300 The Zoologist— July, 1866. 



Rosy Tern. — Saw large numbers of this once abundant, but now 

 scarce, County Dublin tern, on the 19th of May. 



The Claw on the IVing of the JVaterhen. — There is a note in the 

 'Field' on the claw of the wing of the waterhen. It is not peculiar to 

 the young waterhen, but is found alike on all the family, even the 

 corn crake : the water rails and coots alike possess it. I always con- 

 sidered it the hidden means of the long submersion of these birds, 

 substances being caught under water by it. 



Distinctions of the Willow Wrens. — I tried very hard this year to 

 add the wood wren to our Dublin Avifauna, and though I killed some 

 dozens of snowy vvhitebellied willow wrens, they were all the common 

 Sylvia trochilus. That the bird is Irish I am sure, for I have heard it. 

 Should an Irish ornithologist see this, will he try for it, if he should 

 live in a wooded district, such as the Counties Wicklow and Wexford. 

 I am sure it is neglected, for want of a certain distinction : the white 

 belly is not sure, nor is the formation of the wing, as Macgillivray 

 says, a sufficient distinction; of his three plates 1 can make nothing; 

 the green back is always pretty sure, but the second primary is an 

 unfailing distinction, as the annexed life-sized cut will show. 



No. 1. Wood Wren {Sylvia sibilatrix). No. 2. Willow Wren (S. trochilus). 

 No. 3. Chiffchaff {S. rufa). 



Harry Blake-Knox, 



Dalkey, County Dultliii. 



The Migratory and Wandering Birds of the County Dublin, with 

 the Tones of their Arrivals and Departures. By Hakry 

 Blake-Knox, Esq. 



(Continued from S. S. 227). 



The Water Birds. 

 Great Plover. — Has occurred. 

 Golden Plover. — Resident. Enormous flocks visit us from October. 



