1408 The Zoologist — October, 1868. 



jerking wings of ihe stonechat, perched on the loftiest spray of a furze- 

 bush ; or, mayhap, on the innocent dark eyes of a rabbit, gazing from 

 its burrow ; or above, upon the hill-side, the form of a kestrel sharply 

 denned on the clear evening sky, poised in air above its prey. But 

 no time for noting more ; again the dark forms of the " black martins" 

 scrawl and scribble and knit and weave with mazy lines the bright 

 face of heaven ; again their cheery cries ring out and say, " But one 

 month more and we're away to sunny climes ; so watch our gambols 

 well, for life is short, the winter comes, for where you watch us now 

 the storm will rage, and gulls and sea-fowl fill the place of swifts." 

 Yes, summer's gone and winter's come these many years, and thou, 

 poor swift, art dying out apace! Swifts breed in the old Castles of 

 Dalkey, in its Roman Catholic Chapel, and formerly in its Church 

 also, in Bullock Castle (three or four pairs), in the battlements of 

 Castle Park (the residence of Mr. Walter R. Alkin), and in some of 

 the old hill-quarries of Dalkey ; in Kingstown, in some of the sacred 

 edifices, and several pairs in the sides of an old quarry at Stoneview : 

 in my own district I can quote no other places, and am decidedly of 

 opinion that swifts are on a rapid decrease. 



Night Heron. — 1 mentioned a night heron as having occurred in 

 Belfast (Zool. S. S. 457). The gentleman who communicated the 

 intelligence to me got possession of the bird, and it is now in my 

 collection : it is a young bird of the year. The authenticity of its 

 occurrence is also vouched for by my friend Sheals, of Belfast, who is 

 restuffing it for me : the bird was brought to him to stuff, but his 

 charge being too high the person got it done elsewhere. I believe the 

 bird was alive, having only its wing broken by the shot. The person 

 who had it called it a bittern. 



Merlin: abundance in County Dublin in the Autumn of 18(57. — 

 August 25. Merlius have been unusually numerous about Dalkey 

 this year, and I have also met with them in other parts of the county ; 

 I have been informed, too, of their general occurrence. I shot the first 

 in Dalkey Sound, flying from Dalkey Island to the mainland: I had 

 perceived it previously chasing a titlark on the island : it was a female 

 in first plumage. August 28. A second was seen, at Booterstown, 

 chasing a small bird. A third I killed, about two miles from land, 

 during a dense fog, in mistake for a tern, so small did it appear : it 

 was a male, in first plumage. September 19. A fourth started off' the 

 rocks of Dalkey Island, while running in for shelter from a' terrific 

 squall; made straight away for sea: I doubt if it could have borne up 



