924 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
correspondent would tell us what species of Bats he has found in Donegal. 
The Hairy-armed Bat has been found in several widely-separated parts of 
Treland, so that it may be discovered in other localities if naturalists would 
only take the trouble to look for it: at present it has been obtained only in 
the counties of Wicklow, Dublin, Armagh, and the town of Belfast. As 
for birds, the Tawny Owl is not proved yet to occur in Ireland, even 
as an accidental visitor, the only evidence on this subject which I have 
obtained being two eggs in the collection of Mr. Gage, of Rathlin, which 
that gentleman kindly entrusted to me to send to Prof. Newton, who 
considers that they probably belong to the Tawny Owl. These eggs are 
stated to have been found in a wood near Ballycastle, County Antrim. 
Perhaps, however, Mr. Mahouy means the Long-eared Owl, which is a very 
common Jrish bird. I have never before heard the Song Thrush called 
the “Irish Nightingale,” the bird which is generally called by that honour- 
able title being the Sedge Warbler. Again, out of some hundreds of geese 
which I have seen from Loughs Swilly and Foyle, I never came across more 
than half-a-dozen Bernicles; and your correspondent probably means the 
Brent Goose, which is very common, and is called Bernicle by the peasantry. 
On p.151, third line, Chylodadia should be Chylocladia : and lower down on 
the same page, Hclimus sphere is, I presume, a misprint for Hchinus sphara, 
though I have never found this Urchin anywhere except reposing on sand or 
rocks, and imagine that a large one would find some difficulty in “ prowling 
over” the fronds of Laminaria.—J. Doucias-Ocity (Portrush). 
[We have received a third letter to the same effect from an esteemed 
correspondent, who does not, however, desire its publication. By “ Ferret” 
no doubt is intended the Polecat, an animal which, according to Thompson, 
is “ not positively known as an Irish species,” although said to inhabit the 
wild woods of Kerry, and to have been killed in at least one instance in the 
County Down. The Weasel is another animal whose existence in Ireland 
there is reason to doubt, although, as we have elsewhere pointed out, 
Mr. Bell, in his ‘ History of British Quadrupeds,’ does not allude to it. 
Mr. Andrew Murray, in his ‘Geographical Distribution of Mammals’ 
(p. 114) says that the Weasel formerly inhabited Ireland, but is no longer 
found there. Macgillivray averred that the Weasel is generally distributed 
in Ireland, but Thompson, on the contrary, remarks that he never met 
with it there, nor does he consider that it has been proved to be a native, 
although it may be so. The Stoat, which is called Weasel in Ireland, is 
common there. It should be noted that the larger size, darker colour, and 
the black tuft at the end of the tail, will at all seasons distinguish the 
Stoat from its smaller relative. As regards the Squirrel, we have notes of 
its occurrence in the Counties of Dublin, Wicklow, Wexford, and Longford 
(where it was introduced in large numbers, at Castle Forbes, by either the 
father or grandfather of the present Earl Granard). It has been introduced 
