4906 THE ZooLtocist—May, 1876. 
until they forced it to disgorge its prey, which they either caught 
before it reached the water, or settled on the water and devoured: 
I have not seen the habit noticed of this bird before. A fine pair 
of Bewick’s swans were shot about the last week of February, on 
the Lough Foyle slob: one of these, which was very slightly 
injured, is still living and apparently reconciled to confinement, as 
it feeds well and is not very shy: it is now in my possession. 
I will conclude with an amusing parallel to the old belief that 
the waxwing was the harbinger of pestilence. Some time ago, as 
I was travelling from Wicklow to Dublin by train, I heard an old 
gentleman remark to a friend that “he feared some great mis- 
fortune was going to happen, as he had seen several white birds on 
Kingstown Pier for the three previous days.” ‘There are always a 
few snow buntings to be seen on the pier, and it was most likely 
these that had frightened him. 
J. Doueias-OGILBy. 
The Nest, Portrush, County Antrim, 
March 18, 1876. 
Ornithological Notes from the North-West Coast. 
By W. Artuour Dornrorp, Esq. 
Buzzard.—A specimen of Buteo vulgaris was shot on Walney 
Island on the 4th of December, last year: it had probably been 
driven down from the fells by the hard weather, and, judging from 
the contents of its stomach, had recently been preying on the 
rabbits which abound in the island. 
Montagws Harrier.—Oue of these handsome birds has lately 
come into my possession, having been rescued from amongst a 
heap of rubbish in the shop of our local birdstuffer, a blacksmith 
by trade. This specimen was shot, in the autumn of 1874, on 
Walney. 
Longeared Owl.—This species seems to have been unusually 
plentiful in this neighbourhood during the past year, and owing to 
the number of sportsmen who are ever on the watch, a considerable 
number have fallen victims. On the 18th of December, whilst 
waiting for ducks in the evening, I killed a longeared owl as it 
flew over one of the reservoirs in the immediate neighbourhood of 
a number of blast-furnaces, at least a mile from any trees or 
coppice. 
