52 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



question, however, which, by way of trying to elucidate the 

 matter, may be put forward, namely, What is the behaviour of the 

 Icterine Warbler at the lantern ? Does it, like the Whitethroat, 

 Sedge- Warbler, and many other species, strike in the strict 

 sense of the word, making a loud tap on the glass, and thereby 

 arrest the attention of the light-keeper so that he goes out on 

 the balcony and picks up the specimen at once ? or does it 

 come in quietly, like a Eobin or Goldcrest, and then flutter up 

 and down the glass, disappearing in a short time by descending 

 to the rock or elsewhere ? or does it, on reaching the lantern, 

 skulk, after the fashion of a Grasshopper- Warbler or a Wren, 

 on a wiudow-sash, hand-rail, or other perch during the hours 

 of darkness ? For if it in a characteristic manner adopts any 

 other than the first measure, it is much more likely to escape 

 being captured by the keeper, whose duties on his watch 

 prevent him from always being on patrol out on the balcony. 

 From personal observation I have ascertained that different 

 species behave very differently when under the influence of the 

 luminous beams.* But, lastly, let us remember that, on the 

 other hand, while granting that the bird must have been over- 

 looked, not only at light-stations but also on the mainland 

 because of the inadequate numbers of contemporaneous workers 

 always in Irish ornithology, it may yet be proved, should 

 ornithology ever be studied more extensively in Ireland, that 

 the western limits of the Icterine Warbler's migrations are, 

 like those of the Nightingale, sharply marked off, in other 

 words, that they are strictly adhered to, and that Ireland, 

 lying beyond — i. e. west of the fly-lines — is, in reality, very 

 exceptionally visited, most probably by stragglers wafted out of 

 their course. Finally, as above mentioned, the Icterine Warbler 

 received from Tuskar Eock was certainly a waif ; but in regard 

 to the first bird, taken in June, 1856, while we have no account 

 of its bodily condition at death, of the contents of its gizzard, 

 of its weight, and of other important details, albeit the idea 

 of its being a straggler is strongly negatived' by the fact that 



■'' Vide my articles on "Wrens on Migration," etc.; "Grasshopper 

 "Warblers on Migration," etc. ; " Spotted Flycatchers on Migration," etc. 

 ('Irish Naturalist,' 1912, pp. 125 et seq., 137 et seq., and 193 et seq. ; also 

 " Diurnal Migrations," etc. ' Zoologist,' 1913, pp. 217 et seq.) 



