320 RALLID.E. 



another was subsequently killed at Douce (Wicklow) late in the 

 autumn, by a gentleman engaged in snipe-shooting. One was 

 shot in the month of October 1834, near Portarlington (Queen's- 

 county).* The Eev. Thomas Knox notes this bird as very rare, 

 but that two or three individuals were seen, and one of them was 

 killed, on the 7th of September, 1832, at the side of the river 

 Shannon, near Killaloe (Clare) : its stomach contained the remains 

 of some small shells, together with gravel. I was informed in the 

 year 1837, by Mr. T. P. Neligan, of Tralee (Kerry), that he had 

 shot a spotted rail near that town, at the end of July or beginning 

 of August, about five years previously, and that he was aware of 

 four or five having been since obtained. With reference to the 

 same part of Kerry, Mr. R. Chute wrote to me in February 1846 

 that two or three individuals of this species had come under his 

 notice in the early part of winter, and that he saw one shot after 

 Christmas. He had likewise procured a young bird in the month 

 of August exhibiting some down, and hence concluded that it 

 must have been brought out in the marsh in which its capture was 

 effected. In the ' Fauna of Cork/ it was remarked respecting 

 this rail in 1843 : — " Perhaps more common than is generally 

 supposed. It has been shot by my friend Mr. Adam Parker, in 

 two or three instances within a short time. He and his brother 

 (both ornithologists as well as sportsmen) have not unfrequently 

 met with it for several years past. It occurred also to Mr. Robert 

 Davis, jun., in Tipperary" (p. 13). The author (Dr. J. R. Har- 

 vey) further stated in a letter written to me in 1848, that one 

 had been shot in October 1843, near Clay Castle, Youghal, and 

 that a second was subsequently killed in the same locality. In 

 the month of September 1842, a spotted rail was procured near 

 Waterford, where the species is considered extremely rare.f 



Most of these birds killed in Ireland have fallen before 

 snipe-shooters, and consequently after the 20th of September. 

 They seem partial to particular localities from the circumstance 

 of their being found frequenting them in different years. There 

 can be little doubt of their breeding in the island, though no 

 * Rev. B. J. Clarke. t Dr. R. .T. Burkitt. 



