110 NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF DUBLIN". 



dently feeding, as their throats were full of the roots of the short grass. 

 They are what are commonly called 'hoopers,' which, I believe, is the 

 common wild Swan. There certainly must have been a much larger 

 migration of swans this year than for very many years, as I have fre- 

 quently been told that ' ten or twelve years ago you might see thirty 

 Swans together.' Last year I only saw two, and the year before six ; this 

 year, when the whole flock was collected, there were about 400 birds. 

 On one occasion I counted 174, which appeared to be the smaller half 

 of the flock. Their first appearance was on the 5th October, when 

 fifteen were seen flying up the Shannon, i.e. in a northerly direction ; 

 but I think they were only passing, as I never heard of them again. 

 On the 26th November I saw six, two old and four young ; one of the 

 young ones was shot, and I think the other five remained there the 

 whole winter, keeping apart from the large flock which arrived later. 

 The first time I saw the large flock was on the 21st of January, on the 

 Suck, and I was told that they had been there two or three days; they 

 were evidently quite strangers, as, when they were disturbed, they 

 went anywhere without any definite intention, which was not the case 

 afterwards. The last time I saw the whole flock together was on the 

 26th February, on Lough Funcheon (or Funshinagh, a shallow lough, 

 about two miles long, and three-fourths of a mile wide in the broadest 

 part, about seven miles north-west of Athlone, county of Eoscommon) ; 

 the Suck was too low for them, and I think that most of them left 

 shortly afterwards, though I saw about forty on the 16th March. The 

 weight of those I shot was about 14 lbs. each." 



Captain Ingham concludes his letter thus: — "If I can give you 

 any information about other sorts of wild fowl, and I think I have seen 

 more of them than any one else about here, I shall be most happy to 

 do so. There were an unusual quantity of pintailed ducks here this 

 winter. Last year there were a great many crested grebes ; this year 

 there are very few ; I have not shot one. I got a beautiful pair of 

 eared grebes last year, and, as all who saw them said they had never 

 seen the bird before, I presume they are very rare in these parts. The 

 white-fronted is the common goose here, the grey and the brent are 

 scarce, and I once saw three barnacle." 



From this very interesting communication of Captain Ingham, 

 showing so much close observation, it would seem that a large flock of 

 400 Swans, or thereabouts, arrived about the middle of January, and 

 took their departure towards the end of February. They were probably 

 preceded by small flocks which began to arrive early in October, and 

 after their departure, perhaps some stragglers remained. Some of the 

 small flocks alluded to may have been quite independent, and never 

 joined the large flock. Query, may not some of these have been a dif- 

 ferent species, either C. Bewiclcii or C. immutalilis ? Probably, during 

 their short sojourn, which may be looked on as a mere rest during mi- 

 gration, the large flock divided into smaller ones, which scattered over 

 the neighbouring lakes in different parts of the Suck and Shannon, in 

 search of food. 



