NOTES FROM MAYO AND SLIGO. 131 



about the hedges, feeding on haws ; and their number afterwards 

 increased to about twenty birds, which was the greatest number 

 I saw together at any one time this season. No Fieldfares have 

 appeared in this district as yet this season, nor have I heard of 

 any being seen elsewhere either in Mayo or Sligo. 



A pair of Missel Thrushes appeared in the town here on the 

 6th of November, the first of the species seen since last winter ; 

 and on the 10th of that month I saw in one of our hedges either a 

 Willow Wren or Chiffchaff, but, though it allowed me to get very 

 near, owing to the want of light I was unable to make out the 

 colour of its legs ; yet still I am almost certain it was the last- 

 named bird— its mode of flight, restless flitting about the branches, 

 peculiar movement of the wings, &c, all go far to prove that the 

 bird was a Chiffchaff; and also at this time of the year it is more 

 likely that the hardy Chiffchaff would be met with than the more 

 delicate and tender Willow Wren. 



A few days after meeting with the Eedwings, I thought I saw 

 some Thrushes along with them, but until December 11th I was 

 uncertain of the fact, when I saw three fly out of a hedge — the 

 first seen since last winter, when both these birds and Missel 

 Thrushes were completely exterminated in the district by the 

 effects of the long-continued frost. 



I was glad to observe a pair of Golden-crested Wrens 

 frequenting the plantations during the autumn and winter, and 

 hope that, owing to the mildness of the weather, they will manage 

 to keep alive until the breeding season. The three species of Tits 

 appear to have held out pretty well. I think they are to be seen 

 in about the same numbers as last year; but I only saw one 

 family of Long-tailed Tits this winter. Starlings have been fear- 

 fully thinned by the past hard winters, and only little parties of 

 from half-a-dozen to a dozen are now to be seen directing their 

 evening flight to the roosting-places, instead of the thousands that 

 were to be seen previous to the destructive winter of 1878-9. 



On the 22nd January I was down near Bartragh in my punt, 

 but found the few Widgeon there very wild, and almost un- 

 approachable. I succeeded, however, in obtaining a long shot 

 at a dozen, and picked up seven birds, and when returning I 

 came across a pair of Long-tailed Ducks : they were very tame, 

 allowing the punt to come within about twenty yards before rising 

 from the water, when I knocked them down with a charge of 



