August, I received a baby Phalarope, with a note, in which 

 my correspondent said : ' I am sorry to have to send you 

 an uncontrovertible proof of the Red-necked Phalarope's 

 nesting here. This is one of their chicks I saw one other. 

 The distress of the two old birds made it very hard to kill 

 this little thing. During my tramp through the bog I 

 counted seventeen, but there may have been many more ; 

 the most of the birds I saw were females. The tameness of 

 these is very marked, as apparently unconcernedly they are 

 seeking food within a distance of a few feet. It is my 

 greatest desire that these birds should be perfectly protected 

 and unmolested. I am surprised that these little chicks 

 are able to survive their many enemies, especially as there 

 are always a lot of Black-backed and other Gulls on the bog.' 



