16 THF. ZOOLOGIST. 



in opening the trap, leaving its tail in my hand. In the first 

 specimen which I received, the skin of the tail at the tip had been 

 rubbed off, exposing the vertebrae, but this ugly appendage it 

 removed the first day by gnawing it off. 



This species of Dormouse exists not uncommonly in the 

 woods of the "Upper Vogtland" (Saxony), which consist almost 

 entirely of pine and fir. It is known everywhere as " the Dor- 

 mouse," and disliked ; for it is believed by the country people 

 tbat if a cow is breathed upon by a Dormouse its udder will 

 become diseased, and that everything touched by its urine will 

 immediately decay. Moreover the Dormouse is supposed to be 

 as venomous at least as the Viper, Vipera berus, which is also 

 common there. 



The nests of Myoxus quercinus which I have hitherto found 

 in these woods were built sometimes in trees, sometimes — and 

 perhaps more frequently — amongst piles of firewood, fagots, and 

 poles ; once only did I happen to find a nest under the roots of a 

 fallen tree trunk. 



[If no error has been made in identifying the species, it is curious that 

 the superstitious dread with which, according to Dr. Helm, the Dormouse 

 is regarded in Saxony, attaches in this country to the Common Shrew, 

 Sorex vulgaris. See Bell's ' British Quadrupeds,' second edition, 1874, 

 pp. 145 — 147. In France also it is the Shrew whose bite is supposed 

 to be poisonous. See Rolland, ' Faune Populaire de la France ' — (" Les 

 Mammiferes Sauvages")— 1877, p. 19.— Ed.] 



THE AUTUMNAL MIGRATION OF BIRDS IN IRELAND. 



By Allan Ellison. 



As a point from which to observe the passage of the numerous 

 flocks of birds which in autumn pour into Ireland from Great 

 Britain and Northern Europe, Shillelagh is very favourably 

 situated. It lies in the extreme south-west corner of the County 

 Wicklow, about eighteen miles from the sea, in a sort of valley 

 between the off- shoots of the Wicklow Mountains on the north, 

 and the hills extending from Croghan Kinsella to Mount Leinster 

 on the south and south-east. This valley, as a glance at the map 

 will show, runs in general north-east and south-west, and is 

 so level that its rivers, the Derry and Aughrim, are joined 

 together at their sources, the former running south-west until 



