Sohakff, Seymouk, and Nkwton — Castlepook Cave. 67 



4.— BIRD REMAINS. 



The bones of birds from this cave collected by Mr. R. J. Ussher, although 

 numerous, present no special points of interest. Of the 750 specimens sent 

 to me for identification no fewer than 295 are referable to the Common Fowl, 

 and are, no doubt,- a comparatively modern introduction to the cave. The 

 bones of Ducks, to the number of 104, may be in part wild and in part 

 domestic birds ; and, like the Fowls, have probably been brought in by Foxes. 

 To the same agency may be attributed the 198 bones of Rooks, and possibly 

 Crows, for the bones of the two species cannot be certainly distinguished. 

 The geese are represented by sixty-six bones, and most of these are of a size 

 indicative of the wild grey Goose ; but a few may belong to a smaller species. 

 There are eight rather small bones of the Turkey. The remaining species 

 (13) in the following list are each represented by one, two, or three speci- 

 mens only, and, with the exception of the swan, are just such forms as one 

 might expect to meet with in a comparatively modern deposit ; but it must 

 be remembered that, with two or three exceptions, all the species in the 

 accompanying list were probably inhabitants of the British Isles in 

 Pleistocene times. 



There are, it appears, at least two definite horizons in this cave : a lower 

 one, with remains of Mammoth, Hyama, Reindeer, Lemming, &c, sealed 

 down by deposits of stalagmite ; and a more modern accumulation above the 

 stalagmite, containing recent mammals, but apparently no extinct forms. 

 There can be no doubt as to the Pleistocene age of the lower deposit, nor 

 of the much more recent period when the upper layer was accumulated. 

 Although a large proportion of the birds' bones doubtless came from the 

 newer deposit, yet Dr. Schaiff assures me that some were certainly obtained 

 from the lower beds, and these include Duck, Lesser Black-backed Gull, and 

 Goose, a sternal fragment of the last-named being embedded in the stalagmite, 

 in association with Reindeer and Bear. 



[List of Species of Birds identified. 



[J 21 



