100 anatida:. 



spring, in the sea, otf the Gobbins, northward of Belfast Bay, 

 that in the very early morning, soon after daybreak, they have, 

 on the calm water, been mistaken for drift-timber, and the people 

 have gone off in their boats to obtain it. Mr. J. Watters, jun., 

 informs me that, during the night, he hears great flocks of wild- 

 fowl pass over the house in which he lives (in Crow-street), in the 

 midst of the city of Dublin, particularly early in winter and 

 spring. Between ten and eleven o'clock, on the night of the 

 20th March, 1850, flocks of wigeon continued to pass over for 

 nearly three-quarters of an hour, the loud clear calls of which 

 afforded evidence of their species. . In the demesne at Caledon, 

 I saw a flock of about a hundred birds on the 23rd of March, 

 1850, many of which were adult males. So late as the 12th of 

 April, 1850, flfteen wigeon were killed at a shot from a swivel- 

 gun on Larne Lough. 



From the preceding notes it appears that the wigeon regularly 

 comes earlier to the north of Ireland, and occasionally remains 

 later, than on the Nortliumbrian coast. Mr. Selby informs us 

 that "they usually make their first appearance in this county 

 about the 20th day of September, in small companies, which are 

 on the gradual increase till about the beginning of November, 

 when the migration appears to be completed.^ Early in March 

 they again commence their polar movement, or return to summer 

 quarters ; and, by the month of April, the coast is entirely de- 

 serted" (p. 325). 



Belfast Bay ; — different modes of shooting in, Sfc. 



The wigeon, where not disturbed, feeds much during the day : 

 but it is regarded here, by the three most experienced wild-fowl 

 shooters, two of whom have made a trade of wigeon-shooting 

 for above twenty years, as essentially a night-feeding bird. They 



* Mr. St. John remarks : — " The earliest day on which I ever killed or saw 

 wigeon in Morayshire, was on the 8th of September, on which day I shot a brace. 

 * * * The flock altogether consisted of eight or nine." — ' Tour in Sutherland,' 

 vol. i. p. 286. 



In another place (vol. ii. p. 22) this date is mentioned as " a month before their 

 usual time of arrival." 



